A web-based knowledge-sharing resource for biological researchers

Mission of OpenWetWare

Goals:• Have a meaningful impact on the dissemination of

biological information• See a significant portion of academic researchers

using OWW• Achieve long-term sustainability

To be a premier, open, and lasting environment in which biologists and biological engineers can work together in real time to produce, share, and improve knowledge.

Why share scientific expertise?

• Peer-to-peer collaboration speeds the pace of research

• Reduces needless duplication of effort

• Faster dissemination of useful information

Web-based technologies will help scientists conduct their work more easily, accelerating the pace of discovery and technology development.

The power of open science

• Lab communities • Experimental protocols• Tips, tricks, lore, and other useful info for the

biological researcher• Academic courses• Online lab notebooks

OpenWetWare brings communities and information together at the speed of the web.

We’re home to:

Lab communitiesThe Crisanti Lab Imperial College, London

Experimental protocols

Tips, tricks, and lore

Academic courses

Online lab notebooks

OpenWetWare technology

OpenWetWare is a Web 2.0 resource, meaning it is made by the community for the use of the community.

OpenWetWare is built on the MediaWiki software platform with PHP database and other custom-built features under the hood.

OpenWetWare stats

Users come from…U.S. 28%Europe 16%India 11%U.K. 10%

Hits ~4,000,000 (raw, per month)Unique visits: 100,000 (per month)Registered users: 5,000Google rank of 7 for protocols and main page

Why OpenWetWare works

OWW has• A critical mass of users within science communities• A core team and community volunteers to bootstrap

new users• Open wiki-based tools that are easy to use and have

a low barrier to entry

Advantages to using OWW• Membership is required to edit documents• Dedicated support team based at MIT• More than 5,000 users worldwide

OpenWetWare is driving open science

• Building an attribution-friendly system that maps more closely to the way people work

• Adapting the best new Web 2.0 technologies to the OWW platform

• Working with other open-access organizations such as Science Commons, OpenCourseWare, BioBricks Foundation