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Social Media and Informatics Essentials for Toxicologists
SOT Annual Meeting
Washington, D.C.
Monday, March 7
Chairperson(s): Lyle Burgoon, U.S. EPA, Durham, NC, and Sneha Bhatia, Research Institute for Fragrance Materials Inc., Woodcliff Lake, NJ.
Sponsor: Ethical, Legal & Social Issues Specialty Section
Endorsed by:
Career Resource and Development Committee
Communications Committee
Education Committee
How many times a day do we use Google or a search engine? Its use has become so intuitive that we have coined this term as a verb and simply cannot imagine functioning without it. Information that was once confined to libraries and various periodicals is now free and easily accessible since the advent of Internet technology. Furthermore, it has broken cultural and language barriers and enabled one to communicate and collaborate with people all over the world. The combination of social media, open source programs, and bioinformatics has transformed the role of the computer in the modern scientist’s life. Video journals, blogging, open access journals, social network websites, and podcasts have become the new channels of communication—enabling first hand transfer of free knowledge and an ease by which to carry out many collaborative efforts. A familiarity with simple Internet searching, word processing, and expansive spreadsheets is simply not an adequate preparation. Furthermore, the software tools used to deal with data arising from in silico models, toxicogenomics, or high-throughput screens require an understanding of basic concepts in computer science, database design, bioinformatics, and statistics. To bridge the gap between these two worlds our panel of experts will provide toxicologists with the basic knowledge of the informatics and various open source tools available. In closing, we’ll discuss innovative strategies including the use of social media as a communication, collaboration, networking, and a career advancement tool.
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