Publications and Communication Committee Note

By Jasna Markovac, SDB Publications and Communication Committee Chair

The current state of science publishing is very dynamic and also very exciting. The migration of print publications to the electronic environment, especially with respect to content development and information delivery, offers many opportunities for new initiatives. As information dissemination moves away from the traditional book and journal formats, the content itself becomes much more important than the vehicle by which it is published. This trend provides scientists with more opportunities to disseminate content and data in novel ways. One of the most important new trends in information delivery is the development of subject gateways, information communities and knowledge bases which serve as a ‘one stop shop’ for access to large quantities of content (generated de novo as well as linked to existing materials) in a given discipline.

To that end, SDB is very pleased to announce our new initiative – SDB Collaborative Resources (CoRe). CoRe is our electronic information community for developmental biology. CoRe will provide short, authoritative, image-driven explanations of basic concepts in developmental biology, aimed at specialists and non-specialists alike. In addition, CoRe will include educational materials, teaching tools, supplementary content, and other types of materials, as well as links to relevant external sites, including SDB’s LEADER (Library of Educational Annotated DEvelopmental biology Resources). We envision a close relationship between CoRe and our existing Society-affiliated publications: Developmental Biology (SDB’s official journal, published by Elsevier) and WIREs Developmental Biology (Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews, published by John Wiley). Please note that as of December, 2011, SDB will no longer be associated with the book series, Current Topics in Developmental Biology (published by Elsevier).

Please visit us at the Annual Meeting to see a demo, to obtain more information about CoRe and for instructions on how you can participate in this exciting new initiative.