WebWise: The Washington University Genome Sequencing Center’s Web Site

The first web site review in the WebWise series is an overview and navigation guide for Washington University Genome Sequencing Center’s (GSC) web site (http://genome.wustl.edu/gsc/gschmpg.html). This sequencing center has established a high-throughput DNA sequencing facility and has committed the resources required to establish and maintain a World Wide Web site. Those who have been involved in establishing and maintaining a web site will understand that it is a large effort and requires a continuing commitment. Thus, while acknowledging the wealth of data available at these web sites, this review will also acknowledge when the data presentation is inconsistent or incomplete. It is important to note, however, that web sites continue to evolve and often undergo major revision. Therefore, each review reflects the status of the web site prior to publication of each issue. Although each report provides some comparison across a set of standard features found at many sites, each survey will also highlight any special features available at the web site. Reviews will emphasize the main features of these web sites and provide an overview of the general organization, informational resources, map and sequence data presentation and availability, search services, and availability of additional software tools. The main intent of this series is to provide a guide to the location, quantity, and quality of the data to facilitate your use of each web site. Finally, it may be useful to have each web site open on your computer as you read each article.