In this tutorial review, we discuss the utilization of chemical shift information as well as ab initio calculations of nuclear shieldings for protein structure determination. Both the empirical and computational aspects of the chemical shift are reviewed and the role of molecular dynamics and the accuracy of different computational methods are discussed. It is anticipated that incorporating theoretical information on chemical shifts will increase the accuracy of protein structures, in the solid and liquid state alike, and extend the applicability of NMR spectroscopy to ever larger systems.