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A Service should provide a Wide Range of Information. A National Service should provide access to a wide variety of high quality databases with a broad and expanding portfolio. The current one includes;
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A Service should provide a Wide Range of Information • A National Service should provide access to a wide variety of high quality databases with a broad and expanding portfolio. The current one includes; • Structural chemistry, Synthetic organic chemistry, Chemical procurement, Spectroscopy, and Physical properties. • It should continue to have many crucial features: • Powerful, yet user friendly and convenient access mechanism. • A helpdesk and support - both technical and chemical aspects. • Hands on user training courses. • Publicity/outreach programme for new users. • Access to many specialist databases with a significant use by a subset of the community - with occasional use by a larger section. • Immediate future possibilities are numerous but include: • Further integration of multiple data sources via a single interface involving chemical structural and physical properties information.
Organic Chemists still need a Service • Following the Jennings exercise in 1992/3 organic synthesis was identified as • a major component any National Service and now accounts for 60% of active users • Around 300 users per month; around 2,500 accesses per month • Twice the number of accesses and users per monthcompared to the • Cambridge Structural Database • Almost 1,000 Unique ISIS users during the 05/06 year – an increase of 13%. • SpecInfo showed a 29% increase in unique users • Also structural data is widely used by the organic and other synthetic chemistry communities • Access to structural data is important for practising synthetic chemists • Need for this data may be occasional and spasmodic - use of the CDS facilities provide an excellent, straightforward "one shop" solution
Why a Service has relevance for UK Organic Chemists • In the past ten years other major resources have become more readily available - in particular Beilstein/CrossFire and CAS SciFinder • Use of the CDS ISIS system has held up well and has in fact increased - this is despite a probable decrease in the number of practising organic synthetic chemists. • There is a recognition amongst experienced practitioners that the Service is entirely complementary to these larger systems. • It should be recognised that provision of more "specialist" database systems is not a mere add-on but represents a vital function of a worthwhile Service. • Such systems have extensive use by a sub-section – and also occasional but nevertheless important use by many others. • It is important to minimise the inertial barrier to their use. • The two organic synthesis articles in the 2005/6 CDS Research Highlights give an illustration of the validity of the above points.
A Service has Potential for Expansion • The CDS includes components which can potentially be exploited by a much wider community. • The Available Chemicals Directory (ACD) is an example. • The ACD is of use to anyone with a need to order chemicals – in addition to safety information it includes 3-D structural information allowing sophisticated searching for novel chemical frameworks. • Ready access is also provided to the data and structures from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Developmental Therapeutic Program (DTP). • In addition, the CDS also actively maintains a related database of "screening compounds" (SCD) with currently contains over 4.5M entries from many suppliers. • The Bioscience community, for instance, is just beginning to appreciate the potential - expect a marked increase usage here.
A Service will Serve New Communities • The material and earth science communities already make good use of the current Service. • The crystallographic databases (particular ICSD and CrystMet) are of clear and vital use for these communities. There is a wide spread appreciation of the convenience of a central provider. • Other components, with more specific relevance, could easily be added. • The bioscience communities are increasingly becoming aware of the potential value of the Service. • Aspects of the current portfolio already have value - if in some cases currently only limited to the use the Available Chemicals Directory. • Uptake of the CDS I-Lab trial has been particularly impressive amongst pharmaceutical scientists within bioscience departments. • New specific bioscience components can easily be added within the current framework.