The Future of Chemical Information Is Now

Abstract

Search and retrieval of chemical information has been dramatically changed by the application of “Big Data” techniques. This development continues to be driven by the massive growth of chemical scientific literature and of online data and databases. Not only is there an expansion of the traditional avenues of publication, but many new contributing resources, such as open access journals, MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), Wikis, and blogs have arisen. Powerful tools, like APIs (application programming interfaces) and Big Data interrogation are providing innovative ways to retrieve and analyze data and connect different databases. Materials, pharmaceutical, and environmental research, to name just a few, are especially challenged by the need to organize and access vast amounts of data. What skill-sets will need to be developed in order to get the greatest value out of the available data? Will it be coding and information technology skills, or awareness and better delivery of the data by the available systems? We believe that, in the short term, efforts are needed to expand awareness and training.