Talk:Rzepa2011: Difference between revisions
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= WikiPedia and the Molecular Sciences = | = WikiPedia and the Molecular Sciences = | ||
A talk given by [[Wikipedia:User:Rzepa|Henry Rzepa]], sharing his thoughts about Wikipedia and its use. | A talk given by [[Wikipedia:User:Rzepa|Henry Rzepa]], sharing his thoughts about Wikipedia and its use on the occasion of the [http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/London_Wikipedia_Academy London Wikipedia Academy] launch | ||
# Chemistry is mostly about molecules. Hence it is one of the '''molecular sciences''' | # Chemistry is mostly about molecules. Hence it is one of the '''molecular sciences''' | ||
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## For each of which between 10 - 50 [http://www.iupac.org/ well-defined] properties (sometimes more) are recorded (or calculated). | ## For each of which between 10 - 50 [http://www.iupac.org/ well-defined] properties (sometimes more) are recorded (or calculated). | ||
# Molecules map beautifully onto Wiki(pedia) pages! | # Molecules map beautifully onto Wiki(pedia) pages! | ||
# You will see from the above, that collecting information about these molecules has been done by | # You will see from the above, that collecting information about these molecules has been done by just a small number of (commercial) organisations: | ||
#*[http://www.cas.org/ CAS] | #*[http://www.cas.org/ CAS] | ||
#*[http://reaxys.com REAXYS] | #*[http://reaxys.com REAXYS] | ||
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## - | ## - | ||
# - | # - | ||
# How | # How did I get into Wiki(pedia)? | ||
#* In | #* In 1997, i decided to teach a course on how students might retrieve (chemical) information. | ||
#* The course was presented as conventional Web pages (they are [http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/local/it/ still up], as a historical document!) | #* The course was presented as conventional Web pages (they are [http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/local/it/ still up], as a historical document!) | ||
#* And we got students to express what they had learnt by each writing a small project about an interesting molecule | #* And we got students to express what they had learnt by each writing a small project about an interesting molecule | ||
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#* In those days, students were keen to learn how to write HTML | #* In those days, students were keen to learn how to write HTML | ||
#* But as the years went by, they started to query the usefulness of this skill! | #* But as the years went by, they started to query the usefulness of this skill! | ||
#* So in | #* So in 2007, I decided to move everything to our [http://wiki.ch.ic.ac.uk Wiki] | ||
#** A [https://wiki.ch.ic.ac.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Mod:intro Modelling course] now expresses the Molecule Project | #** A [https://wiki.ch.ic.ac.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Mod:intro Modelling course] now expresses the Molecule Project | ||
#** and the students describe their project using (Media)Wiki markup instead of HTML. | #** and the students describe their project using (Media)Wiki markup instead of HTML. | ||
Revision as of 11:28, 8 April 2011
WikiPedia and the Molecular Sciences
A talk given by Henry Rzepa, sharing his thoughts about Wikipedia and its use on the occasion of the London Wikipedia Academy launch
- Chemistry is mostly about molecules. Hence it is one of the molecular sciences
- As of today, there are 58,045,845 molecules known
- For each of which between 10 - 50 well-defined properties (sometimes more) are recorded (or calculated).
- Molecules map beautifully onto Wiki(pedia) pages!
- You will see from the above, that collecting information about these molecules has been done by just a small number of (commercial) organisations:
- The process started around 1881 by Friedrich Konrad Beilstein.
- His handbook was the (molecular) Wikipedia of his day!
- And it introduced many modern concepts, such as the information triple (Molecule|Property|Citation)
- Nowadays, this information is Expensive and not accessible to everyone.
- So, when Wikipedia started, people interested in molecules immediately started a Project.
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- -
- -
- -
- How did I get into Wiki(pedia)?
- In 1997, i decided to teach a course on how students might retrieve (chemical) information.
- The course was presented as conventional Web pages (they are still up, as a historical document!)
- And we got students to express what they had learnt by each writing a small project about an interesting molecule
- Some of the best can still be seen here
- In those days, students were keen to learn how to write HTML
- But as the years went by, they started to query the usefulness of this skill!
- So in 2007, I decided to move everything to our Wiki
- A Modelling course now expresses the Molecule Project
- and the students describe their project using (Media)Wiki markup instead of HTML.
- this is much more to their liking!
- A key feature of our Wiki is the molecule renderer (Jmol).
- There is much current discussion on how to best incorporate this into Wikipedia itself
- You can see for example that I am not able to install it on this Wiki!
- What else molecular or chemical is happening on Wikipedia itself?
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