Astrophysics Data System: Difference between revisions

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The importance of recording and classifying earlier astronomical knowledge and works was recognized in the 18th century, with [[Johann Friedrich Weidler]] publishing the first comprehensive history of astronomy in 1741 and the first astronomical bibliography in 1755. This effort was continued by [[Jérôme Lalande|Jérôme de La Lande]], who published his ''Bibliographie astronomique'' in 1803, a work that covered the time from 480 B. C. to the year of publication. The ''Bibliographie générale de l’astronomie, Volume I and Volume II'' published by J.C. Houzeau and A. Lancaster in Brussels, followed in the 1882 to 1889 period.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Houzeau |first1=J. C. |title=Bibliographie générale de l'astronomie |date=1887 |publisher=F. Hayez, Imprimeur de L'Académie Royale de Belgique |url=https://www.google.fr/books/edition/Bibliographie_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale_de_l_astronomie/xJhA9noqjT0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Bibliographie+g%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale+de+l%27astronomie+volume+I&printsec=frontcover |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Houzeau |first1=Jean-Charles |title=Bibliographie générale de l'astronomie ou catalogue méthodique des ouvrages, des mémoires et des observations astronomiques publiés depuis l'origine de l'imprimerie jusqu'en 1880: Mémoires et notices insérés dans les Collections académiques et les Revues |date=1882 |url=https://books.google.fr/books/about/Bibliographie_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale_de_l_astronomie.html?id=GzxeAAAAcAAJ&redir_esc=y |language=fr}}</ref>

As the number of astronomers and astronomical publications grew, bibliographical efforts became institutional tasks, first at the [[Royal Observatory of Belgium|Observatoire Royal de Belgique]], where the ''Bibliography of Astronomy'' was published from 1881 to 1898, and then at the [[Astronomical Calculation Institute (Heidelberg University)|Astronomischer Rechen-Institut]] in Heidelberg, where the yearly ''Astronomischer Jahresbericht'' was published from 1899 to 1968; after this date it was replaced by the [[Astronomical Calculation Institute (Heidelberg University)|''Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts'']] yearly book series, which continued until the end of the 20th century.

During the 1980s, however, astronomers realized that the nascent technologies which formed the basis of the [[Internet]] could eventually be used to build an electronic indexing system of astronomical research papers, which could eventually allow astronomers to make extensive searches of the existing literature on any given research topic, as well as to keep abreast of a much greater range of research.<ref name="overview2">{{cite conference| last = Good | first = J. C. | year = 1992 | chapter= Overview of the Astrophysics Data System (ADS) |title=Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems I | series= ASP Conference Series | volume = 25 | editor = Diana M. Worrall, Chris Biemesderfer and Jeannette Barnes | pages = 35 |bibcode=1992ASPC...25...35G }}</ref>

The first suggestion of a database of journal paper abstracts was made at a conference on ''Astronomy from Large Data-basesBases'' held in [[Garching bei München]] in 1987.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Squibb |first=G.F. |author2=Cheung, C.Y.|title=NASA astrophysics data system (ADS) study |journal=European Southern Observatory Conference and Workshop Proceedings |year=1988 |volume=28 |page=489 | bibcode=1988ESOC...28..489S}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Adorf |first=H.-M. |author2=Busch, E.K.|title=Intelligent access to a bibliographical full text data base |journal=European Southern Observatory Conference and Workshop Proceedings |year=1988 |volume=28 |page=143 | bibcode=1988ESOC...28..143A}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Rey-Watson |first=J.M. |title=Access to astronomical literature through commercial databases |journal=European Southern Observatory Conference and Workshop Proceedings |year=1988 |volume=28 |page=453 | bibcode=1988ESOC...28..453R}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Rhodes |first=C. |author2= Kurtz, M.J. |author3= Rey-Watson, J.M. |title=A library collection of software documentation specific to astronomical data reduction |journal=European Southern Observatory Conference and Workshop Proceedings |year=1988 |volume=28 |page=459 | bibcode=1988ESOC...28..459R}}</ref> Initial development of an electronic system for accessing astrophysical abstracts took place during the following five years. In 1991 discussions took place on how to integrate ADS with the [[SIMBAD]] database, containing all available catalog designations for objects outside the [[Solar System]], to create a system where astronomers could search for all the papers written about a given object.<ref name="overview">{{cite journal|last=Kurtz |first=M.J. |author2=Eichhorn G. |author3=Accomazzi A. |author4=Grant C.S. |author5=Murray S.S. |author6=Watson J.M. |year=2000 |title=The NASA Astrophysics Data System: Overview |journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement |volume=143 |issue=1 |pages=41–59 |doi=10.1051/aas:2000170 |bibcode=2000A&AS..143...41K |arxiv=astro-ph/0002104 |s2cid=17583122 }}</ref>

An initial version of ADS, with a database consisting of 40 papers, was created as a [[proof of concept]] in 1988. The ADS Abstract Service was announced in November 1992 <ref name='announcement' /> and was released for general use in April 1993. The ADS database was successfully connected with the SIMBAD database in the summer of 1993. The creators believed this was the first use of the Internet to allow simultaneous querying of transatlantic scientific databases. Until 1994 the service was available via proprietary network software, but it was transferred to the nascent [[World Wide Web]] early that year. The number of users of the service quadrupled in the five weeks following the introduction of the ADS web-based service.<ref name="overview" />