Information retrieval research in the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield: 1965-1985

Abstract

This paper discusses research which was carried out at the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield in the period 1965 to 1985 into storage and retrieval techniques for databases of textual and chemical structure data. The research includes the development of methods for the automatic production of printed subject indexes and for the indexing and retrieval of chemical structures and chemical reactions, the variety generation method for the analysis, characterization and storage of data in a range of types of textual database, the prediction of biological activity in chemical compounds, and the design of document retrieval systems.the textual context [47]. In large part, these similarities of application arise from the frequency distributions underlying these two types of data, a factor which has become clear from the studies described in Sections 4 and 5 of tlus paper. This

Similarity methods in chemoinformatics

“…Multimedia is normally considered to encompass speech, 1-9 image, and video retrieval but the basic algorithms and data structures that are used in IR are more generally applicable: specifically, it is our view that many are applicable to the processing of chemical structure information. The basis for this view is the very extensive studies of textual and chemical retrieval that have been carried out at the University of Sheffield over many years (Lynch & Willett, 1987), where we have found that studies using textual data have often yielded results that, with relatively little modification, can be applied to chemical data, and vice versa.…”

Guest Editorial

“…Department of Information Studies,University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK ment's reputation in the area that is now known as chemoinformatics. The paper by Bishop et al ('Chemoinformatics research at the University of Sheffield: a history and citation analysis') discusses some of the principal areas of chemoinformatics that have been studied here over the last 15 years, updating an earlier review that covered the first two decades of the Department's research in both IR and chemoinformatics [3]. A common criticism of LIS research is that much of it is of little practical value: Bishop et al include a citation analysis that demonstrates clearly the very widespread impact of the chemoinformatics research that has been carried out in Sheffield.…”

Chemoinformatics Research at the University of Sheffield: A History and Citation Analysis

“…This early work is reviewed by Lynch and Willett [8] and the present paper hence focuses on research subsequent to that period. The next section describes our studies of substructure searching on databases of three-dimensional (3D) chemical structures, and Section 3 then discusses the techniques that were developed for representing and searching the generic chemical structures that occur in chemical patents, These areas highlight the long-term nature of much of our research since the two sets of studies reported here both extended over more than a decade.…”

“…Early chemoinformatics research, in the period 1965-1985, focused on the development of methods for indexing databases of chemical reactions, for the design of two-dimensional (2D) substructure searching systems and for the correlation of substructural occurrence data with physical and chemical properties. This early work is reviewed by Lynch and Willett [8] and the present paper hence focuses on research subsequent to that period. The next section describes our studies of substructure searching on databases of three-dimensional (3D) chemical structures, and Section 3 then discusses the techniques that were developed for representing and searching the generic chemical structures that occur in chemical patents.…”