Dear Maya,

First, let me say: "Good luck!". You've got your work cut out for you!
In the Spring and Fall, there are microscopy courses given in Woods Hole
which provide an excellent introduction to light microscopy. I suspect your
needs are more immediate however! But no matter how much studying you do
now, I'd suggest looking into these course. Check out http://www.mbl.edu
and look at their educational listings for "microscopy course".

My web site, which regrettably is difficult to access at times due to
problems with my internet service provider, is a site which has the goal of
exactly what your suggesting. It is: http://www.videomicroscopy.com.
On it, you'll find links to the best confocal web sites on the web. In
addition, I'd strongly recommend that you read a copy of my father's book
"Video Microscopy" which can be purchased on my web site. I'm biased, but
regardless, you'll find that everybody you ask will tell you that this is
THE book on microscopy to buy and use. The other resource is Jim Pawley's
book - "the handbook of confocal microscopy" which is considered the "must
have" confocal book. There's a bit of information about both on my site.
Scroll all the way down the table of contents and click on "publications
and references". Note that you can get any Plenum book from me, just drop
me a line and I'll make the necessary arrangements for you.

The other area you'll want to check is the "People Connection" link. In
there, I've collected links to a number of the key labs around the world,
organized by application area. One of these areas is, yes, Confocal and 2
photon microscopy. I encourage you to browse through those dozen links as
there are some very good resources on the web covering confocal microscopy.
How it works, etc.

Finally, the first tutorial that I've done on my site covers the basics of
3D reconstruction. I'd suggest that you give that a look through as
everybody doing confocal will want you to generate a 3D image for them.
Understanding how it works will help you get the best results for your
users.

I hope these pointers help out. Best of luck!
-Ted Inoue




On Monday, November 17, 1997 2:57 PM, Maya Moody [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
wrote:
> Help!!!
>
> I was hired recently to work in an imaging facility as an electron
microscopy supervisor.
> Along with the EM's, there is a Zeiss version 2.08 Laser Scanning
Microscope in
> the facility, and because I am the only employee in this multi-user
facility it is up to
> me to at least be able to inform the users of the basics.  My question
is, can any of you
> recommend good beginner level confocal resources that would be helpful
for me and
> the users (books, web pages, etc.). Keep in mind when I say beginner, I
mean beginner.
> The first time I saw a confocal microscope was the day I started working
here.
>
> Your patience and any help is greatly appreciated,
>
> Maya Moody
>
> Cell Imaging Facility
> Cell and Molecular Biology
> Northwestern University Medical School
> Ward-7-143
> 303 E. Chicago Ave.
> Chicago, IL 60611
> T: 312-503-4445
> F: 312-503-7912
> E: [log in to unmask]