icic 2014 application programming interface (api) technologies to integrate chemistry research...

SciFinder® and Application Programming

Interface (API) Support

26th ICIC International Conference for the Information

Community

CAS is a division of the American Chemical Society.

Copyright 2014 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

CAS supports the mission of the ACS

ACS Mission

To advance the broader chemistry enterprise

and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth

and its people.

CAS Mission

To provide the world’s best digital research

environment to search, retrieve, analyze and

link chemical information.



CAS is the world’s authority for chemical

information

A global team of more than 1,000 scientists builds, curates and

controls the quality of our databases

Industry-leading timeliness means you have the most current

information

CAS provides information to support scientists’ and patent searchers’

workflows:



SciFinder: Speeding the pace of scientific discovery

Data as of October 2014

90 million+ uniquely identified

organic and inorganic

Substances

The largest collection

of small molecules

–by tens of millions–

available anywhere 74 million+

Reactions

Nearly double

the next largest

reaction source

40 million+ Literature References

Plus integrated access

to 23.5 million records in

the MEDLINE® database

from the U.S. National

Library of Medicine

63 Patent Authorities

30% more than any

other scientific

information provider

gives you access

to the world’s

most authoritative

disclosed chemistry

content.



The search and discovery tools make it easy to

access information at any research stage …



… and include a full range of structure searching

techniques



When CAS publicly announced API support,

customers responded with interest for various

implementations

Media Release

SciFinder® Now Offers API Capabilities June 25th, 2013

Scientists from partner organizations benefit from integration with

internal tools and data

Columbus, OH, (June 25, 2013) – Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), the world’s

authority for chemical information, announced today that the SciFinder® interface

now enables a range of APIs designed to streamline researchers’ workflows. CAS

has collaborated with several customers to develop API support for reaction,

substance and reference searching.



SciFinder API usage is increasing as more and

more customer applications are introduced

SciFinder API Usage Jan – Sep 2014



Adoption of the SciFinder Workflow API spans the

entire globe

United States 33%

Japan 29%

Germany 9%

United Kingdom

10%

Other 19%

SciFinder API Customers By Country



API support in SciFinder streamlines researchers’

workflow

Allows customers to tailor their in-house software to integrate aspects

of the search capabilities and content available in SciFinder

Places access to the world’s largest collection of chemical and science

related information at researchers’ fingertips

Saves time, reduces data recording errors and helps produce better

results overall



Initial API capabilities in SciFinder were system-to-

system queries that were like a round trip between

customers and CAS servers



Examples of functionality available from SciFinder

API support

Content retrieval: document information retrieval via patent number or

digital object identifier, and structure retrieval via CAS Registry

Number®

Link to SciFinder detail pages: patent number link, digital object

identifier link and CAS Registry Number link

Structure-based SciFinder searches: substance search with answer

set link and reaction search with answer set link



Authorization of customer’s in-house software

SciFinder Workflow API uses the draft OAuth 2.0 Internet Engineering

Task Force (IETF) specification to support authentication and

authorization

Tools that use the SciFinder API must first be registered with CAS

Once registered, credentials are assigned that allow the tool to make

API requests on behalf of registered users within the client’s parent

organization



Our first API implementation was to deliver a molfile

when queried with a CAS RN from a customer





One small step for API …





One small step for API …

… One giant leap for CAS



perkinelmer.cas.org

A collaboration between CAS and PerkinElmer

allows users to initiate a SciFinder search from

ChemDraw®



ChemDraw: Global adoption … global company

PerkinElmer’s suite of scientific solutions – Environmental & Human Health portfolio

– Informatics focus

ChemDraw: Millions of users worldwide – Commercial / Government / Academia / Patent Offices

– Publication and presentation / Database construction and searching / Teaching



Productivity is enhanced for ChemDraw users

accessing SciFinder



The two platforms enhance one another’s capabilities

Common name to structure conversion




Define functional group nicknames




Search small peptides by amino acid codes



Challenges that had to be overcome for a

successful integration

Structure mapping between ChemDraw and SciFinder: each handles

chemical structures differently

Proxy servers: many academics access SciFinder via their institution’s

proxy service. A successful integration had to handle these scenarios

without affecting connection security or speed

Piracy and authentication: steps had to be taken to prevent people

using pirated software from accessing SciFinder via the Search

SciFinder button. Authentication had extra levels of complexity since

users from lots of different customers would be accessing SciFinder

through a third party application, not their in-house software



SciFinder searches originating from ChemDraw are

still increasing steadily

Biodraw Searches (exc weekend days)



What’s in store for the future of SciFinder API

support?

We monitor API usage and are tracking trends and requests at all

times

We will work with current and potential future partners wherever it

makes sense to do so

If you or your organization has an idea or interest for a specific API

implementation, contact us; we’re happy to discuss collaboration

opportunities to meet your needs



The CAS Customer Center is available by email at

[email protected] to answer your questions and provide

quality support in a variety of areas and subjects

How can I get

access to

SciFinder? How can I find out

if this has been

made before?

I forgot my

log in info…

scifinder.cas.org

Paul Peters

Director, EMEA Sales at CAS

[email protected]

icic 2014 application programming interface (api) technologies to integrate chemistry research...

Internet

american chemical society

link chemical information

chemical abstracts service

scifinder api customers

cas servers

cas registry numberlink

scifinder interface

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