Although it is probably agreed that existing media (specialized journals, proceedings,….) for the presentation and dissemination of scientific information are for the most part satisfactory for new research communications, there is a problem with review articles in so far the often rapidly outdated. Additionally, access to these may be curtailed or prohibited because of the availability and cost. The Glycopedia initiative attempts to address these problems, through the production of “virtual” or “eChapter” selected on important topics in the field of Glycoscience at large, taking advantage of the subject linking capability of information technology. The Glycopedia series will focus on carbohydrate based topics with the intention of promoting he field and providing material to be used for educational purposes.

Obviously, this initiative cannot supplant the present system of reporting, especially with regard to peer review, but it is hoped that these eChapters will provide a forum for interactive discussion and insertion of new developments, as they become available. To this end, we will include links to other articles, bibliographies, images and movies and to new developments as well as a guest book in which to lodge -your critical comments. eChapters are a relatively recent development in the publishing world, offering a variety of innovative options to the reader as compared to the traditional printed book. In order to ease their implementations in Glycopedia, eChapters will be submitted in “word format”, a specialised platform being developed to translate them into material readily and freely accessible on a web portal.

December 6Th 2014
The upgraded version of Glycopedia.eu offers resources on a freely available molecular visualization software for glycoscience developed using video-game technology.
The Glycopedia.eu experience (http://glycopedia.eu) was launched 18 months ago, with the aim of taking advantage of the linking capability of information technology, to promote the field of glycoscience throughout the production of “news” and virtual “e-chapters” to be used for educational purposes. During this period, more than 70 news appeared and 12 chapters were written, thanks to the enthusiastic contributions of many colleagues. As a response, the community at large responded; showing its interest for the experience throughout regular visits to the site. Over the last 3 months, the number of visits went over 6000.
An improved version of the Glyopedia.eu site has been designed. It incorporates a slightly more esthetic presentation of the “news” and “e-chapter” section. More important is the addition of a new section, called “resources” that aims at gathering, information, images, documents, small data bases, which can be used for research and educational uses, in ways different that those presented in “e-chapters”.
The first ‘resource” deals with the presentation of a freely available molecular visualization program tailored to deal with the range of complex carbohydrates and polysaccharides three-dimensional structures, either alone or in their interactions with other bio-macromolecules, has been developed using advanced technologies elaborated by the video games industry. All the specific structural features displayed by the simplest to the most complex carbohydrate containing molecules have been taken into account and can be conveniently depicted. They result in an open source software compatible with multiple platforms i.e. computers on Windows, MacOS and Linux operating systems, web pages, tablets and smartphones, and producing publication-quality figures. More information can be found at: http://glycopedia.eu/resources/seet-unity-mol-3d-visualization-of/article/presentation
http://glycopedia.eu/resources/seet-unity-mol-3d-visualization-of/article/presentation
and as a scientific article published in Glycobiology:
Three-Dimensional Representations of Complex Carbohydrates and Polysaccharides. SweetUnityMol: A Video Game Based Computer Graphic Software
Serge Pérez,* Thibault Tubiana, Anne Imberty and Marc Baaden
http://glycob.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/12/04/glycob.cwu133.abstract

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