Enhancing the Discovery of Chemistry Theses by Registering Substances and Depositing in PubChem

Chemical substances from theses are not widely accessible as searchable machine-readable formats. In this article, we describe our workflow for extracting, registering, and sharing chemical substances from the University of Alabama theses to enhance discovery. In total, 73 theses were selected for...

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Main Authors: Vincent F. Scalfani, Barbara J. Dahlbach, Jacob Robertson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Alberta Library 2021-05-01
Series:Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship
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Online Access:https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/istl/index.php/istl/article/view/2566
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author Vincent F. Scalfani
Barbara J. Dahlbach
Jacob Robertson
author_facet Vincent F. Scalfani
Barbara J. Dahlbach
Jacob Robertson
author_sort Vincent F. Scalfani
collection DOAJ
description Chemical substances from theses are not widely accessible as searchable machine-readable formats. In this article, we describe our workflow for extracting, registering, and sharing chemical substances from the University of Alabama theses to enhance discovery. In total, 73 theses were selected for the project, resulting in about 3,000 substances registered using the IUPAC International Chemical Identifier and deposited in PubChem as either structure-data files or Simplified Molecular-Input Line-Entry System notations. In addition to substances being deposited in PubChem, an archive copy was also deposited in the University of Alabama Institutional Repository. The PubChem records for the substance depositions include the full bibliographic reference and link to the thesis full text or thesis metadata when the full text is not yet available. Excluding mixtures, we found that 40% of the shared substances were new to PubChem at the time of deposition. We conclude this article with a detailed discussion about our experiences, challenges, and recommendations for librarians and curators engaged in sharing chemical substance data from theses and similar documents.
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spelling doaj-art-20a8e7f22f3c4710b802ebfcf24ebe652025-08-20T03:14:01ZengUniversity of Alberta LibraryIssues in Science and Technology Librarianship1092-12062021-05-019710.29173/istl2566Enhancing the Discovery of Chemistry Theses by Registering Substances and Depositing in PubChemVincent F. Scalfani0Barbara J. Dahlbach1Jacob Robertson2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6356-9585The University of AlabamaThe University of AlabamaThe University of Alabama Chemical substances from theses are not widely accessible as searchable machine-readable formats. In this article, we describe our workflow for extracting, registering, and sharing chemical substances from the University of Alabama theses to enhance discovery. In total, 73 theses were selected for the project, resulting in about 3,000 substances registered using the IUPAC International Chemical Identifier and deposited in PubChem as either structure-data files or Simplified Molecular-Input Line-Entry System notations. In addition to substances being deposited in PubChem, an archive copy was also deposited in the University of Alabama Institutional Repository. The PubChem records for the substance depositions include the full bibliographic reference and link to the thesis full text or thesis metadata when the full text is not yet available. Excluding mixtures, we found that 40% of the shared substances were new to PubChem at the time of deposition. We conclude this article with a detailed discussion about our experiences, challenges, and recommendations for librarians and curators engaged in sharing chemical substance data from theses and similar documents. https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/istl/index.php/istl/article/view/2566PubChemchemical informationdata sharingtheses and dissertations
spellingShingle Vincent F. Scalfani
Barbara J. Dahlbach
Jacob Robertson
Enhancing the Discovery of Chemistry Theses by Registering Substances and Depositing in PubChem
Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship
PubChem
chemical information
data sharing
theses and dissertations
title Enhancing the Discovery of Chemistry Theses by Registering Substances and Depositing in PubChem
title_full Enhancing the Discovery of Chemistry Theses by Registering Substances and Depositing in PubChem
title_fullStr Enhancing the Discovery of Chemistry Theses by Registering Substances and Depositing in PubChem
title_full_unstemmed Enhancing the Discovery of Chemistry Theses by Registering Substances and Depositing in PubChem
title_short Enhancing the Discovery of Chemistry Theses by Registering Substances and Depositing in PubChem
title_sort enhancing the discovery of chemistry theses by registering substances and depositing in pubchem
topic PubChem
chemical information
data sharing
theses and dissertations
url https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/istl/index.php/istl/article/view/2566
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AT barbarajdahlbach enhancingthediscoveryofchemistrythesesbyregisteringsubstancesanddepositinginpubchem
AT jacobrobertson enhancingthediscoveryofchemistrythesesbyregisteringsubstancesanddepositinginpubchem