DOE Human Genome Program Contractor-Grantee Workshop VIII
February 27-March 2, 2000  Santa Fe, NM

127. Electronic Scholarly Publishing: Foundations of Classical Genetics

Robert J. Robbins

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109

rrobbins@fhcrc.org

The HGP has significant ethical, legal, and social implications for all citizens. Public interest in the project is growing. In addition to its importance in the training of professional geneticists, the HGP is of special relevance for undergraduate training in basic biology, and even for high-school and other K-12 education. In a world soon to experience a flood of information and technology from genomic research, a basic understanding of genetic principles may become part of the expected knowledge base of the educated citizen.

Understanding HGP research, however, requires some familiarity with basic genetics. Access to materials that support an understanding of classical genetics can be difficult for those outside a university environment. We have created an informational and educational resource at which material related to the foundations of classical genetics is being republished in readily available, typeset-quality electronic form. We also publish additional material, such as pedagogical materials, items of general interest, biographical and autobiographical memoirs, and historical or analytical treatments.

Materials at our site are of interest to individual users, but they are especially valuable for teachers and other educators in the preparation of their course materials. Several textbook publishers are providing links to our site at their value-adding textbook support sites. Many junior college and secondary school sites are also now referencing our site.

In the past year, we have emphasized software development to improve the efficiency with which we can publish works at our site and to improve the functionality of our site for users. We have also gained access to some critical copyrighted materials by establishing relationships with key publishers, such as the Genetics Society of America and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.