CINF E-News
Volume 1, No. 1
Fall 1999

Edited by Bruce Slutsky

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the first issue of CINF's electronic newsletter, the CINF E-News! I'm really excited that we are going to take advantage of the benefits electronic publishing offers. Many thanks to everyone who contributed articles. A special note of thanks to Bruce Slutsky, Editor of CINF E-News, for all of his efforts in launching this inaugural issue. For everyone reading this letter, I would like to encourage you to contribute items to future issues.

There are several items of CINF business that I'd like to communicate in this letter. CINF Meritorious Service Award: The CINF has a Meritorious Service Award has been forgotten the past several years. In recognition of all the talented and hard-working members in the Division, please consider nominating a colleague for this Award. Please see CINF Meritorious Award information in this issue of E-News for more details.

Election Results-New officers elected in CINF for 2000 are:
Chair Elect: Andrea Twiss-Brooks
Secretary: Maggie Johnson
Councilor: Gary Wiggins
Alternate Councilor: Joanne Witiak

Many thanks to everyone who ran for office and congratulations to the winners! Remember that there are many roles and opportunities to become active within the Division.

Wondering what getting more active in the Division might mean? Check out the CINF Procedures Manual (http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/swain/edcinf/manual.html) which is now available on the CINF Web site. While being involved does mean commiting some time and effort, it is very rewarding. So please, join in the fun and help set future priorities and directions for the Division by joining a committee or running for office.

Strategic Plan: If you haven't had a chance already, please check out the draft of CINF's Strategic Mission: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~atbrooks/CINF/strategic_plan.html. Feedback and suggestions are most welcome. The CINF Executive Board plans to finalize this document at the Spring 2000 ACS National Meeting so please send us your thoughts before then. We want to make sure that the course we set and the priorities we choose meet your professional needs.

By-Laws: The CINF ByLaws are in the process of being revised. In the coming months Robert Stoubough will be working with the ACS Committee on Constitution and Bylaws to review proposed changes for the CINF Divisions ByLaws. Upon completion of this review process, CINF members will be asked to vote to amend the ByLaws. Stay tuned...

Do you have a Change of Address? If yes, it is now possible to update your address online at this URL: http://center.acs.org/applications/addrupdate/addrchange.cfm

Well, let me stop before this letter gets too long. Many thanks for all your support and contributions to CINF activities! I look forward to seeing you at the next ACS National Meeting where we will ring in the new millenium, learn cool things at symposia, network at Division events, and help catalyze and shape future directions in chemical information. Cheers!

Grace Baysinger
CINF Chair

We would like to welcome the following new members to CINF:

Jon Chistan Baber
Paul N.W. Baxter
Lawrence W. Bledsoe
Douglas Allen Casade
Yili Chen
Larry Chen
Linda L. Clement
Timothy P. Cutler
Ganesh S. Ethiraj
Lee W. Herman
Junping Jing
Cindy Mesaros-Butchko
Alfian Noor
Ujung Pandang
Kashima Ibargi
Deana Parks
Loren Penney
Brenda Ramos
Ivelisse Rivera
Arlene Roland
Carolyn Root
Erin A. Smith
Leah Solla
Ruben D. Sorto Alvarado
Robert B Storch
Hengxu Wei
Yaron Yapaport

Thanks to Mike O'Hara with providing the list.

The program committee has arranged six symposia for the upcoming San Francisco ACS meeting, which will be held on March 26-31, 2000:

Modelling and Informatics for Non-Experts
Organizer: Osman Guner, Molecular Simulations Inc.
tel: (858)799-5341, fax: 858-458-0136, email: osman@msi.com

Experimental, Computational, and Informatics Challenges of ADME/Tox in early stage drug discovery
Organizer: Osman Guner and Kenneth Merz, Molecular Simulations Inc.
tel: (858)799-5341, fax: 858-458-0136, email: osman@msi.com

Chemical Information Needs at the Graduate Level
Organizer: Grace Baysinger, Stanford University, Swain Library
tel: (650)725-1039, fax: 650-725-2274, email: graceb@leland.stanford.edu

Joint CSA/CINF Symposium: Chemical Information and E-Commerce
Orgnanizer: Bryan Vickery, ChemWeb, Inc.
tel: + 44-171-499-4748, fax: +44-171-499-4102, email: bryan.vickery@chemweb.com

Chemical Information in the 21st Century
Organizer: Bob Snyder, MDL Information Systems
tel: 510-895-1313, fax: 510-614-3652, email: bobs@mdli.com

Electronic Notebooks: Technology and User Interface
Organizer: Rich Lysakowski, The Collaborative Electronic Notebook Systems Association
tel: 781-935-9600, fax: 781-935-3113, email: rich@censa.org

The division paid $500 to Indiana University in support of graduate students who worked on various projects for the CINF Education Committee (EdCom). Students were primarily employed in updating the Clearinghouse for Chemical Information Instructional Materials and assisting with other projects undertaken or under consideration by EdCom. For example, they did an extensive mailing to solicit new material to include in the CCIIM, working with Silvia Lee to identify approximately 60 potential contributors. The following CCIIM pages have been updated with their assistance in the last 12 months (See at: http://www.indiana.edu/~cheminfo/cciimtoc.html):

Works Devoted to Major Tools or Databases:
31 Chemical Abstracts: Printed and Database
32 Science Citation Index: Printed and Database
33 Beilstein Handbook of Organic Chemistry: Printed and Database

Other:
03 Computer Searching Aids: General
06 Chemical Patent Searching
10 Physical Property Searching
11 Chemical Synthesis or Reactions
40 How to Teach Chemical Information
50 Chemical Information Course Syllabi

EdCom presented the Teaching Chemical Information workshops at the Boston (August 1998) and Anaheim (March 1999) ACS National Meetings, with 9 and 8 attendees respectively. Due to communication and other problems, the full workshop was not presented at the SLA Conference in June 1999. However, Bartow Culp and Dana Roth presented a standing room-only session there on "Chemistry and Chemistry Librarianship for the Nonchemists" that had in excess of 120 people in attendance. The supply of handouts was quickly exhausted, and still 80 attendees requested to receive the handout. After the meeting they were either sent information by the IU SLIS graduate student about the location on the Web of the PDF file (http://www.indiana.edu/~cheminfo/slachem.pdf ) or were sent paper copies of the 30-page handout. Furthermore, two people who planned to attend the aborted Teaching Chemical Information workshop in Minneapolis held an informal 1 1/2-hour discussion with Chuck Huber and Gary Wiggins.

In recent months, the committee has begun to investigate the desirability of developing materials for high school as well as to assess the gaps in instructional materials for teaching the use of the CrossFire system for searching Beilstein and Gmelin. The SLIS students at Indiana University have evaluated and categorized a large number of Beilstein Web sites and compiled an Excel spreadsheet with their results, available at: http://www.indiana.edu/~cheminfo/beilstein_training.xls

Arleen Somerville has had extensive discussions with the ACS Committee on Professional Training about ways in which EdCom could have more input into CPT Guidelines. Arleen also gave a presentation in August 1998 to the Society Committee on Chemical Abstracts about the need to provide low-cost access to the Chemical Abstracts database for educational purposes, especially in smaller schools.

Respectfully submitted,
Gary Wiggins, Chair, EdCom, 1998-2000

The 1999 winner of the Herman Skolnik Award for outstanding achievement in chemical information is Stuart M. Kaback in recognition of his leadership and contributions to patent information searching and chemical information searching in general. Stu's biography may be found on page 10 of the Fall 1999 Chemical Information Bulletin. At the recent New Orleans National Meeting Stu organized and presided over a symposium titled "The Changing Chemical Information Scene: Keeping and Nuturing the Baby as the Bathwater Rushes By.

At the New Orleans meeting, it was announced that G.W.A. (Bill) Milne, and Stephen Heller will be the co-recipients of the 2000 Skolnik Award to be presented at the Fall Meeting in Washington, D.C. Among many other accomplishments Bill Milne has been Editor of the Journal of Chemical Information and Computer Sciences for a number of years. Stephen Heller's biography may be found at http://www.hellers.com/~steve.

The Chemical and Engineering News of October 4, 1999 (page 44) reports that the American Chemical Society Columbus and Dayton Sections have selected Stephen E. Stein as the recipient of the 1999 Austin M. Paterson-E.J. Crane award for outstanding achievements in chemical information theory and practice. Stein, a National Institute of Standards and Technology fellow and head of NIST's Mass Spectrometry Data Center, was selected for contributions he made as leader of the institute's program on mass spectral data.

Ellen Mimnaugh received the Special Libraries Association (SLA) 1999 Hall of Fame Award. This honor is given to a member of SLA at or near the end of a professional career in recognition of an extended and sustained period of distinguished service to that association. Ellen recently retired as product manager for online services at Chemical Abstracts Service. She was also an active contributor to CINF.

Hearty congratulations to all award winners.

Recent developments in legislation and regulations, education and outreach projects, and nominations for national awards were discussed. A summary of important legislation and proposed regulations follows.

H.R. 1907 (Passed by the House Aug. 4, 1999)

Covers invention promotion services, first inventor defense (previously called prior user rights), patent term guarantees, publication of U.S. patent applications, inter partes reexamination, a reorganization of the USPTO (the bill does not establish the USPTO as a government corporation), and miscellaneous provisions, including electronic filing and publication and exclusion of certain commonly assigned patents as prior art.

The first inventor defense section has been worded to apply only to methods of doing business. The current language of the bill is vague, but the intent (according to House committee staff) is to protect Internet commerce from patents on methods of doing business (which are not supposed to be granted in the first place). The committee recommended that the ACS ask the Senate to clarify the language when they consider the bill.

U.S. patent applications would be printed 18 months after the first filing date. Applicants can request that an application not be published if the application has not been the subject of an application filed in another country. The legislation does not specify how applications are to be published except to say, "in accordance with procedures determined by the Director."

Further, Title VII, Sec. 704, allows for electronic filing and electronic publication of patents.

Sec. 707 adds Sec. 102(e) ("the invention was described in a patent granted on an application for patent by another filed in the United States before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent. . .") to the list of subsections (previously just (f) and (g) ) that are excluded as prior art if the invention is owned by the same person. This change may impact what can be considered as prior art in patent searches.

The full text of H.R. 1907 is available on the Library of Congress THOMAS web site.

H.R. 1714

Makes electronic signatures as legally binding as written signatures. Nothing in the bill specifically mentions electronic record keeping for patent purposes or regulatory documents and submissions. The bill seems to be limited to "any contract or agreement entered into or affecting interstate or foreign commerce."

OMB Circular A-110

Applies the principles of Freedom of Information to data created by grant recipients when used in rulemaking.

E-biomed

The proposal by NIH Director Harold Varmus to create a government-operated electronic repository for biomedical publications is opposed by ACS and many other scientific societies.

H.R. 354

The Collections of Information Antipiracy Act again attempts to protect databases using principles of unfair competition. A similar bill H.R. 1858 offers similar protection but without criminal penalties. Three proposals have been introduced in the Senate.

H.R. 1598/S. 1172

Provides patent term extensions to drugs under review by the FDA in 1984 (prior to the enactment of the Hatch-Waxman Act).

Awards

CP&RM is looking for suggestions for nominations for certain national awards, specifically the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the National Medal of Technology. The National Medal of Technology is awarded by thePresident for achievement in applied science.

CINF ACTION ITEM: Previous recipients of the Skolnik Award who have madesignificant contributions to the technologies used in our industry shouldbe considered for nomination by the ACS for a National Medal of Technology. Please send me your recommendations.

Please contact me if you have questions or comments about any of the items mentioned in this report.

David Saari
saarid@pt.cyanamid.com

The take-home message from the Combinatorial Chemistry Informatics sessions is that chemical informatics is playing an even more important role in the planning, building, and analysis of combinatorial libraries. Smaller, more "intelligent" libraries are being planned to a greater extent than a few years ago using information on physical-chemical properties. Information from the planning stage is used to drive automated synthesizer. And results from HTS are electronically collected and stored in relational databases, where they can be correlated with chemical structures.

There were a total of twenty (20) talks divided into four sessions. The first session focused on library design. Library design can be the most critical aspect in determining the success or failure of the resulting combinatorial library. Selection of the scaffold and R-groups (reagents) can have a profound effect on how well the library members bind to the desired target receptor. Julian Hayward (Synopsys) spoke on some of the advantages of designing combinatorial libraries using a generic reaction representation. Andrew Leach (Glaxo Wellcome) outlined a computational method for the classification and selection of monomers for combinatorial libraries. Douglas Henry (MDL Information Systems) described a unique decision support approach to designing reagent libraries. Alfonso Pozzan (Glaxo Wellcome) developed an in-house program called VOLGA (Virtual Optimization of chemical Libraries using Genetic Algorithm) which has allowed them to optimize the design of a wide class of chemical libraries by choosing among different fitness functions. John Barnard (Barnard Chemical Information Ltd.) described software to generate structural fingerprints for molecules in a library by direct analysis of a Markush representation.

The second session focused in virtual library analysis/diversity assessment. This session provided insight on the creation and analysis of virtual combinatorial libraries as a means for pre-screening libraries prior to their synthesis. Moises Hassan (MSI) showed how a diverse, drug-like library can be designed by optimizing R-group fragments to simultaneously maximize the molecular diversity and minimize a penalty function based on the specified properties of the products. Katherine Andrews-Cramer (Tripos) showed how lead-hopping and library-hopping by topomer shape similarity searching of very large virtual libraries can be used to analyze library components. Jan Pedersen (Acadia Pharmaceuticals) used statistical approaches for creating maximal diversity in a HTS screening library. Ryan Koehler (Telik) described a new algorithm for simultaneously addressing the need for both diverse and enriched compounds with "drug-like" properties in a library. Tim Mitchell (Cambridge Combinatorial) described the Atlas Informatics system.

The third session focused on automated synthesis and validation. This session covered information management and tracking methods for all steps of medium or high throughput synthesis. This includes experimental set-up, synthesis techniques, purification methods for synthesized compounds, analytical methods for compound verification, and registration of validated compounds. Robert Pearlman (University of Texas) discussed methods for assessing and comparing the diversities of chemical libraries. Xiao Chuan Wang (Trega Biosciences) extended Robert Pearlman's presentation by applying a new measure, percentage of overlapped cells (POC), within all drug space in their inter-library diversity analysis to compare how different one library is from others and to design a new library. David Chapman (Afferent Systems) presented an integrated structural, synthetic, and analytical system for combinatorial chemistry informatics. Antony Williams (Advanced Chemistry Development) talked about SLIMS - a web-based system for sample, structure and spectral management. Maurizio Bronzetti (MDL Information Systems) discussed the importance of integration with the research environment and tools for accomplishing this.

The fourth session tied everything together with high-throughput screening. Combinatorial libraries pose unique challenges to software programmers and developers who provide informatics programs for the drug discovery industry. These challenges include controlling robotic workstations used to create the libraries as well are register and validate the libraries before they are run in high-throughput screening (HTS) programs. Robert Trinka (Robocon GmbH) described new technology building blocks and how they can be fitted into automated laboratories reaching data outputs of a quarter million data points per 24 hours and beyond. George Cowan (Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research) analyzed the use of version spaces to the analysis of high-volume structure-activity relationships. Antony Williams (Advanced Chemistry Development) demonstrated software to allow the databasing of MS and NMR spectral curves associated with molecular structures and the application of NMR prediction algorithms. Harold Helson (CambridgeSoft Corp.) demonstrated software to manage combinatorial data in Excel. Glenn Myatt (Columbus Molecular Software) introduced and demonstrated visualization software for chemical and biological screening data.

Submitted by Robert Snyder

The "Alternative Careers in Chemistry" symposium was designed to present a look at a variety of careers dealing in chemical information and to provide guidance to new chemistry graduates and to chemists looking for alternatives to laboratory research. Opportunities for alternative careers described by the participants were described as exciting options for chemists, being integrally involved in the research and teaching processes, offering significant opportunities for personal and professional development, and providing a variety of possible career paths. Highlights of each presentation are given below:

Employment and marketability: ACS Career Services and you.

Jean Parr from ACS Career Services Division presented an overview of the membership of the ACS. Fifty-five percent of ACS 160,000 members are listed as "chemists"; the remaining 45% list management, teaching, science writing, and other jobs. According to ACS studies, members will make 7-10 job changes with 3 different employers during the course of their careers. ACS offers a variety of products and services to help with these career changes. A recent publication, "Careers for Chemists: A World Outside the Lab", which featured information from more than 70 interviews with professionals in conservation, law, regulatory management, science writing, finance, medicine, among others. ACS Career services offers over 100 titles in print, video, and web format. Also highlighted was the Online PDB (Professional Data Bank) which offers ACS members a service to match jobs to chemists. More information is available from their web site at: http://www.acs.org/careers/.

Strategic partnering for knowledge management.

Suzanne Cristina form UTC Information Network provided a fascinating profile of a chemical information specialist working in a dynamic environment . As a proactive information specialist, her goal is to "make chemists and engineers aware of ways to partner with information professionals to save time and money and to promote knowledge flows in their organizations". Suzanne described several projects and services in which the information services staff were real partners in the research and development process. One example was the inclusion of an information professional as part of a design team for a new helicopter part. By attending group meetings, Suzanne was able to integrate the information component into the research and design process.

The study of applied organic chemistry in graduate school and at a remote university.

Forrest Schultz, a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Stout described a career of teaching and research at a non-Ph.D. granting institution in a remote rural area. Success in maintaining a research program in an undergraduate institution relies on an approach of "inquiry based learning", a willingness of faculty to use undergraduate students in "real" research, and increasing availability and accessibility of remote chemical information resources via the WWW. Schultz emphasized working during graduate studies to take charge of the process and develop contacts between departments and disciplines of study.

Managing dynamic chemical information environments in industry.

Keith Schreiber of Procter & Gamble described aspects of his career in an industrial environment. Participation in multiple, varied projects, opportunity to use both scientific and information knowledge, ability to solve challenging problems, facilitate other's use of information, think dynamically, and communicate effectively are the hallmarks of an information career in an industrial setting. Effective chemical information specialists may be involved at many levels of company operations, have opportunities for career advancement, and can indulge a keen curiosity.

Look! Up in the sky! It's a chemist! It's a librarian! It's both!

Bartow Culp treated us to a lively and thoughtful presentation. Some of the rewards of a career as an academic chemistry librarian highlighted included contact with people, involvement in the research and education process, as well as with colleagues, even at an international level, a degree of autonomy, and variety afforded by the fast changing field of librarianship. Enhancing the presentation were a number of quotes from practicing academic chemistry librarians.

From laboratory to law office: a career as a patent attorney.

Anita Varma from Foley, Hoag & Elliot LLP described her career path from laboratory to patent examiner to patent lawyer in a law office. An overview of the patent process and the place of the patent attorney and patent examiner were described. Jobs in patent law that do not require a law degree were mentioned. Skills required in patent work include organization, analytical reasoning, problem-solving, communication, as well a sound technical background in the area of practice. Patent specialists can work writing patents, litigating, examining and searching.

Topics of CINF papers presented at the ACS National Meetings were selected against the international and national background, with emphasis on chemistry and chemical documentation.

50 YEARS AGO (1949)

This information was adapted from STN Newsline dated September 3, 1999

Enhanced Patent Information:
1. IMPROVED PATENT CURRENCY IN CAPLUS
2. HYPERLINKS TO PATENTS FROM U.S./EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICES
3. PATENT FILE ON STN--(PATIPC)
4. FILE DATA IN PATOSWO (correction)

File Enhancements:
5. LINK--ACS JOURNAL REFERENCES TO CAS FILES
6. WAYS TO TRUNCATE TERMS
7. NAME CHANGE
8. FILE-IMSPROFILES
9. MECUM--NEW ADDRESS
10. FILE-ESBIOBASE

New Capabilities of STN on the Web:
11. SEARCH PREVIEW/NEW TRANSCRIPT FORMAT/UPLOAD COMMAND FILE

Special Offer:
12. CONNECT HOUR IN IMSPROFILES

_________________________________
ENHANCED PATENT INFORMATION

1. IMPROVED PATENT CURRENCY IN CAPLUS
CAS is now providing information within days that often takes months to appear in other databases. Patent records are available in the CAplus database within two days after the patents are issued by the U.S., Japanese, and WIPO patent offices. Fully indexed patent records for these key patent offices are also appearing in the CAplus database within record-breaking time from publication - typically just 30 days, and in many cases fewer, from date of issue.

2. HYPERLINKS TO PATENTS FROM U.S./EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICES
CAS has also enriched its database records with hypertext links that take researchers from CAS services such as STN directly to full-text patent documents at the U.S. and European Patent offices. This feature was announced earlier in 1999 and is accomplished through the ChemPort Connection included in all CAS electronic search services. Users of these services can link to full-text patent documents almost as fast as they can identify them in the CAS databases, allowing them to complete the research cycle online in the same session. These patent documents are available immediately and at no charge to users.

For additional information about these 2 enhancements, see the Press Release at: http://www.cas.org/New1/currency.html

3. NEW PATENT FILE ON STN-(PATIPC)
PATIPC was released on August 29, 1999. The file contains the text and graphics of the International Patent Classification (IPC) as published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA). The English text is available for IPC edition 1-6. The German text is available for edition 4-6.

In addition to the IPC text, the database contains the Catchword Index of edition 6 as provided by the DPMA. The Catchword Index is available in English and German.

Please note that this file is targeted at users familiar with the IPC structure.

The PATIPC file is updated with every new IPC edition. Edition 7 is expected in 2000.

For pricing, see HELP COST in the file.

4. BACKFILE DATA IN PATOSWO (CORRECTION)
The years for the backfile were stated incorrectly in the previous issue. The correct years for the backfile in PASTOSWO are 1978-1982.

____________________
FILE ENHANCEMENTS

5. INSTANT LINK-ACS JOURNAL REFERENCES TO CAS FILES
Now, users of ACS electronic journals will be able to link immediately from references to the relevant CAS record, gaining instant access to the abstract and bibliographic information.

Through an innovative new program developed through the ChemPort Connection, readers of such prestigious publications as The Journal of the American Chemical Society, The Journal of Organic Chemistry and Organic Letters are now able to click on the "CAS" tag following references at the end of 1999 articles and retrieve (if available) the corresponding bibliographic information and abstract in the CAplus database.

The ChemPort Connection is built into each of CAS' electronic services, including STN Express with Discover!, STN Easy, and STN on the Web.

For more details, see the Press Release at: http://www.cas.org/New1/reflinking.html

6. MORE WAYS TO TRUNCATE TERMS
Simultaneous right and left truncation is now available in the Basic Index of these files: AIDSLINE, CANCERLIT, EMBASE, TOXLINE, TOXLIT, USPATFULL

You can now retrieve a more comprehensive set of answers with a single search term.

7. FILE NAME CHANGE
The name of IFIRXA is now IFI Current Patent Legal Status (IFICLS). IFIRXA will be retained as an alias-the file content remains the same.

8. NEW FILE-IMSPROFILES
IMSworld Phamaceutical Company Profiles from IMS HEALTH

This file is a significant addition to the group of files on STN that are particularly relevant to the pharmaceutical business market. The internal make-up of more than 100 key pharmaceutical companies worldwide are collected and analyzed in the IMSworld Pharmaceutical Company Profiles (IMSPROFILES) file from IMS HEALTH. Users can access status information concerning chemical trials, drug approvals, and drug phases.

IMSPROFILES contains more than 23,850 records and is updated monthly (SDIs run monthly and quarterly.) SDIs provide a convenient method of staying current concerning management changes, strategic statements, major company events, and product updates.

See SPECIAL OFFER below.

For more information, visit the July/August issue of STNews at: http://www.cas.org/STNEWS/JULYAUGUST99/imsprofiles.html

9. VADEMECUM-NEW ADDRESS
The producer address information is:
RAABE Fachverlag fuer Wissenschaftsinformation
Kaiser-Friedrich-Strasse 90
10585 Berlin
GERMANY

10. NEWFILE-ESBIOBASE
ESBIOBASE is a comprehensive bibliographic database of worldwide biological research that covers the entire spectrum of biological information. Sources are more than 1,700 international research journals from 1994 to the present. The database presently contains more than 1.2 million records and grows by about 250,000 records each year. ESBIOBASE is very current with many records available online within two to three weeks after receipt of the original journal. Updates and SDIs are weekly.

The database contains bibliographic data, author's keywords, and author's abstracts in approximately 70% of the records. Additionally, each document is indexed using a unique and versatile classification scheme that is updated annually to adapt to changing research trends.

The indexing fields classification code (CC), author's keywords (ST), and organism name (ORGN) feature simultaneous left and right truncation, which is especially beneficial when searching the terminology used in the life sciences.

See HELP COST in the file for pricing information.

______________________________________
NEW CAPABILITIES OF STN ON THE WEB

11. FREE SEARCH PREVIEW/NEW TRANSCRIPT FORMAT/UPLOAD COMMAND FILE (available September 12, 1999)
Free Search Preview: This feature will allow you to try your search query in STN on the Web before logging in. Search Preview allows a limited use of STNindex to visually demonstrate the wealth of information that is available on STN. Click on the "Free Search Preview" button from the Login Screen to try it out.

New Transcript Format: The versatile Rich Text Format (RTF) is available for downloading session transcripts and exporting them into a wide variety of popular word processing packages. The zipped RTF/GIF format includes all images displayed during the session. The direct RTF format does not include images, is a larger file taking longer to download, and does not require use of a ZIP program.

Upload Command File: Professional searchers can create complex search strategies offline, and then upload these command (script) files to an STN on the Web session for efficient execution, thereby minimizing connect time charges for typing and correcting commands. Command scripts can be submitted one line at a time or all at once. A script command line may be edited before it is submitted.

______________
SPECIAL OFFER

12. One FREE connect hour in IMSPROFILES each month in September and October 1999.

____
HELP

As always, additional information or search assistance is just a click away: http://www.cas.org/faq.html#call

New Files:
1. ALUMINIUM
2. IMSDRUGCONF
3. WTEXTILES

Enhanced Patent Information:
4. PROVISIONAL APPLICATIONS IDENTIFIED
5. CURRENCY IMPROVED FOR EPO PATENTS IN CAPLUS

File Enhancements:
6. CEABA-RELOADED AND ENHANCED
7. CHEMLIST-TSCA INFORMATION UPDATED
8. ESBIOBASE-ADDED TO CLUSTERS
9. INPADOC/INPAMONITOR-COMBINED
10. METADEX-ADDED TO CLUSTER
11. TOXLIT-SDI FREQUENCY CHANGE

Following is the content of a press release issued by EBSCO in cooperation with CAS.

CAS and EBSCO Subscription Services to Link Databases and Full Text Electronic Journals

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., U.S.A. - In a move to further provide researchers with access to information, EBSCO Subscription Services and Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) have announced a linking partnership. Once these links are completed in the first quarter of 2000, researchers will be able to link from CAS database resources via the ChemPort (SM) Connection to the full text of journal articles contained on EBSCO Online (R).

"We see the linking agreement with CAS as a significant step toward our goal of providing our customers all of the information choices that they expect," said Mark Williams, manager of Electronic Content Development for EBSCO Online. "EBSCO Online's strategic aim is to provide every logical partnership possible so users can search and seamlessly link to full text."

"CAS is delighted to join with EBSCO Online in making a wealth of science-related literature more readily available to our customers," said CAS marketing director Suzan A. Brown. "The CAS/EBSCO linking partnership puts users in touch with a prestigious group of publishers collaborating to build a unique digital research environment for scientists." STN users searching with STN Express with Discover, STN Easy or STN on the Web; SciFinder or SciFinder Scholar users; and CA on CD customers will be able to link from search results directly to full text articles available on EBSCO Online.

EBSCO Online is a World Wide Web-based service that provides a single source for all aspects of a comprehensive electronic journal collection. Users can go to one URL and use one search engine to search across journal content from a variety of publishers and access the full text. Administrators can choose from a variety of authentication methods to make access easy for users depending on their needs.

"Linking has become synonymous to total customer satisfaction in electronic information delivery," Williams said. "This is what the ChemPort Connection/EBSCO Online linking agreement is intended to deliver."

EBSCO customers have access to more than 3,600 electronic journals through EBSCO ONLINE, and content is available from a number of publishers, including more than 350,000 articles from more than 30,000 individual issues. "Our content is among the richest in the industry," Williams added. "STM publishers from around the world and in leading disciplines are included in this service. We aggregate much of the content and provide links to those publishers that wish to aggregate content themselves."

CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society, produces the world's largest and most comprehensive databases of chemical information, including more than 18 million abstracts of chemistry-related literature and patents and more than 20 million substance records. CAS publishes Chemical Abstracts (CA), related publications and CD-ROM services; operates the CAS Chemical Registry; produces a family of online databases; and offers the SciFinder desktop research tool. CAS operates STN International, a network of scientific and technical databases, in association with FIZ Karlsruhe in Germany and Japan Science and Technology Corporation. The CAS Web site is at http://www.cas.org/

EBSCO Subscription Services is part of the EBSCO Information Services Group, which provides fully integrated serials access and delivery solutions worldwide through print and electronic subscription services, reference database development and production and online multi-database access. The EBSCO Information Services group also includes EBSCO Publishing. For more information, please visit the EBSCO World Wide Web site at http://www.ebsco.com/.

Reported by Eric Shively
Eric Shively
CAS
eshively@cas.org

There are quite a few articles about techniques for searching Markush structures, many of which begin with a summary of what a Markush structure is. Here's a brief excerpt from a presentation I gave last month at the ACS National Meeting. (Editors note--this was also posted to CHMINF-L)

"A Markush structure has grown to designate any chemical structure that contains a required substructure and one or more variable or optional chemical groups. Patent attorneys usually denote Markush groups by the letter R, but other notations are also common. One feature is essential ? groups that are not stated to be either required or optional are forbidden ? positions in organic molecules shown without substitutents have all empty valences satisfied by hydrogen atoms unless the patent says something about optional substitution. The structure can include variable positions of substitution, variable numbers of substituents, variable bonding, optional substituents, variable chain lengths, and provisos defining combinations of substituents that are forbidden in the claimed genus. A Markush structure represents each of the compounds you can construct by combining the variables, the the notation used to describe the structure as a whole has no special meaning."

These are some publications on Markush structures:

Here are some poems for the CINF Electronic Bulletin. They are known as "Clerihews", after Edmund Clerihew Bentley (1875-1950), who invented the form.

Said Berthelot to Berthollet
"Have you seen Lavoisier?"
"I saw his head not long ago."
Said Berthollet to Berthelot.

Sir Humphrey Davey
Complained of the gravy:
"It needs some more salt on."
Said he to John Dalton.

Said van der Waals to van't Hoff
"I think you are a pompous oaf."
"Your attitude simply appalls."
Said van't Hoff to van der Waals

Leopold Gmelin
Thought his eyesight was failin'.
"To cover the world of Generalchemie
Is simply too much work for me."
So, rather than go into a panic
He restricted his handbook to Inorganic.

Gordon & Breach
Sat on the beach
Wondering, with many lamentations
why no one subscribed to their publications.

Herbert C. Brown
Turned upside down
The notion that the chemistry of organoborons
was a subject fit only for the rankest of morons.

Watson and Crick
Accomplished the trick
of helically spiraling nucleotides,
and thereby won the Nobel Prize.
This was especially galling
To Pauling.

Reed Elsevier
Sold their journals so dear
That only the most well-heeled of scholars
Could come up with sufficient dollars.

(Editors note--I found many of these sites useful. Please check them out)

I would like to present some chemistry related sites that contain useful or interesting information. But before I start I would like to recommend a very useful general site for information searchers. Ever get the question where do I start? Well here is the answer. The site is called the Cyber Times Navigator. The url is: http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/reference/cynavi.html

The Cyber Times Navigator is a great place to start searching and is the place where the New York Times reporters begin their forays into the net. The author of the Navigator is Rich Meislin. The links are organized into 11 parts as follows: Net search, Journalism, Reference, Directories, Politics, New York Region, Commerce, Entertainment, Sports, and Miscellany. Net search lists over 25 different search engines. The Reference Desk includes links to Carl Uncover, National Library of Medicine, Medline, The Merck Manual, US Patents provided by IBM and many other sources. The site is free however, you must register with the New York Times to use the Navigator and New York Times on the Web.

On July 12, 1999, Andy started working at the Merck and Co. Rahway, New Jersey site, as a Senior Information Scientist in the Patent Dept., reporting to Bob Murawski. Bob's group provides information and searching support to the patent department, which handles work including patent prosecution, licensing, and other patent related legal matters for Merck.

Prior to this position, Andy was at Wyeth Ayerst in Pearl River, New York, for ten years. Andy has a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Andy is licensed to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and has authored numerous publications, and regularly presents at American Chemical Society national meetings. He is currently the chair person of the Program Committee, for the the 1999-2000 term, and is a past chair person of the Patent Information Users Group.

Andrew H. Berks, Ph.D.
Sr. Information Scientist
Merck & Co.
126 E. Lincoln Ave RY60-35
Rahway, NJ 07065-0900
732-594-1701 fax 732-594-5832
andrew_berks@merck.com

After almost 30 years in Naperville, IL, Bob and Gloria Buntrock have moved to Minnesota. We found our dream retirement home near Princeton, about 50 miles from Minneapolis. We have an 11 year old house on 12 acres, overlooking a small, limited recreational lake (that means no motors). After dividing time between the two houses all summer, we moved complete in early September. Most of the boxes are unpacked and we're enjoying the beautiful fall season.

Buntrock Associates, Inc. will continue in business, but at a reduced level. We're planning on a fuller, but not complete retirement. If you're in the area and peace and quiet appeal to you, give us a call and pay us a visit -- directions upon request.

11335 300th Ave. NW
Princeton, MN 55371
612-389-8370
FAX 612 389-8371

In August, Patricia E. O'Neill became the Assistant Professor -- Science Librarian, at Pacific Lutheran University (her alma mater) in Tacoma, Washington. "Moving to this position will give me a chance to work with the science faculty to develop a strong undergraduate information literacy program. Having served as Physical Science Librarian at Cornell and Chemistry Librarian at Emory University, I am aware of what undergraduate students need to know about science information to make their transition to graduate school easier. I'm am thoroughly enjoying coming home to PLU. I also look forward to the renewed opportunity to be active again in the Division of Chemical Information."

Please feel free to contact her at:
Mordvedt Library
Pacific Lutheran University
Tacoma, WA 98447-0003
253-535-7443
kirkwope@plu.edu

Edlyn Simmons retired from her position as manager of the Patent Information Group at Hoechst Marion Roussel on July 31, 1999, due to the closure of the HMR Patent Department's Cincinnati, OH, office. On August 2, Edlyn began a new position as Section Head in Procter & Gamble's Business Information Services department. In her new position, Edlyn is responsible for managment of BIS searching support for the Fabric and Home Care business unit at Ivorydale Technical Center and oversees patent searching activities at all of P&G's Cincinnati sites.

Edlyn S. Simmons
Section Head
Business Information Services
The Procter & Gamble Company
5299 Spring Grove Ave.
Cincinnati, Ohio 45217
Phone: (513) 627-5664
Fax: (513) 627-6854
Email: simmons.es@pg.com

Name of Award: ACS Division of Chemical Information Meritorious Service Award.

Purpose: To recognize outstanding contributions to the Division.

Candidates for Award: Members of the Division who have performed activities benefiting the Division and deserving of special recognition. The current Chair, Chair-Elect, Treasurer, and Secretary are ineligible to receive this award.

Frequency: The award may be given to more than one person a year.

Nature of the Award: An engraved plaque or a framed certificate.

Process for the Award: A call for nominations will be published in printed and electronic publications for the Division and on the CINF Web site. Nominations may be submitted to the Awards Committee by letter, fax, or email, with a deadline of two months before a given National Meeting. The Awards Committee will receive nominations and select award winner(s). The Chair of the Division will notify the winner(s). The award will be presented at the Division luncheon at the following National Meeting. A press release will be prepared by the Awards Committee and will be sent by the Awards Committee to the same printed and electronic venues as other Division award announcements.

Criteria for the Award: Membership in the Division and outstanding contributions to the Division. For example, continuing leadership of the Division in a particular area or sustained active contribution to major tasks over many years. Nominations should document these contributions and be supported by three seconding letters.

Chemistry and the Internet Symposium 99