ChemSpider Blog

My article on “Internet-based tools for communication and collaboration in chemistry” was published today in Drug Discovery News.

The abstract is given below:

“Web-based technologies, coupled with a drive for improved communication between scientists, have resulted in the proliferation of scientific opinion, data and knowledge at an ever-increasing rate. The availability of tools to host wikis and blogs has provided the necessary building blocks for scientists with only a rudimentary understanding of computer software science to communicate to the masses. This newfound freedom has the ability to speed up research and sharing of results, develop extensive collaborations, conduct science in public, and in near-real time. The technologies supporting chemistry, while immature, are fast developing to support chemical structures and reactions, analytical data support and integration to related data sources via supporting software technologies. Communication in chemistry is already witnessing a new revolution.”

doi:10.1016/j.drudis.2008.03.015

Another article I wrote on “Public Compound Databases” will appear in DDN shortly.

I have posted a couple of times in the past week about Registry numbers. Relative to

CAS Registry Numbers and How Confused We Are

please note that Ms Morrow Hall has provided me the link to the letter on C&E News. The letter is available  here. Scroll to the bottom

Regarding the post

The Confusion of Registry Numbers on ChemSpider

The original list of six hits that resulted from the search has been reduced to the one correct structure as a result of feedback and curation. The list is now this one compound here.

We have started a trend of acknowledging contributors to ChemSpider. This month I want to acknowledge the contributions of two individuals who are both curating and depositing data to ChemSpider.

Heinz Kolshorn from the University of Mainz is an almost daily contributor to the curation process as well as a depositor of new compounds and NMR spectra.

Chris Singleton from Boston, MA has been busily connecting up web-based information sheets about chromatographic separations (look at the links and references here) and is about to start a wave of depositions of NMR spectral data.

To both of these gentlemen I say Thank You. ChemSpider is growing in terms of quality and content as a result of your your efforts. if you want to become a depositor or curator for ChemSpider it’s easy. Ping me on this blogpost and I’ll point you to some materials to help.