Ten Simple Rules for Getting Help from Online Scientific Communities!

[ECO]

This is a fantastic summary of how to interact with online communities in general. If you're new to online communities, please take the time to read the whole paper.

To summarize the 10 rules:

1. Do not be afraid to ask a question
2. State the question clearly
3. New to a mailing list? Learn the established customs before posting
4. Do not ask what has already been answered
5. Always use a good title
6. Do your homework before posting
7. Proofread your post and write in correct English
8. Be courteous to other forum members
9. Remember that the archive of your discussion can be useful to other people
10. Give back to the community

[angelaleejones32]

Hi, from Huntsville, AL. I work at Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology and have read numerous threads related to projects I'm working on. Thanks to all!

Angela

[pmiguel]

Originally Posted by ECO

This is a fantastic summary of how to interact with online communities in general. If you're new to online communities, please take the time to read the whole paper.

To summarize the 10 rules:

[...]

Do not ask what has already been answered

On the other hand, if someone takes the time to post their gels/traces of an issue and otherwise post in an intelligible fashion, I think they deserve some slack on this point. There are lots of issues that look very similar to one another, but have different causes in sample prep.

Also, we rely heavily on kit lots that sometimes have issues that get past the company's QC. People asking questions about problems they are having is a source of information for others of us who might get stuck with a bum lot of a reagent.

And people working in the lab are probably not sitting in front of a computer screen 8 hours a day -- so they post less frequently. So again, I would give the bench-side questions more slack than computational ones.

Originally Posted by ECO

Remember that the archive of your discussion can be useful to other people

This is especially important to me. I generally do not answer questions asked me in PM's. If I am going to take the time to answer a question, I would like people other than the person posing the question to benefit from my answer as well.

I also want to encourage an ongoing discussion of bench protocols. There are lots of "standard" protocols, like alcohol precipitation of nucleic acids and phenol extractions, that really need 20 page protocols to specify all the caveats and failure modes that the master practitioner will be aware of, or at least equipped to handle.

--
Phillip

[Classycammy]

Hi,

How do I post a forum question?

[kbradnam]

I would add a following point:

11) If you claim that something isn't working or that there is a problem, then it is incredibly useful to others if you post the error message that you are getting.

[lydiaport]

very nice post i like it

[zizzlestick]

How do you create your own thread? Sorry a bit new to the forum

[Brian Bushnell]

In the upper-left corner of a forum is the "New Thread" button. You can't see it when viewing a specific thread. For example, go here:

http://seqanswers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=22

and it will be in the upper-left.

[GenoMax]

Originally Posted by zizzlestick

How do you create your own thread? Sorry a bit new to the forum

SeqAnswers.com --> Select Forums option on left --> Choose Appropriate forum --> "New Thread" button at top left of the page (after you select the forum you want to post in).

[rinku.y8448@gmail.com]

hi..
.how i do post fourm?

[GenoMax]

Originally Posted by rinku.y8448@gmail.com

hi..
.how i do post fourm?

Hmm. Well you just did.

As for how to post in the correct sub-forum use the directions in my post above yours.

[alog]

Hello, dear SEQanswers community! I'm Alex from Berkeley, CA.

[SeleneT]

Hello all,
I'm a long time reader of SEQanwers, but new to posting. I absolutely love the guidelines to users! Thank-you for delineating them so clearly!

My background working in BioScience labs over the last 16 years started 1st as an undergrad Research Assistant, then as a grad student conducting my own research. My first job in science was 5 years as a Microbiologist in the North-West Regional Newborn Screening Program for the State of Oregon, followed by 5 years Supervising a Next Gen Sequencing (Illumina) Core Service lab at the University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and Keck School of Medicine. This year I began as a Research Lab Coordinator for brand new PI Dr. Graham McVicker at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA.

Our lab studies Transcription Regulation in Immune Cells. My first project is to preform ATAC- and RNA-seq on Jurkat cells. As this will be my first foray into ATAC-seq, I'm hoping to glean insights into the protocol & process from anyone here with experience in this area.

I look forward to interacting with this community.
SeleneT

[wfgiles]

Hi my name is Bill Giles. I live in Camarillo, CA. I have a BS in Biology from 1982. Currently retired from a career in Medical Supply Industry I have an un-scratched itch in the region of genomics and bioinformatics. I am gobbling up courses in same on Coursera and other online platforms. I love what you do and am digging through all the hidden pearls on this site. Love to All.

[jamesjhin]

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[Creative]

Hello, dear SEQanswers community! I'm Maria and I'm new here!

[Farhatkhan]

Hi everyone
I am a new PhD candidate from South Africa. My research field is in Colorectal cancer and Bioinformatics.
Unfortunately even I have no formal education background in bioinformatics. Therefore, I am hoping to seek help from you !

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[Danielshaw]

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[plant_hunt]

Hello all,

I'm Caesar from East Africa. I'm currently working on a small RNA sequencing project related to plant pathogens on the Illumina platform.

Glad to be here!