Bioinformatics and Biology Essentials For Librarians: Databases, Tools, and Clinical Applications
Class Details
Learn about the data science of biology: Bioinformatics!
This class is an introductory, asynchronous online bioinformatics course for librarians using the Moodle learning management system. It is a 14-week, self-paced course worth 30 hours of CE credit from the Medical Library Association. This course was designed both for librarians who offer, or intend to offer, bioinformatics services; and also for librarians who use gene or protein information on a periodic or irregular basis to serve their patrons.
There are four major due dates:
Pre-Work: Monday, January 18, 2021 (Genetics Basics)
Part I: Monday February 15, 2021 (Bioinformatics and Librarianship, Molecular Biology Techniques, NCBI Nucleotide and BLAST)
Part II: Monday, March 15, 2021 (NCBI Gene, Protein, Structure, and Clinical Applications)
Part III: Friday, April 9, 2021 (Ethics and Policy, What's Next in Genomic Research, and Synthesis Exercises)
Subject Matter Experts/Additional Instructors for this course include: Dr. Peter Cooper, PhD, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine.
This course is limited to 70 participants. There is no waitlist. Registration preference given to librarians who are U.S. citizens and/or residents of the United States.
Link to course (opens Jan 4 to registered students): https://training.nnlm.gov/course/view.php?id=258
Jan 4, 2021 to Apr 9, 2021
Class Overview
Bioinformatics Education introduces different topics and NCBI databases that support bioinformatics education and discovery, including the NCBI databases Nucleotide, Gene, Structure and Protein.
Bioinformatics and Biology Essentials For Librarians: Databases, Tools, and Clinical Applications is an introductory, online bioinformatics course for librarians using the Moodle learning management system. It is a 14 week, self-paced course worth 30 hours of CE credit from the Medical Library Association. It is designed both for librarians who offer, or intend to offer, bioinformatics services; and also for librarians who use bioinformatics information on a periodic or irregular basis to serve their patrons. This course is offered twice a year, generally Jan - May and Aug - Dec.
- Gain a functional understanding of molecular biology concepts sufficient to use the NCBI bioinformatics databases
- Define bioinformatics, describing some research questions that scientists are exploring now using bioinformatics tools and techniques
- For the Nucleotide, Gene, Structure and Protein databases:
- Describe what kinds of information are contained
- Develop a search strategy for common patron questions
- Identify where genetic and protein data comes from, and describe data quality concerns
- Answer common patron questions, referring to appropriate databases
- Find genetic information that is translated to clinical application
- Explore the roles and activities of other librarians working in bioinformatics
- Discuss public policy and ethical implications of bioinformatics data storage, access and use
- Direct others to experts and sources of assistance