March 1, 2011 (Vol. 31, No. 5)
URL:
http://www.nigms.nih.gov/Initiatives/PSI/Timeline
Rating:
Strong Points: Includes literature citations
Weak Points: None
Summary:
Perhaps you find yourself tiring of traditional web surfing. I mean, navigating link upon link, mining for online information, can get dull at times. That’s why I found the National Institute of General Medical Sciences’ interactive timeline of protein structure elucidation to be a breath of fresh air. Created in 2009, this interactive online module walks visitors through the history of protein structure determination. Visitors navigate through the decades, throughout which being presented with short summaries of the pioneering work of those years. Yet, what really makes this presentation worth your while is that it also includes citations for the seminal work discussed throughout the timeline. Thus, anyone looking to become a crystallography history buff will know where to start in the body of scientific literature. So go ahead and take a brief break from all that lab work to indulge in this fun and educational web diversion.