The chemical handbook: Glorious past Parlous present No future? Francis Bartow Culp Purdue University

Transcription

1 The chemical handbook: Glorious past Parlous present No future? Francis Bartow Culp Purdue University

2 The Past

3 In the beginning The common development of chemistry and handbooks When is a Handbuch not a handbook?

4 Gmelin s Handbuch der theoretischen Chemie First edition (1817) comprised 2 volumes

5 Beilstein s Handbuch der organischen Chemie First edition (1881) appeared in 2 volumes

6 Other early handbooks Handbuch der Chemie für Fabrikanten, Künstler und gewerbfleissiger Bürger (1807) Handbook of chemistry: theoretical, practical, and technical (1854) Landolt-Börnstein physikalisch-chemische chemische Tabellen (1882)

7 The value of handbooks Reduce Reduce information entropy Convenient FocusedFocused

8 How handbooks are used Consulted, not read Used Used at the point of need The condiments of research

9 The Present

10 Gmelin First edition comprised 2 volumes 8 th edition contained over 800 volumes Ceased publication in 1997

11 Beilstein First edition (1881) appeared in 2 volumes Last printed edition contained over 450 volumes Reborn as Beilstein/ CrossFire in 1994

12 CRC Handbook of Chemistry & Physics

13 Publication rate of handbooks Titles

14 The present state of printed handbooks Increasing topic diversity Static format Non-uniformity in: Indexing Nomenclature

15 The new competition: Handbook alternatives Free Internet-based sites containing basic physicochemical data (Chemweb( Chemweb,, NIST, SDBS, etc.) Availability of experimental and calculated data (pka( pka,, log P, log D, molar solubility values) in primary databases Increased searchability of primary and secondary literature (SciFinder, Web of Science, etc.)

16 Handbooks embrace the electronic era (sort of ) Landolt-Börnstein (Springer) Handbook of Chemistry & Physics (CRC) knovel

17 L-B B search via Springer LINK

18 CRC HBCP, e-version e (October, 2002)

19 CRC HBCP: PDF text page

20 CRC HBCP: Table

21 CRC HBPC Tabular search results using ranging command Name Synonym Mol. Form. CAS Re g. No. γ(10ºc)/mn m -1 γ(25ºc)/mn m -1 γ(50ºc)/mn m -1 γ(75ºc)/mn m -1 γ(100ºc)/mn m -1 2-Methylpentane Isohexane C 6 H tert-butylamine 2-Methyl-2- propanamine C 4 H 11 N Diethyl ether Ethyl ether C 4 H 10 O Pentane C 5 H Pentene α-amylene C 5 H Trifluoroacetic acid C HF 2 3 O Trimethylamine N,N- Dimethylmet hanamine C 3 H 9 N

22 knovel databases

23 knovel search

24 knovel interactive table

25 knovel customized table

26 knovel interactive graph (from Perry s s Handbook of Chemical Engineering)

27 The Future

28 Handbook usage survey The survey was conducted at the Purdue University departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, and Chemical Engineering, July-August, There were 109 respondents out of 150 forms distributed (73%); 80% of the respondents were graduate students, 20% faculty and professional staff.

29 How many times have you consulted a print handbook in the last 6 months? % Never Infreq. (1-10x) Frequently 10 0

30 How frequently do you consult handbooks now, compared to 6 months ago? % (42) 26-35(41) 36-45(12) 46-55(9) 56-65(5) Age ranges (no. of respondents) Less Same More

31 When you consulted a handbook, did you find what you sought? % Print Online Every time Most of the time Some of the time Rarely

32 If you didn t consult a handbook, why not? # of responses Didn't know which hbk to use No time to search Could find data elsewhere

33 Where do you look for information typically found in a handbook? # of respondents nd choice 1st choice Print hbk Online hbk Textbook Online db Internet

34 How would you prefer to obtain information found in handbooks? 84% Print Online 16%

35 What characteristics are important in a printed handbook? # of respondents Easy-to-find information Up-to-date information Convenience to work area 2nd choice 1st choice

36 What characteristics are important in an electronic handbook? # of respondents Intuitive search interface Convenience to work area Portable tables & graphs 2nd choice 1st choice

37 Survey conclusions Handbook usage is declining, especially among younger users Significant use of handbook alternatives No great preference for current online handbook versions over print versions, but Strong general preference for online format

38 Survey conclusions, cont. Handbook data must be: Easy to find Convenient Up-to to-date Portable

39 Current perceptions of handbook data: Low-hanging fruit? Oyster bed!

40 Content Format Delivery Handbooks of the future: Considerations

41 Handbooks of the future: Content Content OK!

42 Handbooks of the future: Creator end: Format Enhanced substance descriptors (e.g., IChI) Standardized descriptors for property names and units (IUPAC) Collector end: Inclusion of creator-end end data enhancements, when given a posteriori data enhancements, when not Flexible data formats for DIY tables & graphs

43 Handbooks of the future: Delivery Web-based based handbooks Reduced handbook tables and graphs exportable to pocket pc s and PDA s

44 Successful handbook properties Ontologically rich structure and property definitions Manipulable data points, capable of mathematic operation and rearrangement into DIY tables and/or graphs Data portability; downloadable into pda s and pocket PC s

45 Handbooks R. I. P.? Chemiker klagen oft, daß man im Gmelin nur schwer etwas finde. Vielleicht ist bei den heutigen riesigen Massen an Wissen eine systematische Zusammenfassung des Stoffes gar nicht mehr möglich, vielleicht sind die Handbücher eine aussterbende Spezies (Chemists frequently complain that one can find something in Gmelin only with difficulty. Perhaps, with today s huge mass of o knowledge, a systematic collection of material is just no longer possible perhaps handbooks are a dying species.) Deutsches Museum, Leopold Gmelin: Anfang und Ende eines chemischen Handbuchs