A x e l e r a t i o
Sniplinks in materials informatics
By Axel Drefahl

Introduction

The term sniplink is a portmanteau composed from the words snippet and hyperlink. A sniplink encapsulates a small piece of information including one or more hyperlinks that provide a reference for the given information and often suggest interesting resources with further details.

Sniplinks served with the Materials Matter! portal or uploaded by users as a contribution consist of four essential parts: material subject, snippet, link(s) and contributor/author information. The following example demonstrates the composition of a material sniplink:

{*Fe3O4}{ncmin=magnetite;spg=Fd-3m}
Investigation of the nano-crystalline magnetite cap (Fe3O4, cubic space group Fd3m) of the chiton (marine mollusc Chaetopleura apiculata) tooth, a classical model system for the study of matrix-mediated mineralization [Lowenstam, H. A. \& Weiner, S. On biomineralization (Oxford University Press, USA, 1989)]
10.1038/nature09686
Contribution by Axeleratio from CurlySMILES-annotated BIBTEX Bibliography

This sniplink informs about a study of magnetite (Fe3O4) in a context where material science meets biology. The material is specified via CurlySMILES notation, followed by the snippet, the document object identifier (DOI), linking to the original article, and a contribution note. The next sections describe the sniplink parts in more detail.
Custom Search


Material subject

The material subject is expressed as material notation using the CurlySMILES language. The CurlySMILES notation in a sniplink is expected to encode the material by composition, structure or architecture at a level of detail that corresponds to the snippet content. The level of detail should support targeted search and reinforce binding of related snippets with respect to material classes and domains of interest.

Snippet

A snippet can contain any kind of information associated with its material subject. Typical content concerns design and preparation of a material and its properties as a function of physicochemical variables. Often the role of a material phase or nanostructure in a composite or functional device is addressed. The preferred snippet format is the phrase sequence: a head phrase (noun phrase) followed by subordinate phrases such as prepositional phrases. This format is commonly used in article titles and supports both human readers and automatic scanners to identify the keywords and key aspects. Note that there is always a hyperlink nearby to get to a narrative or a more illustrative presentation of the subject.
A common link within a snippet is the clickable DOI providing access to an abstract or a complete article from which the snippet has been derived. Instead of or in addition to the DOI a URL may be given to locate resources confirming and extending the snippet context.

Contributor/author information

A snippet can be considered as a microabstract. The person or group that wrote this microabstract is the contributor, which can be the author of the resource files accessible through the link(s) or any other person responsible for the given microabstract. Sniplink authorship is anchored by a link to the home page or by the email address of the contributor.