The Future of the History of Chemical Information

Inspired by the opportunities and challenges presented by rapid advances in the fields of retrieval of chemical and other scientific information, several speakers presented at a symposium, The History of the Future of Chemical Information, on Aug. 20, 2012, at the 244th Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia, PA. Storage and retrieval is of undeniable value to the conduct of chemical research. The participants believe that past practices in this field have not only contributed to the increasingly rapid evolution of the field but continue to do so, hence the somewhat unusual title. Even with archival access to several of the presentations, a number of the presenters felt that broader access to this information is of value. Thus, the presenters decided to create an ACS Symposium book based on the topic, with the conviction that it would be valuable to chemists of all disciplines.

The past is a moving target depending on the vagaries of technology, economics, politics and how researchers and professionals choose to build on it. The aim of The History of the Future of Chemical Information is to critically examine trajectories in chemistry, information and communication as determined by the authors in the light of current and possible future practices of the chemical information profession. Along with some additional areas primarily related to present and future directions, this collection contains most of the topics covered in the meeting symposium. Most of the original authors agreed to write chapters for this book. Much of the historical and even current material is scattered throughout the literature so the authors strived to gather this information into a discrete source. Faced with the rapid evolution of such aspects as mobile access to information, cloud computing, and public resource production, this book will be not only of interest but provide valuable insight to this rapidly evolving field, both to practitioners within the field of chemical information and chemists everywhere whose need for current and accurate information on chemistry and related fields is increasingly important.