Difference between revisions of "RNAct Week 5"
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
(→Scientific Quality of the Database: added questions) |
(→General Utility of the Database to the Scientific Community: added questions) |
||
| Line 28: | Line 28: | ||
== General Utility of the Database to the Scientific Community == | == General Utility of the Database to the Scientific Community == | ||
| + | #'''Are there links to other databases? Which ones?''' | ||
| + | #'''Is it convenient to browse the data?''' | ||
| + | #'''Is it convenient to download the data?''' | ||
| + | #*'''In what file formats are the data provided?''' | ||
| + | #**'''What type of files, indicated by the file extension (e.g., .txt, .xml., etc.)?''' | ||
| + | #**'''Are they standard or non-standard formats? (i.e., are they following an approved standard for that type of data)?''' | ||
| + | #'''Evaluate the “user-friendliness” of the database: can a naive user quickly navigate the website and gather useful information?''' | ||
| + | #*'''Is the website well-organized?''' | ||
| + | #*'''Does it have a help section or tutorial?''' | ||
| + | #*'''Are the search options sensible?''' | ||
| + | #*'''Run a sample query. Do the results make sense?''' | ||
| + | #'''Access: Is there a license agreement or any restrictions on access to the database?''' | ||
== Summary Judgment == | == Summary Judgment == | ||
Revision as of 19:37, 29 September 2019
Contents
General Information of the Database
- What is the name of the database? (link to the home page)
- What type (or types) of database is it?
- What biological information (type of data) does it contain? (sequence, structure, model organism, or specialty [what?])
- What type of data source does it have?
- primary versus secondary ("meta")?
- curated versus non-curated?
- if curated, is it electronic versus human curation?
- if human curation, is it in-house staff versus community curation?
- What individual or organization maintains the database?
- public versus private
- large national or multinational entity or small lab group
- What is their funding source(s)?
Scientific Quality of the Database
- Does the content appear to completely cover its content domain?
- How many records does the database contain?
- What claims do the database owners make about coverage in the corresponding paper?
- What species are covered in the database? (If it is a very long list, summarize.)
- Is the database content useful? I.e., what biological questions can it be used to answer?
- Is the database content timely?
- Is there a need in the scientific community for such a database at this time?
- Is the content covered by other databases already?
- How current is the database?
- When did the database first go online?
- How often is the database updated?
- When was the last update?
General Utility of the Database to the Scientific Community
- Are there links to other databases? Which ones?
- Is it convenient to browse the data?
- Is it convenient to download the data?
- In what file formats are the data provided?
- What type of files, indicated by the file extension (e.g., .txt, .xml., etc.)?
- Are they standard or non-standard formats? (i.e., are they following an approved standard for that type of data)?
- In what file formats are the data provided?
- Evaluate the “user-friendliness” of the database: can a naive user quickly navigate the website and gather useful information?
- Is the website well-organized?
- Does it have a help section or tutorial?
- Are the search options sensible?
- Run a sample query. Do the results make sense?
- Access: Is there a license agreement or any restrictions on access to the database?
