I would like to create a new public search engine for the mouse SNP community that will allow researchers to retrieve mouse SNPs from specific mouse strains. Are there are any concerns regarding the use of the information contained in the dbSNP XML files for this purpose?

dbSNP already has these data publicly available and has developed and made public the same search options that you are considering (e.g., a search for SNP in mouse strains). We would be happy to work with you to create crosslinks between dbSNP and your search site so that you won’t have to develop redundant search options. You can cite dbSNP as an NCBI resource using the format below:

Sherry ST, Ward MH, Kholodov M, Baker J, Phan L, Smigielski EM, Sirotkin K. dbSNP: the NCBI database of genetic variation. Nucleic Acids Res. 2001 Jan 1;29(1):308-11.

You are free to use the XML data as you choose, but before you start, be sure to read the following disclaimer copied from the distribution release notes from the GenBank nucleotide sequence database (ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/gbrel.txt):

6.7 Disclaimer

The United States Government makes no representations or warranties regarding the content or accuracy of the information. The United States Government also makes no representations or warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or that the use of the sequences will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark, or other rights. The United States Government accepts no responsibility for any consequence of the receipt or use of the information.