Examples of Early Nonconventional Technical Information Systems

Chemists have a long-standing appreciation for the value of recorded information. Many of the early efforts to improve information-processing techniques were centered on chemical information problems. The preeminence of Chemical Abstracts as a secondary publication service was well established, but the control and effective use of other information resources were objects of much effort and interest on the part of librarians and information specialists as well as practicing chemists and research scientists, who developed innovative techniques and experimented with the available equipment for handling chemical information. In the late 1950s the Office of Science Information Service of the National Science Foundation initiated a series of reports (Nonconventional technical information systems in current use, 1958–1966) describing some of these innovative information systems. As principal compiler of the first reports, I visited many of the organizations operating such systems. A review of a representative sample of them illustrates the imagination and initiative displayed by the system designers. Thus we can acknowledge the efforts of these pioneering individuals and also recognize their contributions to further system developments.