From laboratory to information explosions... the evolution of chemical information services at ISI

Abstract

This paper presents an autobiographical account of EugeneGarfield's involvement in chemical information systems. It traces his personal evolution from laboratory chemist transformed into an information scientist who combined his knowledge of structural linguistics and information technology into an algorithmic system for identifying molecular formulas in the literature.Recognizing the shortcomings of traditional abstracting and indexing systems like Index Medicus and Chemical Abstracts, he launched Current Contents, Index Chemicus and Science Citation Index, which were designed to provide timely, weekly and highly specific retrieval of chemical information. The experience in locating and coding the steroid literature for the US Patent Office led to a variety of chemically-based services dealing with new compounds and intermediates, as well as graphical presentation of chemical formulas and reactions.The Index Chemicus Registry System was the first to use the Wiswesser line notation, which became a standard in the pharmaceutical field. This eventually led to Current Chemical Reactions Database and Reaction Citation Index. 50 1 2

Pharmaceutical information: A 30‐year perspective on the literature

“…Associations of pharmaceutical information users—particularly the Pharma Documentation Ring (P‐D‐R) (Di Nallo & Schopfel, 2008), but also the Association of Information Officers in the Pharmaceutical Industry (AIOPI), recently absorbed into the Pharmaceutical Information and Pharmacovigilance Association (PIPA), in the U.K.—have been particularly important in this respect. On a larger scale, several significant information industry companies have developed largely to serve this sector: for example, the Institute for Scientific Information (Garfield, 2001, 2008), Derwent Publications (Poynder, 2000), and Prous (Mason, 1999).…”