This paper consists of the following sections:
The long term goals of the NetBiochem project are to:
We look forward to establishing links between the Biochemistry project and related projects in other subject areas, and we invite other workers to place pointers to our material into their documents as they see fit. We envision the eventual existence of a seamless network of information, created in many places by many people, which a person can explore via hyperlinks in any manner that meets his or her needs.
At this time one topic, coproporphyri n.
Other topics are currently available in text-only versions. They lack essential graphic information, and are provided as interim services which we hope will benefit users who may not have ready access to up-to-date technical texts. We intend to complete them as quickly as possible.
A striking difference between the completed topic and the interim text-only materials is the length of individual text documents. The completed topic consists of a large number of relatively short (typically one to two screenfuls of text) documents, appropriately linked. The interim materials all consist of one long scrolling field per topic, with pointers at the beginning of each to internal subtopic headings. In our opinion, the use of computers as merely another way to read long passages of text is a misuse, and we have employed it temporarily only to serve the pressing need indicated previously.
Our decision to use relatively short text documents was based on the success of that format in the (1) This format increased interactivity because each field that was initially visible on the screen contained text designed as an advance organizer, to prepare the reader to receive new information. Clicking on an advance organizer field caused another short field containing more detailed information to pop up. The interactivity and chunking of information achieved this way was popular with the students and was effective.
Use of such very short text documents in NetBiochem seemed impractical, partly because of the management problem generated by a large number of documents, and partly because retrieval of each would require a separate connection and transmission -- which would decrease the speed of a process already marginally too slow on some clients. Long texts take longer to load, but it needs to be done less frequently. We compromised by using moderately short text documents.
Other physical arrangements of the textual material, e.g., putting all of it into a single document, with anchors to appropriate internal locations might be capable of yielding the same or nearly the same effect, but with less processing overhead. We intend to explore some of these approaches.
Preliminary data from student surveys, however, confirms our opinion that long scrolling fields are not desirable. (2) When students familiar with the chunked style of presenting information in IBLS were asked how they felt about the greater amount of information per screen in the Mosaic presentation, 25% rated it desirable, 27% said it didn't matter, and 48% rated it undesirable. When asked in which presentation the interrelations among concepts was easier to see, 6% preferred the longer chunks of text in the Mosaic presentation, 25% felt there was no difference, and 69% preferred the shorter chunks of text in IBLS.
In narrative sections of the evaluation instrument many students volunteered the opinion that instructional material in Mosaic needs a formal program map that allows the users to tell at a glance what parts of the instructional material they have seen and what they have not yet seen (or accidentally missed). An outline consisting of all the individual HTML documents, with each outline item linked to its corresponding document, would meet this need on web browsers that change the color of the anchor after the corresponding file has been viewed.
Self-testing, using realistic multiple choice questions and incorporating commentary on why the right answers are right and the wrong answers wrong has always been popular with students. We have included a HTML document consisting of a series of questions with anchors to separate answer documents for each question. Clicking on an answer takes the student to the corresponding answer document, where the question is repeated, the correct answer appears in boldface, and the student's choice appears in reverse video. Following the repeated question, explanations of all the choices appear. Each answer document ends with an anchor to the next question in the question document.
Many of our images are chemical structures or reactions. In-line reduced versions of these complicated line drawings (linked to full sized versions) would appear as smudges, and would bear no useful information. Yet they would increase transmission and processing time. Instead, we incorporated tiny, colored graphic images consisting of the abbreviations, "STRUCT" or "REACT." Since these are small and are used repeatedly, they bear minimal processing overhead. They add visual interest, and the external images they conjure when clicked upon can be moved to the best possible screen location by the user.
Explicitly stated learning objectives have been included as in-line images of text in boxes. These provides desirable visual contrast for the objectives, which have a different educational purpose than the body of the text. Since the boxes are usually only two lines tall, their inclusion does not decrease transmission or processing speed unacceptably. Here is an example of an objective in a box.
Animated graphics are part of the NetBiochem offerings. Some are part of the completed instructional material, while others are stand-alone QuickTime movies that will eventually be linked to treatments of appropriate topics. In designing them we tried to make reasonable decisions regarding the relationship between file size and information content. Long waits for files that prove not to be very instructive can be frustrating.
Faculty who do not intend to use computer based learning, but who need visual material such as diagrams or animated sequences for traditional lectures could download items of their choice for this purpose. They could then project these from a computer during their lectures, using a video projector or a projection panel, both of which are becoming commonly available in educational facilities.
Further, creators of related instructional material for the World Wide Web may use NetBiochem files (graphics and sounds would seem most suitable) in their works instead of redeveloping identical or very similar materials.
NetBiochem contains a page of anchors to other sites of interest to biochemistry research, such as protein databases, NIH and NSF gopher servers, etc. These may be of marginal value as research tools, since most serious users of these on-line services likely have them in their hotlists. They may serve an educational purpose, though, informing newcomers to the field of the existence of these resources.
We believe major potential uses of the World Wide Web for research relate to communication of results. Communication through the Web is rapid and world wide. Nontraditional types of information such as sound and motion could be incorporated directly into publications. The text of each communication is searchable, so busy scientists could find key concepts more rapidly. And referencing of other works is dynamic; instead of readers merely learning where to find a given source, they could retrieve and use it immediately. Traditional approaches to publication, some of them very valuable to the integrity of research, conflict in part with rapid communication, and these conflicts will need to be resolved before publication on the World Wide Web becomes broadly acceptable to biochemists.
Primary among the issues is peer review. Peer review is designed to assure the quality of published research. It takes time, and it requires an organization of peers to conduct it. Traditional publishers and scientific societies organize this effort in exchange for the exclusive right to publish accepted papers. Circumventing the process would place the publication in a position where it would receive little respect; publishing peer reviewed, printed materials after publication by a traditional publishing firm might incur the wrath of the firm. If these issues could be settled, however, the benefits of wide dissemination, word searching and ability to Project Muse of The Johns Hopkins University Press, are already in place.
Electronic poster sessions featuring material traditionally shown at meetings, and often published only as abstracts in journals, are among the exciting possibilities. As with papers, incorporation of nontraditional types of information could enrich the experience. Electronic poster sessions already exist, for example, in neuroscience. Electronic posters would allow most of the effect of presence at a real poster, persons excluded from the meeting by geographic or financial restriction would benefit, and dialog could be by electronic mail. Again, conflict with traditional values would arise if the societies sponsoring major meetings viewed the electronic alternative as inimical to their legitimate interests.
Finally, a major concern of many biochemists is that electronic pre-publication of any sort would be viewed by their peers and by traditional publishing organizations as prior publication, disqualifying the work permanently from publication in a form that would be accorded the professional recognition required for advancement in one's field.
(1) Baggott, J. and Dennis, S.E. The Integrated Biochemistry Learning Series. Biochem. Educ. 22(1), 8 (1994).
(2) Baggott, J. and Dennis, S.E. Use of NCSA Mosaic to Present a Locally Modifiable Medical Biochemistry Lecture Sequence. Slice of Life Workshop, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, June 24, 1994.
Email address of contact author: baggottj@hal.hahnemann.edu
9/13/94