To cite this article, please refer to the printed edition of TrAC: Trends Anal. Chem. 14 (1995) 182
DeKalb, IL, USA
The Northern Illinois University WWW/Gopher Site is described, noting in particular the various Internet resources directed towards chemists.
Perhaps the most overused buzzword in the popular media for the past two years has been the electronic superhighway, a mythic world-wide multimedia computer network that will revolutionize everyday life. We will be able to conduct personal banking and shopping from our homes, videoconference with business partners around the globe, and choose entertainment programs from over 500 selections! While bringing these dreams to fruition is certainly still off in the future, the existing global computer network, the Internet,[1] has developed over the past two years into a burgeoning information resource that can no longer be ignored by chemists. The Northern Illinois University (NIU) WWW/Gopher Site is one Internet resource. In this article, I present how this site has been designed and implemented, and what chemistry resources we provide to the Internet community.
The Internet is a loose association of a variety of computer networks. Their common feature is that data is sent using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). This protocol allows for an extremely heterogeneous network to evolve and grow over time. Network traffic now exceeds over 20 terrabytes per month. The Internet reaches into academic, government and commercial locations in nearly every country.
Information on the Internet is contained within the files located on the connected computers. Locating the desired information can be a daunting task. Information contained within traditional libraries is made accessible though the Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress system, the card catalog, and abstracting services like Chemical Abstracts. No such index exists for the Internet, a major drawback when one factors in that the Internet holds more information than any library.
Realizing that information retrieval was anything but simple and efficient, a number of navigational tools have been developed. The two most important tools are Gopher and the World-Wide Web (WWW or simply the web).
Gopher is a client/server information system which allows for distribution of files across computers.[2] Gopher is menu-driven - the server provides a list of files and the user simply selects an entry from this menu. The server then transfers the file to the client. Selections do not have to reside on that server. Gopher provides for links to other Gopher servers, with the connections transparent to the user. The NIU Gopher menu is shown in Fig. 1
The NIU Gopher site viewed using the UNIX Gopher client.
Gopher is a very useful and popular navigational tool, however, it does have a few drawbacks. The organization is strictly menu-based. The file types that Gopher could handle were initially quite limited. The Gopher+ server can handle a variety of file formats, though text and graphic files are treated separately.
The alternative system is the World-Wide Web which is a hypertext-based client/server navigational tool. Instead of a menu, a hypertext document can include text and graphics, with some text and/or graphics serving as a link to another document. This link is highlighted (either by underlining or changed color) and selection is made by clicking the mouse on the hyperlink. The WWW client then reads the information contained in the link and requests the new document. The location of the server and the filenames are handled transparent to the user.
The web, although operational for nearly four years, only blossomed within the past 18 months. The key to the web is a versatile user-friendly client, called a browser. The development of Mosaic[3] by the software development group at NCSA triggered the explosion in web traffic, evidenced by a doubling of data transferred every month for the past year. Mosaic handles the full implementation of the hypertext format, presenting text with imbedded graphics. Fill-out forms and clickable maps are also supported by Mosaic. The NIU Chemistry WWW home page, viewed using Mosaic, is shown in Fig.2
The NIU WWW site viewed using Mosaic.
Mosaic further implements a feature that allows for any type of file to be transferred and handled properly. Every document transmitted by a WWW server has a MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) type assigned to it. Mosaic reads the MIME and then can launch a specific application to read and display the file. For example, an audio file can be directed to the playback application. A chemical MIME type has been proposed. This feature has been implemented as `hyperactive molecules'.[4] Coordinates of a molecule are transferred to the client; Mosaic then launches a local molecular viewing program directing the coordinates as input, and the user can then manipulate the structure.
Commercial interest in the WWW has been rapidly growing, as evidenced by Microsoft's recent licensing of enhanced Mosaic from Spyglass. Another commercial browser that has been garnering much excitement is Netscape,[5] developed by some of the original Mosaic team.
In January 1994, we began the NIU Chemistry Gopher site, with the aim of exploring the potential use of the Internet for distributing chemical information. In April, we added a web site by converting to the Gn server,[6] which handles both Gopher and WWW requests. The web site can be accessed at URL: http://hackberry.chem.niu.edu:70/0/webpage.html, and the gopher site can be reached by pointing your client at hackberry.chem.niu.edu. The following is a brief description of some of the Internet resources we provide.
Locating the e-mail address of a fellow chemist can often be difficult. While there are some network utilities to accomplish this task, they are tricky to use and often very busy. We have created a Chemists' E-mail Address Directory. All chemists are encouraged to submit their own data (name, address, phone number, e-mail address, research interests, etc.) by sending an e-mail message to chemdir@hackberry.chem.niu.edu with the subject line add. The message can be in any format.
The directory is accessed through either the Gopher or WWW site. The user is prompted for a search term, which can be any word desired, such as a name or technical field, etc. The directory is indexed using glimpse,[7] a search engine that indexes all words in every file. As of January 1995, there were 290 entries in the directory.
The low cost and extensive reach of the Internet makes it an ideal place for advertising employment opportunities. We have an Academic Employment Clearinghouse where academic institutions can submit their job offerings at no cost. To place a want ad on the clearinghouse, send an e-mail message to chemjob@hackberry.chem.niu.edu with the subject line discipline institution name, where discipline is ANALYTICAL, BIOCHEM, INORGANIC, ORGANIC, or PHYSICAL. The message can be in any format desired. These ads are accessed through the NIU WWW or gopher site, sorted by discipline. This service began in July 1995 and nearly 40 announcements have appeared. We plan to expand this service to include industrial job openings by mid-year 1995.
We have compiled a database of descriptions of a wide variety of chemistry software. These product descriptions, supplied by the vendor, include where to obtain the product and what platforms it will operate on. We do not archive the actual products, though, where applicable, the descriptions do indicate how to obtain the software on the Internet.
Our conference listings database is divided into three categories. The programs for the national and regional American Chemical Society meetings through the year 2000 are available. The NIU WWW/Gopher site is the exclusive online source of information on the Gordon Research Conferences. Lastly, we list specialized conferences in the various chemistry disciplines. Most of these specialist meeting announcements have been gathered from Usenet or discussion lists.
Perhaps the most exciting project we have presented to the Internet community is electronic conferencing. The web provides an excellent medium for conducting a chemical meeting. Communication in chemistry is inherently graphical and the web provides the means for delivering documents incorporating graphics with text. We sponsored the First Electronic Computational Chemistry Conference (ECCC) in November 1994, using exclusively the WWW for distributing the papers.[8] Other recent electronic chemistry conferences are ChemConf 93,[9] on chemical education, and InCINC '94, [10] the First International Chemometrics Internet Conference.
The ECCC was held entirely on the Internet. The conference was announced over the Computational Chemistry Discussion List and the sci.chem Usenet group. Abstracts were submitted by e-mail, which were then reviewed by a Scientific Organizing Committee. Final papers were submitted by ftp to the NIU WWW server. During the conference, the papers were available for perusal using the web. Discussions of the papers occurred through a discussion group using a list server.
The ECCC attracted 71 papers spanning the field of computational chemistry. While most of the papers were by American authors, papers were submitted from Europe, Africa, South America, Australia, and Asia. Over 300 chemists, again from around the globe, registered for the conference.
The ECCC proved to be a great success, with many participants expressing approval of a number of attributes of electronic conferences: the low cost, the ability to `attend' without interrupting their everyday schedules, the ability to spend as much (or as little) time as necessary on a given paper, and the diversity of topics. One participant noted that electronic conferences are particularly friendly to the physically handicapped.
In keeping with our goal of exploring new media for chemical information, we will be publishing the proceedings of the ECCC on CD-ROM. This CD-ROM will include all the pages and images from the conference, along with the discussions of the papers. Chemical Abstracts has expressed an interest in abstracting this CD-ROM proceedings.
Predicting the future is always a hazardous occupation, particularly in the field of computer technology where breakthrough developments occur at an incredible pace. Nonetheless, some general trends are readily apparent. The low cost and wide reach of the Internet clearly suggest that this electronic communications medium will continue to grow in importance as a source of chemical information.
E-mail will displace the postal system and even fax as the choice for rapid communication. As an example, a number of journals are already conducting the review process by e-mail. Chemical companies have begun using the Internet as a means of conducting business. Catalog distribution, sales and service will routinely be handled electronically.
Electronic conferences will be held on a regular schedule. Plans are already in the works for the Electronic Conference on Trends in Organic Synthesis (June 1995) the Electronic Physical Organic Chemistry Conference (Fall 1995) and the second Electronic Computational Chemistry Conference (Nov. 1995).
Electronic journals will appear and become just as important as their hardcopy brethren. The first electronic chemistry journal, the Journal of Molecular Modeling, began publication in January 1995.[11] While this prediction is perhaps the most speculative, the economics of electronic publication are simply too compelling. Chemists will change their primary method for communicating their results.
The Internet, I believe, will prove to be just as radical a change to communication as was the invention of movable type.
File Transmission Protocol defines the procedures for the delivery and receipt of files between computers.
Gopher is a client/server Internet navigational tool that is menu-driven. Its name is a play on words - not only does the program assist in delivering (`gofer') files, it was developed at the University of Minnesota whose mascot is the Golden Gopher.
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension is a means for classifying each file that is transmitted on the Internet.
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol defines how data is transmitted on the Internet.
Uniform Resource Locator is the designation of a file on the Internet. The format is protocol://IPaddress:port/file-path-name.
The World-Wide Web is a client/server Internet navigation tool that is based on hypertext.
This work was supported in part by the Henry and Camille Dreyfus Foundation. I thank Dr. Henry Rzepa for his continuing insights and encouragement and Michael Szela for technical assistance in managing the WWW site.
[1](a) For a general introduction to the Internet, see E. Krol, The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog, O'Reilly and Associates: Sebastopol, CA, 2nd ed., 1994. (b) For an introduction to chemical applications on the Internet, see S.M. Bachrach (Editor), Chemistry on the Internet; ACS Publications, Washington, DC, in press.
[2] The Gopher client and server is available by anonymous ftp.
[3] Mosaic is available by anonymous ftp.
[4] O. Casher, G. Chandramohan, M. Hargreaves, P. Murray-Rust, R. Sayle, H.S. Rzepa and B.J. Whitaker, J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans., 2 (1995) in press.
[5] Netscape is available by anonymous ftp.
[6] The Gn server is available by anonymous ftp.
[7]Information on glimpse is available.
[8](a) For a popular account of the ECCC, see J.H. Krieger and D.L. Illman, Chem. Eng. News, Dec. 12 (1994), 29. (b) For a technical discussion of the ECCC, see S.M. Bachrach, J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci., in press.
[9] The conference proceeding are available.
[10] The conference proceeding are available.
Steven Bachrach received his doctorate under Andrew Streitwieser at the University of California-Berkeley and held a Director's Postdoctoral Fellowship at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is currently an associate professor of chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Il 60115, USA, e-mail: smb@smb.chem.niu.edu. His research interests include theoretical organic chemistry and the use of the Internet for the dissemination of chemical information.
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