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sites use a web browser that does not support canvases, and in most
school environments the installation of plug-ins is not an option. To
make the best of both worlds, the DisplaySpectrum extension
automatically tests the browser being used: if it supports canvases then it
displays the spectrum using the ChemDoodle spectral viewer [38], and if
not it uses the JspecView applet [37].
This chapter has demonstrated how a simplifi ed version of both the
information in, and functionality of ChemSpider has been integrated into
the LearnChemistry educational web site, using the collaborative aspects
of MediaWiki to allow these and other related pages, such as quizzes and
descriptions of experiments to then be built up. The system was pieced
together from many different open source programs and libraries, which
would not have been possible without the fl exibility of the MediaWiki
platform on which the platform is based.
3.6 Conclusion
RSC has embraced the use of free/open source cheminformatics and Wiki
tools in order to deliver multiple systems to the chemistry community
that facilitate learning, data sharing and access to data and information
of various types. By utilizing open source code where appropriate, and by
integrating with other commercial platforms, we have been able to deliver
a rich tapestry of functionality that could not otherwise have been
achieved without signifi cantly higher investment. In choosing our
commercial vendor for our substructure search engine, we also opted for
an open source platform with the GGA software.
Our experiences of using free/open source software are generally very
positive. In a number of cases we have been able to take the software
components as are and drop them into our applications to be used
without any recoding and using the existing software interfaces as
delivered. In most cases, our involvement with the code developers has
either been negligible or has required signifi cant dialog to resolve issues.
In the cheminformatics domain of open source software, we have found
commercial open source software to be of excellent quality and rigorously
tested and well supported. For open source software of a more academic
nature, we have found that small teams (where the software is supported
by one group, for example) are highly responsive and effective in
addressing identifi ed issues, whereas applications with a broad
development base are less so. In certain cases we have had to invest
signifi cant resources in optimizing the software for our purposes and
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