Molecular Science Research, Molecular Databases and Current Issues of Information Management

This article reviews molecular databases from an information perspective. Key management issues are centred around the effect of the availability of online information upon molecular science research practice, the expectations and user-satisfaction of molecular scientists, how searching can be improved, the current research mix of database search and experiment, the use and value of molecular information, how molecular information can best be represented, the design and development of very large databases, cooperation between database suppliers, the specification of and the adaptation to new types of database, and database control and administration. Because the field has been characterised by rapid expansion and change the problem of management is a complex one.