Chemistry and the
Internet
Gary Wiggins
Indiana University
Chemistry Library
Bloomington, IN 47405
812-855-9452
wiggins@indiana.edu
WWW-1
Install programs such as
Surfwatch and CyberPatrol
on your children’s computer,
and over 1000 “adultoriented” newsgroups and
Web sites are automatically
bared from the screen.

Cetron, M. “The Changing Face of the Internet.”
SpeciaList 1996, 19(1), 1, 15.
Trends-I
Vastly richer content
 Powerful search engines
 Intelligent agents
 Evaluated sites
 Super directories
 Mixed free/fee sites
 Local keyword searches
 Internet database search
engines

Trends-II
New browsers (viewers)
 “Easy” coding of HTML docs
 HTML extended tags
 Java, VRML, animated GIFs
 Multimedia authoring tools
 Outsourcing of Web sites
 Commercial Internet access
providers
 Internet Business Use
 New hardware: Network PCs

Network Computer
(Internet PC, Web PC)
Cheap (under $500) devices
to download programs from
the Internet
 No storing of programs/files
locally

 Reduced
administration
 Reduced maintenance
 Elimination of upgrade cycles

Examples:
 Sun
- Oracle - IBM - (Apple)
 Sun’s Java chips: fast 3-D
Top Search Engines

Alta Vista (DEC)
http://altavista.digital.com

InfoSeek Guide
http://guide.infoseek.com

Excite (Architect Software)
http://www.excite.com

Lycos
http://www.lycos.com

Open Text Index
http://www.opentext.com
Content: Electronic
Journals
1996: year of the e-journal
 Journals directly accessible
on the Internet
 Package deals for libraries
 Browsing capability important
 Payment --> Access forever?
 Integration into local
collections by users?
(fair use)

Browser Helpers for
Visualizing Molecules
Rasmol, Mage, ISIS/Draw
 ChemScape Chime (MDL)
 WebLab Viewer (MSI)
 ChemSymphony (Cherwell)
 For others:
http://www.indiana.edu/
~cheminfo/mvts.html

Chemical Web
Databases
ChemFinder
(CambridgeSoft)
http://chemfinder.camsoft.com/
 Chemscape Chime Pro
(MDL)
http://www.mdli.com/
chemscape/clientserver/
 SpaceCrunch (Tripos/SGI)
http://www.tripos.com/
spacecrunch

WWW-1
Trying to find a specific piece of data on
the WWW has been likened to trying to
pull one particular water molecule from
a raging river.
--S.S. Chadwick
Finding something on the Internet is like
trying to find the bathroom in a house
with 250,000 unmarked doors.
-- S.R. Heller
Have you noticed how much easier it is to
find out about the mating habits of the
Gaboon viper over the Internet than it
is to find last quarter’s sales figures for
your own business on your own LAN?
--V. McCarthy
Bibliography






Bachrach, Steven M., Ed. The Internet: A Guide for
Chemists. American Chemical Society: Washington,
DC, 1996.
Blackburn, David; Henderson, Rik; Welz, Gary.
“VRML Evolution: The State of the Art Advances.”
Internet World 1996, 7(12), 65-66, 68, 70.
Halfhill, Tom R. “Inside the Web PC.” Byte 1996,
21(3), 44-48, 50, 52, 54, 56.
“Net Search” special section in Internet World 1996,
7(5), 40-92.
Simpson, David. “Who Needs a Network
Computer?” Datamation 1996, 42(16), 96Varney, Sarah E.; McCarthy, Vance. “E-Commerce:
Wired for Profits.” Datamation 1996, 42(16), 42-45,
48-50.
Bibliography: Java
van Hoff, Arthur; Shaio, Sami, Starbuck, Orca.
HOOKED ON JAVA. Reading, MA: AddisonWesley, 1996.
Blundon, William. “The Truth About JAVA.” Internet
World 1996, 7(12), 59-60, 63.
JavaWorld
http://www.javaworld.com
Singleton, Andrew. “A Hot Cup of Java.” Byte 1996,
21(4), 129-130, 132.
Java Complete: special section of Datamation 1996 42(5),
28-61.
Venditto, Gus. “Java: It’s Hot, but Is It Ready to Serve?”
Internet World 1996 7(2), 76-78, 80.
Java: Examples
IU Molecular Structure Ctr
http://www.iumsc.indiana.
edu/welcome.htm
 Tripos Sketch and Fetch
http://www.webcom.com/
~tripos2

VRML: Sources

The VRML Repository
 http://www.sdsc.edu/vrml

Worlds Inc.
 http://www.worlds.net

Microsoft’s ActiveVRML
http://www.microsoft.com/
windows

Vollhardt, H.; Brickmann, J.
“3D Molecular Graphics on
the World Wide Web.”
http://ws05.pc.chemie.thdarmstadt.de/psb95/
History
Hobbes’ Internet Timeline
(R. H. Zakon)
http://info.isoc.org/guest/zakon/
Internet/History/HIT.html