This Meeting Review describes the proceedings and conclusions from the inaugural meeting of the Electron Microscopy Validation Task Force organized by the Unified Data Resource for 3DEM (http://www. emdatabank.org) and held at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ on September 28 and 29, 2010. At the workshop, a group of scientists involved in collecting electron microscopy data, using the data to determine three-dimensional electron microscopy (3DEM) density maps, and building molecular models into the maps explored how to assess maps,models, and other data that are deposited into the Electron Microscopy Data Bank and Protein Data Bank public data archives. The specific recommendations resulting from the workshop aim to increase the impact of 3DEM in biology and medicine.