Report:MARPAT on STN/Usability
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Usability
The following section contains subjective comments about the system that represent our editor's opinions, and should not be viewed as fact. Editor's opinions include positive and negative judgments about the product written in consideration of wider context, including related products and the industry at large. Further subjective information is presented in clearly labeled "Editor's Notes" throughout the report.
Although it is a powerful tool, searching MARPAT is not easy to learn; a MARPAT user must be both knowledgeable in chemistry, and a trained user of the STN Express command line interface and Discover! wizards (see the STN article for more details). The STN interface is command-line based, which is difficult for many people to learn to use. Users could try using the graphical interface of SciFinder to conduct a Markush search, but the customization options for Markush searches in SciFinder are much more limited than the broad search customization options available on STN. Even those who are comfortable structure searching in the STN REGISTRY file may not be totally comfortable on MARPAT, as drawing structure queries to retrieve generic structure results is even more difficult than searching for exact structure hits in REGISTRY. This is due to the increased complexity of searching for answers that have been generically defined (while trying to limit the results set to a reasonable number of hits).
At least one training course is definitely required for users to learn to search MARPAT, but multiple training sessions are suggested. Due to the high cost of performing complex searches in this database, and the pay-per-transaction command environment, using this database can be stressful for some users. Fortunately, STN does host a learning file, LMARPAT, which can be used for low-cost training purposes.
The difficulty of learning how to use the file is somewhat offset by the availability of training materials and training courses offered from the CAS and Fiz Karlsruhe websites and training staff. Hopefully, the development of a new STN interface (slated to be released in a beta version to all STN fixed-fee customers in the fourth quarter of 2012) will improve the usability of MARPAT on the STN platform.[1] Planned improvements on the new platform include combined text and structure queries, which will hopefully combine the ease of the graphical interface on SciFinder with the flexibility of the current Markush search options on STN.[2]
Sources
- ↑ "Update on New STN." CAS website, http://www.cas.org/support/stngen/stnews/dbnews/feb2012.html#newstn. Accessed February 27, 2012.
- ↑ "New STN® Revolutionizes Patent Searching for Professionals." FIZ Karlsruhe press release. Published October 24, 2011, received via email. Accessed October 24, 2011.
