STRUCTURAL DATABASES AND INTERNET

Frank H. Allen

CCDC, 12 Union Road, Cambridge CB2 1EZ, UK.

The crystallographic structural databases make use of the Internet for service provision in a variety of ways: data access, user support, provision of information about services, promotion and marketing, etc. However, the CSD in particular can only be accessed via the Internet under controlled circumstances within certain countries: worldwide Web access is not yet available. Before this can happen, a number of issues must be resolved. Some of these are technical, but others, concerning copyright, licensing and cost-recovery protocols, must also be addressed. For the databases, an equally important Internet application is the capture of new crystal structure data. Electronic depositions to the PDB are, of course, mandatory. CIF depositions to the CSD and ICSD, either directly or through journals, are rapidly increasing - some 40% of CSD input now arrives in this form. Apart from a number of teething problems connected with format integrity, the use of the Internet for data capture also raises issues concerning future publication scenarios for new crystal structures.