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The HSLS One-Stop Gateway to Online Bioinformatics ResourcesIn the past decade, the explosive growth of genomic and proteomic data has spawned hundreds of Web-based, publicly available databases and software tools. These bioinformatics resources often represent the best state of knowledge, and provide valuable clues for designing experiments, as well as interpreting and validating experimental results. 
Facing the exponential growth of biological data and information, many researchers find themselves struggling to keep current with research progress in their field. Additional frustration can come from the often daunting task of locating and selecting from among the vast number of online resources. Further complications include the facts that information about these online resources is scattered in various biomedical journals and Web sites, and that few Web sites currently provide an access point with searchable links to these resources. Popular Web search engines, such as Google, are often ineffective for searching bioinformatics resources, mainly because these Web search engines rank Web sites by popularity, rather than their relevance. In addition, Web search engines do not discriminate between reliable and unreliable Web sites. To bridge the gap between the rising information needs of biological and medical researchers, and the rapidly growing number of online bioinformatics databases and software tools, HSLS information specialists and librarians have developed a one-stop information gateway to access these specialized resources. This collection, available through the HSLS Molecular Biology & Genetics Web site <www.hsls.pitt.edu/guides/genetics>, currently contains links to 935 major online bioinformatics databases and software tools. Far more than a simple list with links, HSLS has further equipped this gateway by implementing the Vivisimo Clustering Engine®. Vivisimo automatically organizes the search results into categories created on-the-fly, based on the textual information from the retrieved search results. This clustering tool allows users to search and find the relevant online bioinformatics resources specific to their information needs in a much more efficient manner than the existing popular Web search engines. For example, a search using Vivisimo to locate resources related to the phrase “transcription factor” will retrieve 53 online bioinformatics tools categorized into various topics including Cis-element prediction tools, Eukaryotic databases, microarray data analysis tools, and single nucleotide polymorphisms. To locate online bioinformatics databases and software tools, turn to the Vivisimo Clustering Engine®, available through the recently expanded HSLS Molecular Biology & GeneticsWeb site. |
