It seems it’s now public knowledge that WiChempedia is on its way thanks to Tony Williams at ChemSpider and his colleagues.
“Over the past few weeks I have had a few discussions with a member of the ChemSpider Advisory group regarding a concept to create WiChempedia. I’ve enjoyed these conversations with Alex Tropsha (professor and Chair in the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products in the School of Pharmacy, UNC-Chapel Hill),” says Williams in his latest blog post.
Over the past few weeks Williams and his colleagues have been looking at the quality of data on Wikipedia and trying to figure out the best way to mash ChemSpider’s efforts with those of the WP:CHEM team. “Our intention is to deliver wiki-capabilities in ChemSpider and to use the Open Content associated with chemicals and drugs on Wikipedia inside the system,” Williams says, without, he adds, reinventing the wheel or offending the Wikipedians.
“My intention as we work through downloading the data and to check, validate and correct what is sitting on Wikipedia directly for benefit to the community,” adds Williams.