Chemical Information Sources/Chemistry Newsgroups, Discussion Lists, and Blogs 1

Chemical Information Sources/ChemistryNewsgroups, Discussion Lists, and BlogsIntroduction

This chapter introduces some of the new communication techniques that the Internet and World Wide Web haveenabled. In particular, the ability to communicate with people with similar interests is stressed. We are in a transitionstate from paper to electronic. It is very important to understand that not all information found in printed materials isalso on the Web, nor is all of the material on the Web available for free. Nevertheless, the Web has enabled anunprecedented level of communication, especially nowadays, with the increasing use of the social networkingsoftware associated with WEB 2.0 [1]. However, communication by chemists with similar interests using the Internethas been going on for several decades using such tools as discussion lists (also called electronic mailing lists orlistservs) and newsgroups. These are tools for distributing a single message via e-mail to a targeted audience thatmay reach in the thousands. Starting with the launch of services like Blogger and WordPress, blogs became quitepopular as a way of keeping up with important happenings in a field.

Blogs

A now common way of communicating in the Web 2.0 world of social computing is to maintain or subscribe to ablog. A blog (short for web log) is a website where entries are made and displayed. The content may includecommentary or news on a particular subject, but some blogs function more as personal online diaries. The ability forreaders to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of most blogs.An interesting chemistry blog is Jean-Claude Bradley’s appropriately named Useful Chemistry [2] blog at Drexelwhich originally invited users to “Post specific problems in chemistry that need to be solve". There are severalchemistry blog directories, including Chemical Blogspace [3] and Chemistry Blogs [4].

Internet Listserves

The LISTSERV program has proven to be a very reliable and popular program for constructing discussion lists. acatalog of public listserves that use the program is found at CataList [5]. There are many Listserves, Discussion Lists,and Newsgroups for Chemistry [6]. The LISTSERV program has evolved over the years to include a Web archive ofmessages that can be searched as any other database.All LISTSERV-type programs provide a channel to discuss various issues with a potentially large group of people.Some of the listserves are unmoderated, while others are private, with submissions only by the LISTOWNER, theperson who administers the list. Some lists have a lot of traffic, so some subscribers prefer to utilize the digest optionof the LISTSERV program. This allows one message per day to reach the recipient, and the single message containsall messages sent to the list the previous day. Most lists have a few very active commentators, who act as magnetsfor other people, some of whom prefer to remain LURKERS, subscribers who are not active participants in thediscussion topics.

CHMINF-L, the Chemical Information Sources Discussion List

A popular chemistry list is CHMINF-L [7], the Chemical Information Sources Discussion List, which was started byGary Wiggins in 1991. CHMINF-L exists to serve as a forum for discussion of chemical information sources and aninformation source for chemistry reference questions. It is currently sponsored by major chemical information unitsof several professional societies (American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Special LibrariesAssociation). Typical topics of discussion on CHMINF-L include:•• News about existing or new sources•• Prices and availability of databases and other sources of information

Chemical Information Sources/Chemistry Newsgroups, Discussion Lists, and Blogs 2

•• Search hints•• Surveys on various topics•• Sources of chemicals•• Other reference questions.Some typical postings are:•• Where can I find information on polymer structure and data storage standards?•• Where can I find a reference to the Pkheidzhe and Gagnaudze Reaction?

Google Groups, Facebook Groups, and Other Groups

You could use a Web service such as Google Groups [8] or Facebook Groups [9] to find or start a Web 2.0 group thatshares your interests.Thousands of news groups were developed to be read through Unix news readers. They were distributed toorganizations only through network newsfeeds. Therefore, you may have to request that a subscription be added ifyour organization utilizes newsgroups. The news feed is read by newsreader client software such as: trn, rn, nn, tin,etc. or newsreaders included with network browsers. They have names that start with:•• comp. - computer science and similar topics examples: comp.software.testing comp.os.linux•• news. - news about Usenet itself•• rec. - recreation, hobbies, the arts examples: rec.bicycles rec.heraldry•• sci. - scientific research and applications, including many scientific, engineering, and social sciences disciplines

examples: sci.chem sci.polymers•• soc. - social issues (loosely interpreted) example: soc.religion•• misc. - materials that do not fit anywhere else•• alt. - alternative ways of looking at things; discussion groups range from relatively ordinary topics to the bizarre.

Not all systems carry these Newsgroups. examples: alt.cd-rom alt.feminism alt.horror•• biz. - business-related issues example: biz.jobs.

Summary

The use of e-mail and social networking tools that the Internet and World Wide Web provide has revolutionized theway chemists communicate. Finding a partner or research group that shares an interest in the type of chemistry youare doing is much easier now than it was even two decades ago.SIRCh Link for Chemistry Blogs and Discussion GroupsProblem Set for this topic [10]

References[1] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Web_2. 0[2] http:/ / usefulchem. blogspot. com/[3] http:/ / cb. openmolecules. net/ blogs. php[4] http:/ / www. chemistryguide. org/ chemistry-blogs. html[5] http:/ / www. lsoft. com/ lists/ listref. html[6] http:/ / en. wikibooks. org/ wiki/ Chemical_Information_Sources/ SIRCh/ Chemistry_Blogs_and_Discussion_Groups/

Listserves,_Discussion_Lists,_and_Newsgroups_for_Chemistry[7] http:/ / listserv. indiana. edu/ archives/ chminf-l. html[8] http:/ / groups. google. com/[9] http:/ / www. facebook. com/ groups/[10] http:/ / www. indiana. edu/ ~cheminfo/ C471/ 471ex1. html

Article Sources and Contributors 3

Article Sources and ContributorsChemical Information Sources/Chemistry Newsgroups, Discussion Lists, and Blogs  Source: http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?oldid=2194134  Contributors: Adrignola, Gary DormanWiggins, Tmvogel

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