W0210

A Web-Based Shared Database System for Small Molecule Crystallography. John C. Huffman, John C. Bollinger, John N. Huffman, Indiana University Molecular Structure Center, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405-4001 USA

The rapid growth in both speed and accessibility of the Internet, combined with the power and storage capacities of workstations, is having profound effects on database designs and implementations in many diverse fields. Small-molecule crystallography is an ideal target for database innovation because the large amount of information that can be derived from a relatively compact set of numerical data. We will describe how a local database is being developed ( http://www.iumsc.indiana.edu) which allows collaborators immediate access to not only the tabular structural results, but also a wide range of molecular graphics tools. The current interface allows examination of the structures using a range of hardware from inexpensive Web-browser-equipped desktop workstations to three-dimensional CAVE immersive techniques. Over one thousand structures are now available on the laboratory's Web server, and new structures are placed on the server as they are completed. The next step in the development of the database is the connection of other crystallography facilities, and collaboration has been started to implement such a shared system ( http://www.iumsc.indiana.edu/ReciproalNet.html).