This paper presents an autobiographical account of Eugene Garfield’s involvement in chemical information systems. It traces his personal evolution from laboratory chemist transformed into an information scientist who combined his knowledge of structural linguistics and information technology into an algorithmic system for identifying molecular formulas in the literature.
Recognizing the shortcomings of traditional abstracting and indexing systems like Index Medicus and Chemical Abstracts, he launched Current Contents, Index Chemicus and Science Citation Index, which were designed to provide timely, weekly and highly specific retrieval of chemical information.
The experience in locating and coding the steroid literature for the US Patent Office led to a variety of chemically-basedservices dealing with new compounds and intermediates, as well as graphical presentation of chemical formulas and reactions
The Index Chemicus Registry System was the first to use the Wiswesser line notation, which became a standard in the pharmaceutical field. This eventually led to Current Chemical Reactions Database and Reaction Citation Index.
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References
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[1] S.A. Bernard , E. Garfield and L.P. Hammett , Specific effects in acid catalysis by ion exchange resins. III. Some observations on the effect of polyvalent citations , Journal of the American Chemical Society76(4) (1954) 991-992 .
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