Southwest Precision Instruments -- Resources and Links

**Histonet** A must for the practicing histotechnologist, this discussion group is administered through the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Department of Pathology. Requires registration with UT’s "mailman" service. Instructions for subscribing to the listserver are found at: www.histonet.org

**Histosearch** A quick and easy way to search the Histonet archives. Does not require registration. Go to: www.histosearch.com

**The Microscopy Listserver** Anything and everything related to microscopy and imaging is usually covered on this listserver, including light, electron, confocal laser and scanning probe microscopy. Register for the Listserver at the Microscopy Society of America’s website: www.microscopy.org

**Usenet Newsgroups** Usenet is a worldwide discussion network, and anyone can join. Because of this, not every message will be "on topic," but you will still find lots of useful information on Usenet.

There are thousands of newsgroups within Usenet; some of the more relevant ones include:

sci.techniques.microscopy

sci.med.pathology

bit.listserv.confocal

sci.optics

sci.med.immunology

bionet.neuroscience

Check with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to see if you have access to Usenet, as it is often part of your ISP package. To get access in this way, your ISP must provide a news server that carries the Newsgroups in which you have an interest. If your ISP does not provide this service or does not carry the appropriate Newsgroups, you can subscribe to Usenet through Google (see below.)

Accessing Usenet Newsgroups via Google:

To subscribe to Usenet through Google, go to http://groups.google.com, and try searching for groups by using keywords such as "microscopy," "pathology," "confocal," etc. Google also provides a "Browse All of Usenet" function.

You can read the postings without registering at Google, but full reading and posting privileges will require that you register. Once you have registered you can subscribe to your favorite Newsgroups and receive all of the message traffic. You can elect to receive individual messages or daily digests, and you can post messages and reply to messages through Google.

Other Links:

Websites come and go with amazing frequency, but the following have withstood the test of time. These sites also rank very highly with most search engines, and they are excellent "jump points" to the wealth of information that’s available on the Web.

Cellular Imaging Core Facility, Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center, University of Arizona College of Pharmacy: http://swehsc.pharmacy.arizona.edu/exppath/index.html. From understanding the basics of how your microscope operates to publishing the results of your research (and everything in between), this site provides links to educational and research microscopy; specimen preparation; hardware; software; digital imaging ethics; general resources; tips and tricks; writers’ references; dictionaries; thesauruses; grammar and style guides; and lots more. Definitely worth a visit.

The Histology Portal: www.histology.to. A good resource for general histology and histopathology, with many links to the histology of normal and diseased tissues.

Microworld Resources and News: www.mwrn.com. Contains a Buyer’s Guide, lists of relevant websites, educational resources, a calendar of scientific meetings, product information and vendor links. One of the more popular general microscopy websites.

Microscopy-UK: www.microscopy-uk.org.uk. An excellent resource for the dedicated hobbyist and the microscopy enthusiast, with examples of photomicrography from many users. There is also a link to Micscape, the online microscopy magazine.

Microscopy WWW Virtual Library: www.ou.edu/research/electron/www-vl. Administered by the University of Oklahoma and the Electron Microscopy Laboratory. Lots of links for general microscopy, research microscopy, education, techniques and applications, vendor links and lots more.

Molecular Expressions: http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu. From Florida State University, this site has an amazing gallery of microscopy images, "from beer and ice cream to semiconductor doodles and superconducting materials." Well worth a visit to see the many ways that microscopes are used in teaching, research, industry and manufacturing. Several educational links are also provided.

Microscopy Society of America: www.microscopy.org. As the official site of MSA, this website has links to international microscopy societies, local affiliate societies, subscription to the Microscopy Listserver, calendars of meetings and events, commercial and non-commercial links and resources, educational projects and resources, manufacturers’ and vendors’ websites, and many other resources.

SOUTHWEST PRECISION INSTRUMENTS
TUCSON, ARIZONA TEL. / FAX 520.546.4986