Abstract

Providing information for biological research: experiences, anecdotes and future plans

EMBL Outstation - European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, CB10 1RQ. UK

Graham.Cameron@EBI.AC.UK

EMBL and its Outstation the EBI have been involved in the provision of biological databases and information services for about 15 years. Numerous design errors and a few modest successes have led us to conclude that:

• In biological information the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

  It is therefore worth doing a lot to promote the existence of comprehensive, publicly-available databases, and to ensure that the different collections can be used together.

• The provision of good information services for biology is a moving target.

  Advances in biology, e.g., progress in the genome projects, and the exploitation of the latest advances in informatics requires constant development.