Implementation of the Biological Bulletin - Marine Models Electronic Record (BB-MMER), an Electronic Journal at the Marine Biological Laboratory

《生物通报》是一份具有 97 年历史的折衷期刊，由马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔的海洋生物实验室 (MBL) 出版，该杂志将与 MBL 的信息系统部门合作制作电子配套产品：《生物通报海洋模型电子记录》(BB--MMER)。 这本新期刊通过万维网发行，将出版有关非哺乳动物海洋生物的实用信息，这些信息对基础生物学和生物医学研究有用。 一个多世纪以来，海洋生物及其制品一直作为实验模型，它们的使用带来了许多基础性的发现，特别是在发育生物学、神经生物学和细胞生理学方面。 不幸的是，由于篇幅的限制，传统期刊上都没有发表收集、维护和培养这些生物体的细节，也没有在实验科学中使用它们所必需的详细方案、食谱和参考书目。 因此，这些发现背后的细节就会丢失，或者必须在不同的实验室中重新发现。 BB--MMER 将以两种方式解决这个问题：作为传统的学术期刊；并作为一个新颖的电子数据库可供世界各地的科学家使用。 首先，像它的硬拷贝表兄弟一样，BB--MMER 将征求并接受贡献，这些贡献将由《生物通报》的稳定审稿人进行审查。 因此，BB--MMER 接受出版和分发的所有论文都将是真实的、可引用的期刊文章。 同时，MBL 信息系统部门的工作人员将使用 Mosaic 环境为期刊开发超文本链接和数据管理功能。 每个 BB--MMER 贡献都将分层呈现：即，首先是包含摘要和目录的扉页；然后（根据选择）论文正文，最后（根据选择）逐步实验室协议和附录中的其他详细材料。 将以彩色或黑白形式提供优质插图，最终将包括视频片段。 以电子方式出版期刊可以改善索引、检索和多重使用。 此外，电子出版使作者能够修改或升级以前出版的作品。 但大部分价值是由电子环境带来的联系和管理功能所增加的。 因此，BB--MMER 的用户不仅能够获得有关大量模型生物及其组织制剂的综合信息，而且还能够比较来自许多不同论文的方案、配方、制剂或其他信息单元。 随着时间的推移，随着数据库的规模和复杂性的增加，这个设施将变得更加富有成效。

The Biological Bulletin, an eclectic, 97-year-old journal published by the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, will collaborate with the Information Systems Division of the MBL to produce an electronic companion: the Biological Bulletin Marine Models Electronic Record (BB-- MMER). This new journal, distributed via the World Wide Web, will publish practical information about nonmammalian marine organisms that are useful in basic biological and biomedical research. Marine organisms and the preparations made from them have served as experimental models for more than a century, and their use has led to many fundamental discoveries, particularly in developmental biology, neurobiology, and cellular physiology. Unfortunately, neither the particulars of collecting, maintaining, and culturing these organisms, nor the detailed protocols, recipes, and bibliographies essential to their use in experimental science, are published in traditional journals due to limitations of space. Thus the details that underlie the findings are lost, or must be rediscovered in different laboratories. The BB--MMER will approach this problem in two ways: as a traditional scholarly journal; and as a novel electronic database available to scientists everywhere in the world. First, like its hard-copy cousin, the BB--MMER will solicit and accept contributions, and these will be reviewed by the Biological Bulletin's stable of referees. All papers accepted for publication and distributed by the BB--MMER will therefore be genuine, citable journal articles. Concurrently, the staff of the MBL's Information Systems Division will use the Mosaic environment to develop hypertext linkage and data management features for the journal. Each BB--MMER contribution will be presented hierarchically: i.e., first the title page containing an abstract and a table of contents; then (by option) the body of the paper, and finally (by option) step-by-step laboratory protocols and other detailed materials in appendices. Superior illustrations will be provided in color or black-and-white, and video segments will be included eventually. Publishing a journal electronically can improve indexing, retrieval, and multiple use. Moreover, electronic publishing enables authors to modify or upgrade previously published work. But most value is added by the linkage and management features that are made possible by the electronic environment. Thus, users of the BB--MMER will not only be able to obtain comprehensive information about a large selection of model organisms and their tissue preparations, but also to compare protocols, recipes, preparations, or other units of information called from many different papers. And this facility will become more fruitful with time, as the size and complexity of the database increases.