The Importance of Numeric Databases to Materials Science

Scientific numeric databases are important research tools for materials scientists. In distinction to bibliographic databases, these numeric databases are useful primarily to provide direct, immediate access to data, often evaluated data. Examples showing the application of crystallographic databases are given, including determining candidate materials for certain applications. Thermo-chemical data useful for optimizing optical fiber processing are discussed showing the importance of high-quality data. In addition, these databases are an important tool that can be utilized in the graduate education of the next generation of materials scientists.