Computing 1: Discussion Section 1: 8/31 Objectives: 1. Become familiar with on-line resources helpful in
learning immunology. 2. Learn to use a log as an organizational resource and
tool. Introduction: The exercises are not platform specific- you may
use either Mac or PC. You may choose to use either Netscape
or Explorer as the browser. Please note; however, that
you'll want to use Netscape when using specific plug-ins for
viewing molecular models. This introduction is geared
[or tries to be] both to those with little
experience using the Internet and web browsers, and to those
with a significant amount of experience. If instructions seem to move along too fast, ask for help
from other students and from me. If instructions seem too
detailed, and you just want to get on with it, please
do. If using the IMac labs, you will need a 100 MB zip disk
to save your work. You also may print your work to the
printer in the lab you are working. You need to supply your
own paper. It is strongly suggested that you keep a log of
your sessions on-line. Although you may bookmark sites while
using a lab computer, the bookmarks are removed daily. Even
if you are using your own computer, try using a log anyway.
You can add comments, store specific database sources, and
copy/paste whole pages of information for future use. A
current version of Word is quite useful for a log, because
URLs [Web addresses] can be turned into active link
sites. In other words, you can carry your bookmarks with
you, without having to retype them. [For more on logs,
go to Keeping a
log.] There are summary questions at the end of this
section. Read them through before you start browsing. You
can answer them as you go, or answer them after browsing the
following sites. Points = 10. Due next week [9/7 or
9/9]. 1. Log on and open Netscape. The following web
sites are to get you started. Briefly explore each one,
noting what they have to offer locally and what links to
other sites are available. When using you own computer or
one to which you have regular access, I strongly recommend
that you bookmark the sites you like. [Bookmarks are
regularly removed from school computers, but they are still
handy during a single session, so give them a try.] [Note: As shorthand, if a URL is given as simply
"www.name.com" or just "name.com", assume that everything
starts with "http://www.". There are some exceptions, but
they will be obvious. URLs are context and case
sensitive, meaning they have to be entered exactly right,
including upper & lower case as shown, slashes, dots,
underlines, etc. If something doesn't work, first check
carefully, then try variations. In some cases, extensions
such as ".html" are important; in other cases, they are
not.] Don't worry too much about details as yet. Just
knowing where these are will be helpful in the not too
distant future. In fact, you'll be playing with computer
molecular modeling in the next lab exercise. See if you can find a cytotoxic T cell killing a tumor
cell. It is a short movie loop, well worth viewing. Also
check out the "Making antibodies" for a real cool picture
and some explanatory diagrams. 2. Some sites are simply collections of other
sites, but they are quite useful. A single bookmark can lead
to many hallways and many doors. You'll probably want to
revisit these link sites a few times in order to get a real
feel of what all they have to offer. A useful strategy to try at this point is using
multiple windows. Go to file, and open a new browser
window. Copy/paste the URL to the new window. Now you can
explore some links in one, while you have one as an easy
home-base. You can also have one loading while you
explore the contents of another. With time, you'll find
lots of uses for multiple windows. 3. A site which you will be visiting often,
starting in the next assignment, is at the National Center
of Biotechnology Information [NCBI]. Take a peek now if you have never heard of it. It allows
easy access to PubMed, along with a variety of other
databases of importance to molecular biologists,
taxonomists, and geneticists. PubMed is an easy place to
start. This is the on-line link to Medline, and it is fully
searchable for information on published literature. You can
search the literature for nearly any immunologically related
topic. Developing "search smarts" now will serve you well as
you move into journal presentations and the Great Paper
Chase. Have fun- play!!! 4. Last but not least, take a look at some general
browser search engines, such as Dogpile, Yahoo, and Google
[among many others]. Sometimes you don't quite know
where to start; or you thought you did, but came up empty.
The search engines can be very useful, if you know how to
use them efficiently. Different search engines will give
different results. Try to limit your answers to one or two typed pages
[12 pt font]. [You need not retype the questions
as part of your responses.] 1. What aspect of the Kuby Immunology book site do
you think will be quite useful to you during this
course? 2. What do you feel is the value of seeing
interactive molecular models? 3. How were you able to determine that the tumor
cell was dying when attacked by the cytotoxic T lymphocyte?
[at "cellsalive.com"] 4. Give the URLs of two sites you liked which you
found by exploring the link sites given in #2 above. Briefly
state why you thought they were interesting or how you think
they may be of interest to others in class. [I'll
summarize these and post them on the "Links"
page.] 5. State whether you have visited NCBI before. If
you are already familiar with NCBI, in what areas have you
had the most experience? In what areas would you like to
gain more experience? If you are unfamiliar with NCBI, what
area(s) did you explore? Briefly summarize what you liked
and what you didn't understand. 6. Briefly summarize the results of testing three
browser search engines on a general term and on a word
string, with and without Boolean operators. Include which
search engines you used, which terms you used, the number of
hits and their relevance. 7. When doing a general search, what cues and/or
methods can you use to evaluate the quality of site or
information obtained? [In other words, how do you
distinguish between real science and pseudoscience?]
Exercise
Summary questions
Discussion Section 2: 9/2
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Updated 8/27/04 by thatcher@sonoma.edu