PRESS RELEASE FROM NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
07 January 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Grace Baynes (Corporate Public Relations)
Tel: +44 (0)20 7014 4063; E-mail: [email protected]
Ruth Francis (Head of Press), Nature Publishing Group
Tel: +44 (0)20 7843 4562; E-mail: [email protected]
NATURE EDUCATION LAUNCHES FREE EDUCATION WEBSITE FIT FOR GENERATION Y
Nature Education today launches Scitable www.nature.com/scitable a free, online educational resource for undergraduate biology students and educators. Currently focussed on genetics, Scitable combines authoritative scientific information with social media functionality. Scitable is the first product launch from Nature Education, a division of Nature Publishing Group formed in January 2007 to develop innovative education resources and tools for college science students and educators.
“Research supports the fact that while science students are still using textbooks and library resources for their science classes, they are now depending increasingly on the internet. However, reliability of information is a concern,” says Vikram Savkar, publishing director of Nature Education. “Our goal is to provide an authoritative and compelling science resource on the internet for students and faculty anywhere in the world.”
Scitable provides students with free online access to more than 180 overviews of key genetics concepts. The overviews are evidence-based and have been vetted by Nature Publishing Group staff. By connecting with other Scitable users via groups, chat functionality and other social media features, students can collaborate online with classmates, or with a wider community of experts, researchers and fellow students.
Scitable is also intended as a teaching tool for faculty. Educators can set up public or private groups for their students, providing reading lists, course-packs of Scitable articles and group discussions. Scitable is flexible and easy to use, and can be incorporated into courseware services such as Blackboard.
Nature Education introduced the Scitable beta site in October 2008 and invited faculty and students to provide feedback. Of 31 faculty who beta-tested Scitable, 97% would recommend it to other teaching faculty and 100% would recommend Scitable as a study resource to students.
“I am looking forward to using Scitable’s resources for my genetics class,” said Clare O’Connor, Associate Professor of Biology at Boston College. “The articles are written expressly for undergraduates in a way that helps students to understand how our current genetic concepts rest firmly upon experimental evidence. The availability of a large number of articles in different areas of genetics allows instructors to construct instructional paths tailored for their own students.”
Scitable currently contains content in the field of genetics, specifically: chromosomes and cytogenetics, evolutionary genetics, gene expression and regulation, gene inheritance and transmission, genes and disease, genetics and society, genomics, nucleic acid structure and function, and population and quantitative genetics. Nature Education plan to expand the service to other subject areas in future.
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About Nature Education
Nature Education is a division of Nature Publishing Group, dedicated to developing innovative educational resources for undergraduate college science students and faculty.
About Nature Publishing Group (NPG):
Nature Publishing Group is a division of Macmillan Publishers Ltd, dedicated to serving the academic and professional scientific and medical communities. NPG’s flagship title, Nature, was first published in 1869. Other publications include Nature research journals, Nature Reviews, Nature Clinical Practice and a range of prestigious academic journals including society-owned publications. NPG also provides news content through Nature News. Scientific career information and free job postings are offered on Naturejobs.
NPG is a global company with principal offices in London, New York and Tokyo and offices in Basingstoke, Boston, Buenos Aires, Delhi, Hong Kong, Madrid, Melbourne, Munich, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul and Washington DC. For more information, please go to www.nature.com.
