# Get Started There are two paths to this tutorial depending on whether you want to use your own data or public data: ### [Private dataset](https://kb.ezbiocloud.net/knowledgebase/protocols/shotgun-microbiome/download-samples) If you have your own shotgun microbiome samples you want to test, you can skip to the [Navigate Menus](https://kb.ezbiocloud.net/knowledgebase/protocols/shotgun-microbiome/navigate-menus) section. ### [Public dataset](https://kb.ezbiocloud.net/knowledgebase/protocols/shotgun-microbiome/navigate-menus) If you want to follow along the tutorial with a selected public dataset, please start [here](/home/protocols/shotgun-microbiome/download-samples.md).\ \ In the public dataset tutorial, we create a study that contains a subset of samples from a larger, public, Parkinson’s Disease (PD) study on NCBI's Sequence Read Archive (SRA). The study is an empty container, so we download the subset of samples from the SRA and upload them to EzBioCloud, into the study we have just created. EzBioCloud profiles the microbiomes of each sample. We now have a study with profiled microbiome samples from PD and non-PD patients, but we don’t know which is which. Therefore, we upload metadata from the SRA to the study for each profiled sample. From this study of profiled and described patient samples, we create a dataset for analysis. Using the dataset with its metadata on patient information, we run a series of analyses to test the quality, beta diversity, and differential abundances between patients with Parkinson’s disease and control patients. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://kb.ezbiocloud.net/home/protocols/shotgun-microbiome/get-started.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.