[WikiEN-l] CAS Discourages Using SciFinder to Help Curate Wikipedia

[Oldak Quill]

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On 08/03/2008, Philip Sandifer  wrote:
>
>  On Mar 8, 2008, at 12:16 PM, Steve Summit wrote:
>
>  > I wrote:
>  >> The creation of the CAS database was obviously a huge undertaking...
>  >
>  > According to [[CAS registry number]], "Around 50,000 new numbers
>  > are added each week."
>
>
> And apparently the CAS database is staffed with PhDs these days, so
>  it's not a trivial undertaking. There are reasons for the cost of
>  access.
>
>  This may be a case of "don't shit where you eat." We are, for the most
>  part, on the same side as ACS - we're all non-profit organizations
>  seeking to increase knowledge. We don't necessarily have a lot to gain
>  by using the CAS numbers and, in doing so, jeopardizing the
>  development of the CAS system.

We have as much to gain from using CAS numbers as using any unique
identifier system (i.e. quite a lot). It is the most widely-used and
complete system for chemical identification. Wikipedia articles which
indicate CAS numbers hardly jeopardise the development of the CAS
system. If anything, it promotes the system as the de facto standard.

CAS identifiers in Wikipedia articles helps our readers, helps
Wikipedia, and helps CAS.

- --
Oldak Quill (oldakquill at gmail.com)
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