The application of chemical Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (chemical MIME) Internet standards to electronic mail and World Wide Web information exchange

The proposal and subsequent global use of an Internet standard based on chemical primary Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (chemical MIME) media type is reviewed. Examples of the configuration of this standard for use with Internet-based electronic mail and World Wide Web clients are shown. The longterm objectives of the integration and interoperability of chemical information across the boundaries of Internet-based electronic journals, conferences, virtual courses, databases, modeling, and newly emerging information handling and modeling tools are set out. We believe that one way forward is by concentrating on more finely grained chemical information components, using generic tools based on XML (eXtensible markup language) and its support in chemistry via CML (chemical markup language).