Associate Professor Khairuddin Itam SHES2201 FUNDAMENTALS OF BIOINFORMATICS

PRACTICAL 2
SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION WITH GOOGLE

PART A: Learning To Use Google

You are given 3 movies:

(a) 01 Introducing Google Basic Searches.wmv

(b) 02 Google Special Searches.wmv
(c) 03 The Google Toolbar.wmv

Go through each of the movies, one-by-one, in sequence. Follow and understand the steps shown in
the movies on how to use Google effectively. The outcome of this exercise is that I would expect
you to be quite proficient in using Google!

Using your newly acquired experience on the skilled use of Google, do the following exercise:

Look for ALL of the definitions for BIOCOMPUTING. Next, from this list, select 4 (four) of the
most contextually different definitions and enter them into the following table.

Term Definition Web Address

2
BIOCOMPUTING
3

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 Associate Professor Khairuddin Itam SHES2201 FUNDAMENTALS OF BIOINFORMATICS

PART B: Looking Out For Data In Biological Databases

Biological data can be digitized through various methods of input mechanisms, and then stored in
databases. These databases can now be made available to the public, or provided with limited
subscription, or be completely private (no public access at all). The biological data sets can be
accessed through the internet. There are many types of biological data, representing information
from the many domains of biology. Examples of these domains include proteomics, genomics,
biochemistry, physiology, medical and health, biodiversity, plant breeding, animal breeding, genetic
resources and conservation, taxonomy, etc. Most of these data are used as a resource for research,
teaching and general knowledge. In a sense, these are knowledge repositories available on-line
24/7.

Using the Google search engine, do a search on the internet for databases that store biological data
from 6 (six) knowledge domains. Ensure that all the 6 biological databases that you’ve selected
contains biological data that are different from the other databases.

Full URL of
http://science.mccneb.edu/pevans/Image_Data_Base/
Web Site
Biological
Discipline
Physiology

Graphic of
home page

Type of
biological Plant, plant diseases. Biology of the seed plants
data
Format of
biological Pictures (*.jpg format) and text only
data
Comment
on database
(User Cannot do searches. No CD-ROM. Poor interface, navigation
access,
layout, etc)

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 Associate Professor Khairuddin Itam SHES2201 FUNDAMENTALS OF BIOINFORMATICS

Full URL of
Web Site
Biological
Discipline

Graphic of
home page

Type of
biological
data
Format of
biological
data
Comment
on database
(User
access,
layout, etc)

Full URL of
Web Site
Biological
Discipline

Graphic of
home page

Type of
biological
data

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 Associate Professor Khairuddin Itam SHES2201 FUNDAMENTALS OF BIOINFORMATICS

Format of
biological
data
Comment
on database
(User
access,
layout, etc)

Full URL of
Web Site
Biological
Discipline

Graphic of
home page

Type of
biological
data
Format of
biological
data
Comment
on database
(User
access,
layout, etc)

Full URL of
Web Site
Biological
Discipline

PRACTICAL 2 - SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION WITH GOOGLE Page 4

 Associate Professor Khairuddin Itam SHES2201 FUNDAMENTALS OF BIOINFORMATICS

Graphic of
home page

Type of
biological
data
Format of
biological
data
Comment
on database
(User
access,
layout, etc)

Full URL of
Web Site
Biological
Discipline

Graphic of
home page

Type of
biological
data
Format of
biological
data

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 Associate Professor Khairuddin Itam SHES2201 FUNDAMENTALS OF BIOINFORMATICS

Comment
on database
(User
access,
layout, etc)

Full URL of
Web Site
Biological
Discipline

Graphic of
home page

Type of
biological
data
Format of
biological
data
Comment
on database
(User
access,
layout, etc)

PRACTICAL 2 - SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION WITH GOOGLE Page 6

Associate Professor Khairuddin Itam SHES2201 FUNDAMENTALS OF BIOINFORMATICS

PART C: More Google Exercises

1) The Rosetta Stone is a historically important stone, found in Egypt, that contains cross-
translating text in 3 languages. One of the alphabet text is called the Hieroglyphic, which
reveals the nature of language used by the ancient Egyptians to communicate.

§ What are the other two languages found on the surface of the Rosetta Stone?

§ What is the dimension or size of the stone (in metres)?

§ Give the name of the site from where the stone was discovered.

§ Who was the first person to be able to translate the texts into a modern language?

§ Provide an English translation text of the contents of the Hieroglyphic text

2) What are the scientific names of two types of whale?

(1)
(2)

3) Using http://maps.google.com, show a satellite map of the exact position of “Jabatan

Pengangkutan Jalan,Cawangan Kecil Petaling Jaya,Jalan Sultan,46620 Petaling
Jaya,Selangor, Malaysia”

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Associate Professor Khairuddin Itam SHES2201 FUNDAMENTALS OF BIOINFORMATICS

4) Using the same search engine as above, list out the names of roads you need to pass through
when using a car, in order to go from University of Malaya P.J. Gate to the JPJ address
above.

Ï University Malaya P.J. Gate

Ï Jalan…
Ï Jalan…
Ï ??? , etc …
Ê Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan,Cawangan Kecil Petaling Jaya,Jalan Sultan,46620 Petaling
Jaya,Selangor, Malaysia.

Submit your practical assignments within a week, to the Turnitin (SHES2201 – Practical)
account.

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