CALL FOR DISCUSSION: ACEDB-SOFT/bionet.software.acedb

[Dave Kristofferson]

We have received the following proposal for a new newsgroup for the
ACEDB software.

Discussion will now be open through 15 April on
BIOFORUM/bionet.general (*not* on BIONEWS/bionet.announce).

Please do not post one-line messages saying only "I am in favor of
such a newsgroup".  We will collect votes later.  The discussion
period is an opportunity for anyone to bring up reservations about the
proposed charter and to propose modifications prior to the vote.  The
discussion leader may submit a revised proposal in light of the
discussion, and the new charter would be included in the call for votes
which will go out on 16 April.

Please be aware that only one vote is counted per e-mail address, so
it is necessary to have your own account in order to vote.  Multiple
votes from the same address are not accepted.  If you are interested
in the following newsgroup, but do not have an e-mail address of your
own, please obtain one from your computer center before the call for
votes is issued.

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Proposal to establish ACEDB-SOFT/bionet.software.acedb

E-mail addresses: acedb at net.bio.net
                  acedb at daresbury.ac.uk

Discussion leader:  Mike Cherry
                    Director of Computing
                    Department of Molecular Biology
                    Massachusetts General Hospital
                    Boston, MA  02114

                    Voice: 617-726-5955
                    FAX:   617-726-6893

                    Internet:  cherry at frodo.mgh.harvard.edu


ACEDB-SOFT/bionet.software.acedb charter:

As part of the C. elegans genome effort Jean Thierry-Mieg and Richard
Durbin have developed a generalized software program for genome
databases.  ACEDB is the name of the C. elegans genome database as
well as the name of the software used to provide the database. ACEDB
includes a user interface and a database engine developed specifically
for genome information.

I propose the creation of an unmoderated BioSci group called
ACEDB-SOFT/bionet.software.acedb as a place for discussion of the
ACEDB software. This group would include discussions ranging from
development of new databases using ACEDB to questions from users about
the use of existing database based on the ACEDB software.

In the past two years several groups have begun using ACEDB to create
a variety of genome databases. Currently two of these groups have
released their databases to the general public and many others are
well along in their development. The number of groups utilizing the
ACEDB software to organize, manipulate and disseminate genome
information is increasing.  An informal community of ACEDB developers
has formed to share knowledge and resources. The proposed group would
allow this community to continue growing. The archives of the group
would also provide a useful resource to both developers and users.

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