MDL’s databases get
cross-application functionality
Scientists researching new materials will now be able
to conduct more complex chemical data searches with the
latest version of the chemical data navigation system
CrossFire 2000, says MDL Information Systems. MDL also
claims that the software boasts a closer integration
than before with other scientific applications.
MDL’s databases, CrossFire Beilstein and CrossFire
Gmelin, contain over 8 million organic and 1.4 million
inorganic and organometallic compounds, respectively. To
make them easier to search, MDL has introduced Easy Data
Search, a form-based method for creating factual
queries.
Also new is Hitset Navigator, a pictorial
representation of the hyperlinks associated with
retrieved results, simplifying the movement between
results and facilitating the discovery of additional
relevant information.
"Both databases are the logical first steps in
chemical and new materials discovery," said Dr Jürgen
Swienty-Busch, CrossFire’s product manager at MDL. "But
we know that they are just two of the many software
tools that scientists rely on for discovery
research."
Because of this, MDL has added a new feature called
‘science hopping’ that enables scientists to jump
between CrossFire and virtually any other application. A
sample hopping applet (hopplet?) supplied with the
product automatically turns selected text in Microsoft
Word into text-based search queries for CrossFire
Beilstein.
Scientists can also define hyperlinks within the
databases and jump from them to other systems, such as
proprietary chemical databases and inventory systems.
"Science hopping makes it easier for scientists to use
the databases to follow up on ideas that may come to
them as they work in other scientific applications,"
said Swienty-Busch.
