What is an electronic research notebook.
An Electronic Research Notebook (ERN), typically referred to as an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN), is a tool that can make documenting your research activities easier and more efficient. It provides a multi-functional data manager that can quickly and accurately import protocols, notes, observations and other research data so that you can organize all your information in one place. You can link to data files and other information so nothing relating to your research is lost or misplaced.
ASU has licensed LabArchives as our ERN solution and offers the product at no cost to faculty, researchers, staff and students for research activities. Using LabArchives will improve the quality of your research notes and help you process your findings more efficiently.
Your research data will be stored securely in the cloud on equipment located in the U.S. Security and availability of ASU research data is a top priority for the university and LabArchives includes numerous technical and administrative safeguards to ensure ASU’s data are stored securely. Refer to the data considerations page to explore if LabArchives meets your needs.
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LabArchives provides full access to the research productivity of my lab, at any time, from anywhere, by anyone who is a member of my research team. It is searchable and shareable, allowing my researchers to easily share their lab notebook content (protocols, results, plans) with each other and with me. I have set up a private notebook for myself (outside of my research group’s notebook), where I record meeting notes, capture grant ideas, etc. I used to keep these records in a paper notebook, until one got stolen – along with my backpack and laptop – on a foreign trip. The information on the laptop was all backed up to the cloud, so nothing was lost, but I didn’t have a back-up of my paper notebook. That’s when I decided I needed to move to electronic record keeping for all of my University work.
The research on bright electron beams performed in my lab requires the development of a lot of new measurement techniques and instrumentation. Hence an ERN that has a predefined format or template does not work for us. Labarchives is very flexible in terms of the format one can use for data and record entry and easily links to Office documents. It gives the flexibility of a physical lab notebook that researchers are often used to along with the convenience of digital record-keeping, easy searchability, and remote accessibility that ERNs provide.
My lab started using LabArchives recently and we love it! Now that nearly all lab data is or becomes electronic in format it makes record keeping so much easier. And it makes it much easier for my group members and I to review and share data and notes – which has helped improve work efficiency during this coronavirus pandemic when people are trying not to overlap too much in the lab/office.
Find the LabArchives team on Slack
Service update: Some parts of the Library’s website will be down for maintenance on August 11.
Electronic research notebooks: what are erns.
Electronic research notebooks (ERNs) meet the demands of modern science by creating a digital, organized, and secure recordkeeping environment for scientists to efficiently function in an increasingly interdisciplinary and collaborative community.
For hundreds of years, the paper notebook has played a key role in how scientific research has been conducted and served as the official record for measurements and observations. As the production and dissemination of scientific data has moved to digital formats and workflows, ERNs can help to streamline the data recording, access, and sharing throughout the research lifecycle.
Electronic Research Notebooks offer the opportunity for scientists to make the output of scientific research more accessible and improve reproducibility and productivity in their work.
Additionally, a 2013 memo from the Office of Science and Technology Policy and federal funding agencies are now holding scientists conducting research in academia accountable for providing infrastructure to support research data management.
Other practical reasons for using an ERN platform include:
Your lab notebook is a foundation to your research manuscript. It serves almost as a rudimentary draft of your research story. A well-kept laboratory notebook not only leads to effective reporting but it also reduces headache.
In the beginning, when first keeping a lab notebook, there can be a lot of trial and error. However, by incorporating these tips at the get-go will minimize the error portion.
Detailed notes are the only way to keep track of what you did and how you did it. Furthermore, the formal nature of the laboratory notebook ensures certain records are always made and that they’re made the same way. These standards are deemed necessary by your organization in order to ensure scientific conduct and reproducibility.
Beyond that, however, are several other reasons a formal record is crucial (Hunter & Hughey, 2007):
When a lab notebook isn’t properly organized or maintained, you’ll find yourself scrambling to figure out what sample went into the 4 th lane of your gel, or why you ran a PCR for the specific primers you chose, or did you run an ELISA – you remember running that ELISA, but you can’t remember when or find the paper towel you wrote the details on (yes a paper towel – bad habits must be broken quickly).
It is very easy to form bad habits when keeping a lab notebook. Some of these habits stem from simply not knowing a better way. Other bad habits are formed from poor examples, poor guidelines or poor time management.
In any case, it’s easy to break bad notebook habits by first recognizing a few examples of them.
Different organizations have different requirements for how to maintain and organize your lab notebook. For instance, some universities might require the date, page number and the purpose of your entry followed by the methods used and results observed.
When you get started with yours, find out from your principal investigator what their preferences are and look up the standard’s on your institution’s website.
This third tip comes with caution. Some will regard this as a bad lab practice, so it’s up to your needs and your organization’s requirements.
Due to the formal nature of the official lab notebook and its methodical entry approach, writing well and neatly as you go along can be challenging. Sometimes, this is how the bad habit of writing things on post-it notes or scrap paper with the hopes of future transcription develops.
Instead, use a secondary bound notebook as an informal write-up of your procedures and observations. You can use your secondary notebook in any way that suits you, but the benefit is that it’s an informal place to quickly jot down what you’re doing as you do it. Some people use it to quickly write in any notes about a PCR they’re running, what specific materials they’re using or any specific calculations. You might also enter observations.
If you do this, it’s important to be extremely disciplined in your approach. Everything you enter in your secondary notebook will still need to be entered into your official lab notebook. These entries; however, are going to be written more structured, with neater handwriting and more depth.
When keeping a secondary notebook, there are some things to keep in mind:
If you cannot keep a secondary notebook, you might be able to either keep a notes section within each entry, or draw a vertical line down the page, expanding the margin for notes.
Keep in mind, whatever you jot down must be transferred over to the structured portion of your lab notebook in a timely manner. Furthermore, this section can easily get out of hand and feel cluttered depending on how much room you give yourself. Be sure to date each entry, even time stamp it so when you refer back to those notes, you know when you took them and why.
One of the challenges of keeping a laboratory notebook is knowing what information to include.
While the advice is to be overly detailed, this can still feel broad. However, if you adhere to a strict OMRAD structure (objective, materials/methods, results and discussion) you’ll already be including a lot of important details.
This advice can still be a little broad seeming, so let’s dive in a little deeper.
Don’t forget to include very detailed components about your experimental setup such as how many lanes were ran, what samples went into each lane or each tube, what strains were used and why, etc.
What, why and how much are key elements of information in this section.
Additionally, it’s recommended you include any unusual details during your procedure. For instance, you weren’t able to use your personal pipettes or you ran your experiment on a different machine from what you’ve been used to. Or the lab’s temperature was unusually cold. Or perhaps you modified the protocol you were using.These little details will help you troubleshoot if a problem arises, and they also lend to the idea of experimental reproducibility.
Here is a brief list of some things to include in your materials and methods section, and remember to always have detail about why you used each approach when it’s pertinent.
Include detailed observations in your results section. Some organizations might require your notebook to have an observations section.
In this section you’ll evaluate the results, and explain why you analyzed it the way you did. You’ll also explain whether it accomplished your research objectives, and how and why it did.
The discussion section also paves the way for your next experimental step. Based on the results and their meaning the next logical step is this…
It’s possible that another research question has arisen given the information. The discussion section is your place to detail this as a way of introducing your next step.
Remember that mistakes and failures are also equally important. Perhaps you did a colony screening, but you got no results. You can use the discussion section to explain why you think this happened and what you intend to do next to solve to test this. For example, this might warrant the use of a different antibiotic.
Your PI might provide you with the general standards for keeping your laboratory notebook, but you might want to take a moment to ask specific questions. For instance, if he or she does inspections, what are they looking for? What characteristics have they noticed that lead to good notebook keeping? Can you keep a secondary notebook for scratch work and notes? If not, can you allocate a portion of each notebook entry for informal note taking? Find out if you can include more information beyond what is outlined by your lab’s policy.
Some labs might have strict notebook checks, others might not. When strict checks and signoffs aren’t happening, it is easy to fall out of a routine.
There is another hurtle, especially when there is no oversight – it’s easy to get so caught up in the doing that you can’t find time for the writing .
To overcome these obstacles, the best thing to do is to block out a specific time dedicated to daily cleanup and entries in your laboratory notebook.
If you used a secondary notebook for scratch work, it’s time to formalize your day’s entry. If you have an expanded margin with notes, use that time block to organize information into the formal area of your notebook.
This is also a good time to tape in your printed protocols or images of results and clearly write descriptions about these components.
When you have a time block, be strict about this period. When this routine gets broken just once, it’s easy for it to get broken again.
Reviewing your notes regularly can help you draw better conclusions about your research. It is recommended that you build review time into the same time block as your lab notebook upkeep.
Furthermore, it wouldn’t hurt to hold a weekly review of your lab notebook and notes, especially as you move into other stages of your research.
One of the reasons a regular weekly checkup can help your lab notebook is because a second look can improve comprehension. You might realize that you’re neglecting a very vital piece of information in your regular notebook management. From this review, you now know to include it. The review may help you with an experimental hurtle, or help you think about your experiment in different ways.
It can get tedious writing down the same experimental steps over and over, but including this information within each entry is extremely important because it allows you to also document any changes made or special circumstances or observations that occurred during the procedure.
Since writing the same steps down over and over will give you a severe hand-cramp, some institutions allow you to print out and tape or glue typed-information into your notebook.
Therefore, if you’re working with the same protocol every day, print out extra copies. Tape it in your notebook and pen-in any changes as you go along. Double-sided tape can also make this task easier.
The same can be said for tables and figures you need to include. Sometimes it’s easier and neater if you have a typed version.
Most institutions will require you to date stamp the printed paper, and this is just good lab practice anyway.
Some places will require you to make your notes as you go along, but not all places. Even still, this is a good practice.
One of the biggest benefits to writing everything down as you go along is you will become aware of any issues or missed steps. If your experiment didn’t go as expected, now you have the answer about why.
The idea of recording your mistakes and failures seems scary, especially when you factor in the cost of reagents.
Despite how frightening it can be to be responsible for waste and get something wrong, record of this information serves as a learning tool . Just the act of writing down that you forgot to add your primers, will make you more careful about that step in the future.
This record will also allow you to see and improve on any procedural weaknesses.
According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Mechanical Engineering’s lab notebook requirement , you’re keeping a good lab notebook if you can answer these questions:
Furthermore, the information recorded should be detailed enough to allow you to also answer these questions:
Your lab notebook is going to be foundational to your manuscript’s materials and methods, results and discussion sections.
The information you record is going to allow you to flip through and understand what you did, why you did it and how it turned out.
If this is your first research paper or presentation, anticipating exactly what you need before approaching the major writing step is going to be challenging. However, there are some fundamental elements to consider.
This list could easily grow, but these are at least the initial considerations to help you connect your lab notebook to your research manuscript or presentation.
Imagine getting to a new lab, and the PI hands you a stack of lab notebooks and says, “Everything you need to know about the project is in here.”
If the notebooks are well-organized, going through them and making sense of them should be relatively easy. But if the notebooks were illegible, poorly structured and poorly detailed, they will be almost useless.
Therefore, when you are approaching your own laboratory notebook, consider future researchers . Give them all the information you would have wanted yourself. Anticipate questions and answer them.
Always make sure if another researcher had your handbook as a manual, they would be able to reproduce exactly the same experiment and get exactly the same result.
If this tip needs to be a little more self-serving, consider collaborators and consultants who might need to refer to your notebooks to work with you. It’s in both of your interests to maintain extremely detailed information.
If that’s not enough, consider yourself the future researcher who might need your lab notebooks. Have you ever reviewed your college notes for a final exam and found some sections impossible to read or missing that one thing the professor said . Future you is also a researcher to keep in mind. Give yourself every tool available for success.
Because a lab notebook has structure requirements, you might find yourself out of space when you realize you’ve left something out or had more to write than expected.
Anticipate these situations and leave yourself extra room to go back and fill in observations and data you might be waiting on.
In a situation where you didn’t leave yourself enough room, if your institution permits it, include a sort of appendix at the end of each of your entries where these observations and notes can be entered. Make sure to head them appropriately. For instance, if your addition corresponds to your materials section, label the supplemental entry “supplemental materials and methods.” At the bottom of your actual materials section, you might indicate where the supplemental entry can be found “ see page 64 for supplemental materials entry .”
Caprette, D. R. (n.d.). Guidelines for Keeping a Laboratory Record. Retrieved May 11, 2020, from https://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/notebook/...
Grassie, L. (2020, January 16). 10 Tips For Organizing Your Lab Book. Retrieved May 11, 2020, from https://bitesizebio.com/11068/10-tips-for-organizi...
Heroux, K. (n.d.). How to Turn a Lab Notebook into an Academic Manuscript. Retrieved May 11, 2020, from https://www.aje.com/arc/how-turn-lab-notebook-acad...
Hunter, I. W., & Hughey, B. J. (2007, June 5). MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF ... Retrieved May 11, 2020, from http://web.mit.edu/me-ugoffice/communication/labno...
Knox, J. (n.d.). How to use the laboratory notebook correctly. Retrieved May 11, 2020, from http://ainslielab.web.unc.edu/files/2016/06/Lab_No...
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Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs) are software programs that replace paper notebooks. These digital tools are more secure options that allow researchers to electronically document experiments and observations, collaborate with their teams, templatize protocols, manage inventory, coordinate signatures, etc. The use of ELNs also support researchers in their effort to comply with the ever-changing data management requirements from sponsors and journals.
University-wide.
Harvard University Information Technology (HUIT)
Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs) have become a standard in research labs, and a myriad of products that offer complete lab management solutions are now available across academia and industry. RSpace is a collaborative tool that enables researchers and their teams to work together in a way that is centralized, streamlined, and secure. RSpace offers integrations with other commonly used platforms (e.g. Slack, MS Teams, e-mail, calendar, etc.) that enable efficient lab management of labs, projects, and teams.
RSpace is available to Principal Investigators with a Harvard appointment. Members of their labs, both researchers and administrators, can be added as users.
Service fee.
$100 per user per year to be paid for by the PI or their School/Department
https://harvard.service-now.com/ithelp?id=kb_article&sys_id=d9950c05dbfb681460c0d9fcd39619cf
Contact David Heitmeyer at [email protected]
Harvard medical school.
The eLABJournal Electronic Lab Notebook offers an intuitive and flexible solution to document research data. It improves efficiency when documenting, organizing, searching and archiving collected data in research laboratories. eLABJournal also offers tracking of sample collections, management of protocols or SOPs, and centralized lab supply ordering. You can also reserve laboratory instruments, track device validation, and be notified of events in the lab.
eLABJournal keeps a full audit trail of all recorded experiment data, samples, and protocols. Experiments can be signed and counter-signed with electronic signatures in accordance with FDA 21 CPR part 11 guidelines. It also allows researchers to collaborate and share data with colleagues, and enables PIs to keep track of the work being done in their lab.
HMS On-Quad Faculty, Staff and Students
Note: We are currently in the Pilot stage with eLABJournal. Only groups who have been approved by the ELN steering committee will be eligible for participation in the Pilot.
HMS Research Computing
https://it.hms.harvard.edu/rc/research-projects
You have scheduled a real time PCR to determine your primer efficiency. After thorough planning, you were able to successfully finish the experiment and get the Ct value. As you sit to write the experiment in your journal, you struggle to understand the notes you made while carrying out the experiment. You in fact, did not even write down the dilutions! Without writing the correct requirements and methodology, the results from the experiment aren’t reliable. Then you remember, how your PI had mentioned to note everything you perform in the laboratory as and when possible!
Table of Contents
Lab Notebook is one of the most useful resources for a researcher . Although a mundane job, writing laboratory notes helps researchers gather information and track all the experiments, their results, and failures that are further used for optimization of the experiments. Despite its imperativeness, no researcher ever calls it an interesting job as it involves a lot of writing. This process is like journal completion only much more complicated, as the researcher has to mention each and every detail of the experiment they performed.
Following reasons make lab notes a reliable resource for researchers:
Researchers who decide to write and publish a paper after a few months or years after performing the experiments rely on the research note, as they ensure reproducibility, which is essential in paper publishing. Furthermore, details from lab notebook help researchers write the procedures and results with accuracy.
Type of information a researcher documents in the journal, defines the type of laboratory notes. In a research project, research notes are of various forms like – literature report, experiment planning, timelines of experiments, raw data, requirements, procedures, statistical data, flowcharts, observational images and references, etc. The challenge lies in keeping a track of all the information documented based on these types. But, this task is not as challenging as it initially looks, because it takes discipline to maintain and organize various types of notes with good lab practices and healthy habit of notetaking.
Maintaining lab notebook is a discipline. Every researcher must inculcate the habit of taking notes from the experiments they have performed to the events they have planned for their project. However, Students in their early days of career are comfortable with taking notes because they are a mandate to acquire grades. However, with time and increasing responsibilities of the project , students/researchers tend to miss out on taking notes regularly.
As mentioned earlier, making research notes can sometimes take longer than the actual duration of the experiment!
new lucrative applications are used to mitigate the trouble of spending long hours in making lab notebook.
Earlier, documenting data was a time consuming process. Digital applications or electronic lab notebooks improve time management of documenting project data. Unlike the pen and paper notes, digital lab notebooks are easily accessible and searchable. Retrieving data from the pile of raw data is an easy task in digital documentation. Moreover, there are applications which can organize data and help researchers set reminders for further planned experiments. There are apps that give complete overview of the project work and how to plan the project tasks in advance.
There are people who prefer writing their lab notes on paper over using the digital platform. Although a personalized exercise, writing on paper is a time consuming process. Over time research scholars who prefer hand written notes may have to adapt to electronic lab notebook and applications. There is no However, with growing pace of research and the race to publish first , it is better to incorporate smarter tools to work with instead of perishing with knowledge worth publishing!
Labguru web service and mobile application lets researchers plan, record, assess, and share information the entire day. Researchers can photograph and share experimental results, use whiteboard drawings, access conference posters, or visual notes for related steps in an experiment.
Notion organizes documents, databases, audio-visual content, notes, meetings, and schedules.
This application is specific for the biology field of research. CloningBench helps and guides researchers through important decisions in cloning research. It includes features like molar quantities calculator, gene size estimator, bacterial growth timer, etc.
PubChase gives latest updates in biomedical publication. Furthermore, researchers can search through literature database and save interesting articles to read later.
This app allows researchers to find and visualize reagents, fluorescent dyes, and protocols. Furthermore, Cell Imaging HD is designed for research related to cell biology and major microscope systems.
It is used for calculations and unit conversions which are extensively used in designing various quantitative experiments. PCalc is one of the highest rated scientific apps.
Hivebench is a substitute for paper notebooks and specifically designed for lab research. Researchers can be more detailed, organized, and precise in their research project.
It is a quick reference tool. It looks up the genes used quite often in medical research. Scientists can get complete details about the genes appearing in relevant publication.
It is an open source platform, allowing scientists to build customized application for their studies. This app allows to gather participant data. Researchers can look through the app and appoint suitable individuals for varied research roles. Moreover, this app works like LinkedIn, but specific to the research field.
Have you used any of the tools mentioned above? Did you like these tools and their interface? Tell us if you have used some other innovative tools and share with us your experience of using them. If you find this information interesting and want to explore the hacks for becoming a productive and efficient researcher, do write to us or leave a comment below!
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The University of Michigan is providing an Electronic Research Notebook (ERN) for all faculty, students and staff. The ERN provides a secure and compliant replacement for traditional paper lab notebooks, and allows researchers to enjoy the benefits, efficiencies, and long-term cost savings of centralized, paperless data storage. It also aids in lab management, protects intellectual property, facilitates secure collaboration, and offers simple sample tracking.
For more information:
Electronic Research Notebook: ern.umich.edu
Access the ERN using your level-1 login credentials and DUO authentication. To create your account, start at ern.umich.edu . Once you've established your account, you can either create notebooks or access notebooks to which you've been added.
To customize notebook settings, click the menu option at the far right of the toolbar, and select Notebook settings. From here, you can determine the placement for new entries, turn on commenting features and set your page signing preferences (signing certifies the final version of an entry, page or notebook).
Open science.
Create your account:
For more information: https://edtechtools.eee.uci.edu/labarchives-eln/
Download: https://www.anaconda.com/
Lab notebooks, whether in print or electronic form (ELN), are a critical component of tracking and recording research. Consistent documentation of your research methods, calculations, and results is important not only for your personal use, but will help when you publish or otherwise share research, and when others want to reproduce what you have done.
Benefits of using an ELN:
What can be stored in an ELN?
There is no “one-size-fits-all” electronic research notebook. Your lab will need to consider a number of different factors before selecting the ELN platform that best meets your needs. These factors include:
Protocols.io is an open access platform for the creation and sharing of detailed methods and protocols. Features of protocols.io include:
UC researchers currently have free access to Premium accounts during the pilot period (May 31, 2024). Premium features include private collaboration around method development and use in classrooms. In the long term, this initiative should also increase the reproducibility and rigor of the research published by UC academics. Use your UCI email when logging in to access these features.
Off-campus? Please use the Software VPN and choose the group UCIFull to access licensed content. For more information, please Click here
Software VPN is not available for guests, so they may not have access to some content when connecting from off-campus.
Cedars-Sinai offers the Electronic Research Notebook (ERN) services of LabArchives, a secure, cloud-based solution for research data management.
Open to all Cedars-Sinai basic, translational and clinical researchers at any level, ERN services are provided at no cost to you and can help you organize, store, export and share your research data.
Users will also have access to Inventory, a LabArchives inventory management module to organize storage and track usage of lab items, and to help organize requests for ordering.
Go to: mynotebook.labarchives.com
Secure, cloud-based searchable data, accessible anywhere and platform-independent. Long-term storage that replaces paper notebooks that take up space and are susceptible to loss. Ability to easily share data and protocols with others, within or outside Cedars-Sinai . Trains students and postdocs on modern electronic record-keeping. IP protection and research integrity data trail (all entries are time-stamped, nothing ever deleted).
No. ERNs are tools for documenting any research process and may be useful for keeping track of workflows and data from clinical trials or other non-wetlab based research.
With the generous support of Cedars-Sinai Academic Affairs, there is no cost to individual investigators and no limit on the number of notebooks you can create.
Starting in mid-2019, Cedars-Sinai entered a 3-year contract with LabArchives. While we cannot predict the future of any software, Cedars-Sinai is committed to maintaining ERNs in some form. If the LabArchives contract is terminated for any reason, LabArchives agrees to maintain all of the Cedars-Sinai data in a 'read-only' format and allow users to export the data for a period of 3 years from the date the subscription terminates. The data remains the sole and exclusive property of Cedars-Sinai .
See the definitions here: User Roles . Note, when lab members create notebooks, it is Cedars-Sinai policy that ownership of the notebook be transferred to the lab PI (the person who created the notebook will then be converted to administrator).
Any electronic data can be uploaded to your notebook (Word documents, Excel sheets, PDFs, text files, image files, etc.). Apps allow specific integration with Microsoft Office, GraphPad Prism, and other Software Integration Partners .
Yes. Select 'PubMed References' on the Add Entry toolbar (under 'More' if not visible). Enter a search term and click 'Search'. The matching references will appear. Check the box for each article you would like to reference and click 'Add to entry'.
LabArchives integrates with BOX so you can drag and drop files >250MB to a notebook, and these will be stored in a common Cedars-Sinai BOX account (the file icon will indicate a BOX file). Note that you can only access your files uploaded to this BOX account via the LabArchives interface. The maximum size for a single file is currently 15 GB. However, you can also insert a link to another server outside of a notebook for larger files. The maximum single notebook size is 1 TB. However, you may create as many notebooks as you wish.
Some groups will add data to the notebook periodically (weekly, daily, etc.) rather than recording data in the lab notebook immediately. You might also setup Folder Monitor to automatically upload data from a local drive ( Folder Monitor Mac ) ( Folder Monitor Windows ). Alternatively, you can email the data files to [email protected] from the Cedars-Sinai email account associated with your LabArchives account ( Inbox ). Data sent to the inbox will appear in your LabArchives inbox with the body of the email text appearing as a description. When ready, simply move the data to the appropriate notebook page.
Yes, but only 1-way and not from a shared drive or directly from BOX (although you can manually upload from these sources). The downloaded application Folder Monitor will allow you to automatically upload data to your lab notebook from a drive on your computer or piece of equipment in the lab. See Folder Monitor for Mac ( Folder Monitor Mac ) or Windows ( Folder Monitor Windows ).
Absolutely! Many groups create templates for repetitive techniques to standardize the associated documentation. You can design a template with rich text entries, attachments or you can create your own custom Widget ( Widgets ). Widgets use HTML forms and Javascript code and can make standardized forms that a researcher fills out when performing a particular task (calculator tools, freezer inventories, plasmid databases, etc.). Also see Widget Manager .
There are Microsoft Office plugins for Mac and Windows that function with Office 365, allowing integration of LabArchives with Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Once installed, you can select "Open," "Save As," "Log in," or "Detach" all within Word, Excel or PowerPoint.
Yes, you can export either the entire notebook or any portion as a PDF. You can also choose to create an offline notebook, which creates a zip drive with HTML files for the pages in the ERN and includes the attachments. Remember, all current institutional policies that apply to paper notebooks and data generated at Cedars-Sinai apply to ERNs. The data remains the sole and exclusive property of Cedars-Sinai .
As the owner of the lab notebook, you have full administrative control, including what is shared and with whom and what they are allowed to view and edit within your notebook. You can maintain both private and collaborative information within your LabArchives account. Any current institutional policies that apply to paper notebooks and data generated at Cedars-Sinai apply to ERNs.
Yes. Cedars-Sinai has a BAA in place with LabArchives. LabArchives provides the framework to support best practices research at Cedars-Sinai in accordance with the stated objectives of the Office of Research and IT in addition to the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and other government-funding agencies' mandates requiring data management plans with clear post-publication data-sharing plans. LabArchives provides the framework for compliance with these mandates as well as 21 CFR Part 11, HIPAA, FERPA, GDPR, GLP and NIST 800-171. LabArchives has also passed a Cedars-Sinai security review and is integrated with OKTA and our active directory.
To access your data in LabArchives, you will need a constant internet connection. LabArchives guarantees that you will be able to access your data 99.5% of the time, and its historical record is quite good. But should you not be able to access your notebook for a short period, written or computer-entered records would need to be subsequently uploaded (the former can be as simple as a cellphone picture of notes). If a grant or paper deadline absolutely requires access to a notebook, it would be prudent to download a PDF or other form of the relevant data for short-term local storage.
Yes. LabArchives functions within the browser on most mobile devices and there are also Android and iOS apps.
ERNs make collaboration easy, with the ability to set permissions at the level of notebook, page or individual entry; share notebooks, pages or individual entries with your Cedars-Sinai lab members, colleagues or collaborators outside Cedars-Sinai ; and the ability to create a protocol compendium used by everyone in the lab or even shared outside the lab.
No. Like ERNs, Inventory is provided free to all Cedars-Sinai personnel.
LabArchives Inventory is accessible from your LabArchives ERN account by clicking on the test-tube icon in the upper right-hand corner of the notebook or by logging in directly at inventory.labarchives.com . If you already have a LabArchives ERN account, you do not need to create a new account and will have the ability to switch between the two.
Yes. There is an import template to upload your inventory information. It is organized by Inventory Type which can be customized in the Lab Management section of Inventory.
Yes. Inventory items and orders can be searched and filtered as well as exported for reporting and ordering purposes.
It is Cedars-Sinai policy that PIs are owners of all ERNs created by lab personnel. Similarly, PIs should be assigned a lab manager role in Inventory. However, there is no limit on the number of people who can have the lab manager role. Typically, a lab manager or similar position, as well as the PI, will be assigned a lab manager role, while others may be assigned lab member roles, but that is up to you.
No. Inventory allows for approval (if desired) and organization of order requests from the lab. These requests can then be exported as a “shopping list” to enter into the PeopleSoft ordering system.
The Inventory program has been designed to be mobile friendly. From your mobile device’s browser, you can scan QR codes you’ve generated from the program. Simply select the camera icon near the search window on the Inventory menu to scan.
Currently, the DYMO LabelWriter is supported along with cryo-label (DTCR 9138-6000), which includes a circular QR code and separate label. Expanding the list of supported printers and allowing for custom formatting is being planned for a future release.
Already have an account with Cedars-Sinai LabArchives? Log in below to begin.
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The substantial volume of data collected and analyzed by modern laboratories - irrespective of their sector - means that effective lab data management has never been so important. In this context, laboratory data management can be understood as the storage and organization of scientific data.
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Inadequate data management processes can lead to siloed data, and even traditional informatics solutions such as Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) systems (or LIS) and Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELN) can result in data inefficiencies in many scenarios.
This article explores the use of on-premise or cloud-based lab data management solutions. It discusses the precise definition of lab data management and why it is so important. It also summarizes the key software functionality required to successfully achieve effective, real-time laboratory data management.
Lab data management methodically handles and organizes the wide range of data generated in a typical laboratory environment. It incorporates automated data collection and storage, validation processes, metadata management, quality control, validation, metrics, and decision-making processes.
Any laboratory setting contains diverse data sources, and appropriate laboratory data management and operating procedures are vital in preventing these data sources from being siloed.
Siloed systems pose several challenges, such as inefficiencies and issues accessing existing data, inadequate cross-referencing capability across data sources, and disjointed insights where it is impossible to effectively combine data sources.
Effective lab data management in healthcare and life sciences laboratories is especially key because this ensures that critical data collection remains reliable, accurate, and accessible.
Integrating a centralized data management system into existing laboratory operations makes data more readily accessible, enabling researchers to retrieve, analyze, and compare relevant data rapidly.
By incorporating data from various sources into a centralized data management system, researchers are afforded a more comprehensive and holistic overview of their research projects - a key consideration for any researcher looking to maximize the usefulness of their data.
These capabilities continue to expand as AI technology advances, with researchers now able to feed their data into AI tools to reduce the time spent analyzing the data or conducting other routine tasks.
Effective laboratory data management improves efficiency and ensures operational scalability. It may even act as a catalyst for innovation and continued scientific development.
Effective lab data management notably enhances scientific research outcomes because data collection is consistently accurate, reliable, and accessible.
Accurate, accessible data allows researchers to effortlessly retrieve, analyze, and compare data as required, driving discovery and improving reproducibility. Integrating data from different sources helps researchers develop a more comprehensive understanding of their research, enabling more profound insights and conclusions with added impact.
Centralized data management systems are also key to fostering scientific collaboration, enabling efficient knowledge sharing and streamlined interdisciplinary research. These benefits contribute to scientific advancements.
Lab data collection and management have evolved from traditional paper-based methods to digital systems such as LIMS and ELN. However, the practice of lab data management is still primarily siloed.
This siloing of scientific data stems from laboratories working with multiple unintegrated data management systems, such as separate LIMS and ELNs.
Scientific information is held across various systems in these laboratories, presenting several issues regarding retrieving and utilizing this data. Siloed systems also pose several problems for users looking to cross-examine their data.
A contemporary scientific approach to data system integration is essential for implementing and maintaining an effective laboratory data management system.
Sapio Jarvis from Sapio Sciences is a powerful solution that allows users to connect and collect their entire range of data from systems such as ELNs and LIMS into a single platform.
Not only does Sapio Jarvis centralize collected data, but it can also automate data parsing, processing, and sending it to experiments and additional workflows using natural language rules.
Integrating existing data sources with a robust tool like Sapio Jarvis vastly improves lab data management and further contextualizes research projects.
This article examined the importance of lab data management , a concept understood as the systematic storage, analysis, and sharing of a wide range of data generated in a laboratory.
By ensuring effective laboratory data management, researchers can be confident that data collection is reliable, accurate, and accessible. This improves laboratory processes and enhances productivity, allowing for more contextualized data analysis.
Sapio Jarvis is a code-free data integration solution that empowers laboratories to incorporate unified integration, collaboration, and data management into their operations.
The platform seamlessly integrates data from various existing data sources, such as LIMS and ELN software, providing users with comprehensive insight into their scientific data.
About sapio sciences.
Sapio Sciences ' mission is to improve lives by accelerating discovery, and because science is complex, Sapio makes technology simple. Sapio is a global business offering an all-in-one science-aware (TM) lab informatics platform combining cloud-based LIMS, ELN, and Jarvis data solutions.
Sapio serves some of the largest global and specialist brands, including biopharma, CRO/CDMOs and clinical diagnostic labs across NGS genomic sequencing, bioanalysis, bioprocessing, stability, clinical, histopathology, drug research, and in vivo studies. Customers love Sapio's platform because it is robust, scalable, and with no-code configuration, can quickly adapt to meet unique needs.
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Last updated: Aug 12, 2024 at 8:04 AM
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Sapio Sciences. (2024, August 12). Effective lab data management: Advancing scientific research (Part 1). News-Medical. Retrieved on August 15, 2024 from https://www.news-medical.net/whitepaper/20240812/Effective-lab-data-management-Enhancing-efficiency-and-scientific-outcomes.aspx.
Sapio Sciences. "Effective lab data management: Advancing scientific research (Part 1)". News-Medical . 15 August 2024. <https://www.news-medical.net/whitepaper/20240812/Effective-lab-data-management-Enhancing-efficiency-and-scientific-outcomes.aspx>.
Sapio Sciences. "Effective lab data management: Advancing scientific research (Part 1)". News-Medical. https://www.news-medical.net/whitepaper/20240812/Effective-lab-data-management-Enhancing-efficiency-and-scientific-outcomes.aspx. (accessed August 15, 2024).
Sapio Sciences. 2024. Effective lab data management: Advancing scientific research (Part 1) . News-Medical, viewed 15 August 2024, https://www.news-medical.net/whitepaper/20240812/Effective-lab-data-management-Enhancing-efficiency-and-scientific-outcomes.aspx.
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Lab notebooks, whether in print or electronic form, are a critical component of tracking and recording research. Consistent documentation of your research methods, calculations, and results is important not only for your personal use, but will help when you publish or otherwise share research, and when others want to reproduce what you have ...
The Electronic Lab Notebook Matrix, collated by Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, lists the details of more than 50 features for 27 ELNs. And labfolder provides a guide to 16 ...
Alongside millions of new research publications each year 1 is the creation of millions more laboratory notebook entries. These contain important metadata, reflecting the nuance of experimental ...
The Jupyter Notebook is an interactive computing environment that enables users to author notebook documents that include code, interactive widgets, plots, narrative text, equations, images and even video! The Jupyter name comes from 3 programming languages: Julia, Python, and R. It is a popular tool for literate programming.
notebook in a format that is intelligible to yourself, your PI, and future researchers. Your notebooks and supplemental resources should remain in the possession of your PI aer leaving the University • As a federally funded research ins0tu0on, the University must assert ownership over research data for project conducted at the University or
One of the hardest things in maintaining a lab notebook is deciding when to write a thorough entry and when to write a cursory one. I always start by writing down a minimum amount of information for every experiment. This generally includes date, time, location, protocol parameters, where the data is stored, and—if I'm using code—the script ...
Laboratory notebooks are the primary records many researchers use to document the hypotheses, methodology, results, and analysis of their research. Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs) move these records into digital formats and add functionality such as collaboration, templates, searching, and specialized functions that support data ...
An Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) is a software tool that in its most basic form replicates an interface much like a page in a paper lab notebook. In an ELN you can enter protocols, observations, notes, and other data using your computer or mobile device. ELNs offer several advantages over traditional paper notebooks, including: Some ELNs can ...
An Electronic Research Notebook (ERN), typically referred to as an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN), is a tool that can make documenting your research activities easier and more efficient. It provides a multi-functional data manager that can quickly and accurately import protocols, notes, observations and other research data so that you can ...
Electronic research notebooks (ERNs) meet the demands of modern science by creating a digital, organized, and secure recordkeeping environment for scientists to efficiently function in an increasingly interdisciplinary and collaborative community. For hundreds of years, the paper notebook has played a key role in how scientific research has ...
Draw a clear line through a mistake instead. Mistakes are helpful research tools. Avoid post-it notes and scrap paper for informal notetaking. Avoid cursive. Write in print. Remember, your lab notebook is also a reference to others, which will need easily read by others. Don't get out of a routine.
The eLABJournal Electronic Lab Notebook offers an intuitive and flexible solution to document research data. It improves efficiency when documenting, organizing, searching and archiving collected data in research laboratories. eLABJournal also offers tracking of sample collections, management of protocols or SOPs, and centralized lab supply ordering.
Earlier, documenting data was a time consuming process. Digital applications or electronic lab notebooks improve time management of documenting project data. Unlike the pen and paper notes, digital lab notebooks are easily accessible and searchable. Retrieving data from the pile of raw data is an easy task in digital documentation.
Click on Notebooks and the + icon to create a new notebook. In the next pop-up window Create a New Notebook you can enter a name for the new notebook, e.g., "Summer Research Project 20XX.". Next will be asked to choose a Folder Layout. After selecting the folder layout click Create Notebook.
The University of Michigan is providing an Electronic Research Notebook (ERN) for all faculty, students and staff. The ERN provides a secure and compliant replacement for traditional paper lab notebooks, and allows researchers to enjoy the benefits, efficiencies, and long-term cost savings of centralized, paperless data storage.
Electronic lab notebooks (ELN) tout themselves as productivity tools for life sciences researchers. Some ELNs are targeted to academic researchers, and some are for use in regulated industries like biotech startups. Electronic lab notebooks can be both a tremendous boon to a researcher's productivity and a fantastic way for organizations to ...
Please note: Research data management is a complex subject, and data sharing may be subject to restrictions under federal guidelines or Rush's own policy. Please review the Research Data - Access, Ownership and Retention policy before sharing data to be sure you're compliant. Sharing a notebook, folder, page or a single entry
JupyterLab: A Next-Generation Notebook Interface. JupyterLab is the latest web-based interactive development environment for notebooks, code, and data. Its flexible interface allows users to configure and arrange workflows in data science, scientific computing, computational journalism, and machine learning. A modular design invites extensions ...
Data management and documentation is an important part of the responsible conduct of research. Data that you create, record, compile or collect during your research is a valuable asset that needs to be preserved over long periods of time. To optimize research outcomes, data must be stored, retained, documented and/or described, made accessible ...
Electronic Research Notebooks. Cedars-Sinai offers the Electronic Research Notebook (ERN) services of LabArchives, a secure, cloud-based solution for research data management. Open to all Cedars-Sinai basic, translational and clinical researchers at any level, ERN services are provided at no cost to you and can help you organize, store, export ...
Avoiding fraud. Lab directors are responsible for lab integrity. Progress of activities in the laboratory can be followed and documented via accurate laboratory notebooks. Periodic checks of raw data in lab notebooks can help: • Uncover and correct carelessness. • Uncover and correct outright fraud. • Safeguard against fraud.
Colab is a hosted Jupyter Notebook service that requires no setup to use and provides free access to computing resources, including GPUs and TPUs. Colab is especially well suited to machine learning, data science, and education. Open Colab New Notebook Blog. News and Guidance Features, updates, and best practices. Read our blog Explore.
A lab notebook is an important part of any research or engineering project. Used properly, your lab notebook contains a detailed and permanent account of every step of your project, from the initial brainstorming to the final data analysis and research report. Many science projects require a number of steps and multiple trials.
Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report: APA. Sapio Sciences. (2024, August 12). Effective lab data management: Advancing scientific research ...
ABSTRACT This project focuses on creation of an open ecosystem, KnowLedger, through developing a suite of components needed for an open digital research notebook (DRN) that will nominally serve all research communities, putting the control of the development in the hands of the research community (as far as possible), promoting data science/informatics as an important part of all research ...
Integrated data analysis: Manage your entire data workflow within a single, intuitive environment. Access Snowflake platform capabilities and data sets directly within your notebooks. This unified approach eliminates context switching and offers a way to transform raw data into actionable insights faster than ever before. See the possibilities ...