1. What is Chemical Informatics?
Gary wiggins
Forum on Informatics
IUB Libraries
April 5, 1999

2. Today’s Goals Comparison to existing IUB programs
Definition of chemical informatics
Plans for a future program
Demonstration of a few chemical informatics tools

3. Existing IUB Programs
MLS-MIS Chemical Information Specialist Program in SLIS
A few chemical information courses (3 hours total)
Some opportunity to work in the Chemistry Library
MS in Computer Science

4. What is Chemical Informatics?
Chemoinformatics or cheminformatics or chemical informatics?
Focus on the chemical and physical properties of molecules and data mining
Unique search keys
Chemical nomenclature
Chemical structures
Enormous volume of chemical information

5. Size of the Chemical Literature
Abstracts in CA
: 18.3 million
online : million (84%)
Substances registered
: 18.9 million
Pre-1965: 212 thousand

6. How to Cope with So Much Stuff
Employment of visualization tools
Data mining and property prediction
New retrieval tools
CAS’s SciFinder and SciFinder Scholar
NIST Chemistry WebBook
Integrated chemical information systems
"Chemical information storage and retrieval systems should allow [one] to specify both the constitutional and the stereochemical features of the chemical structures for which the associated information is to be entered or sought." -- A. Dietz, J.Chem.Inf.Comput.Sci. 1995, 35, 787.

7. Plans for the New Program
New undergraduate and graduate courses
Enlist existing faculty/staff to teach
Seek external financial support
Recruit experts in the field to serve as adjunct faculty
Develop cooperative research programs
FOR MORE INFO...

8. Chemical Informatics: Doorway to New Careers