An overview of the current state of electronic laboratory notebooks (ELNs), pros and cons of using an ELN, and important considerations for adopting an ELN.
2. Aims of this Session
• Examine the state of the field
• Cover pros and cons of ELNs
• Review UW-Madison ELN pilot
• Demos
• Adoption strategy
3. UW Data Stewardship Policy
• UW-Madison policy to keep research data for 7 years
• Data must be ‘in sufficient detail’
• Original data preferred
• PIs are stewards of data
• http://www.grad.wisc.edu/research/policyrp/rpac/documen
ts/PolicyDataStewardship.pdf
• Federal and Wisconsin funding requirements
• All data generated must be stored in US
4. State of the Field
• 1st generation electronic lab notebook (ELN)
• Lots of options, no clear winner
• Companies coming and going
• Definite movement toward ELN adoption
• More adoption in industry than academia
• UW-Madison ELN pilot
5. Many Notebook Types
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Note taking software
• Document management
systems
Rubacha, M.; Rattan, A. K.; Hosselet, S. C., A Review of Electronic Laboratory Notebooks Available in the Market Today. Journal of
the Association for Laboratory Automation 2011, 16 (1), 9.
6. Many Notebook Types
• Software openness
• Proprietary
• Open source
• Cost
• Free with limited features
• >$1000 per person per year
• Data storage
• Cloud (US and international hosting)
• Local server
• Either cloud or local
7. Staying with Paper Notebook
• Not searchable
• Divide between handwritten notes and digital data
• Lost records
• Damage to paper (spills, fading ink, etc)
• Notebooks not backed up
• Legibility issues
• Language issues
8. Adopting an ELN – Pros
• Searching
• Linking between pages
• Add data files to ELN
• View data files in ELN
• Sharing
• Different access permissions by role
• May be able to share across institutions
• Interoperability
• Read data from instruments directly
• Built in testing
9. Adopting an ELN – Pros
• Audit trail
• Revision history
• eSignatures
• Drawing tools
• Plugins
• Access outside of the laboratory
• Mobile version
• Record more than lab notes
• Procedures, citations, research ideas, etc.
• Reduce redundancy in record keeping
• Range of customizability
10. Adopting an ELN – Cons
• Possible lack of desired features
• Bugs, upgrades, and other digital issues
• Effort to transition
• Using files in 10 years
• Data storage
• Location and ownership issues
• Data security and backups
• Need to have reliable system in place
• Unsettled ELN market
11. UW-Madison ELN Pilot
• Tested 2 notebooks, CERF and eCAT
• 55 users, majority never used an ELN before
• CERF
• Pilot organizers liked this software
• Did not live up to expectations in the lab
• Did basic record keeping but other functionality disappointing
• eCAT (will demo)
• CALS installation supporting >30 people
• Users found easy to use and liked interface
• Users liked level of customization, though general template worked
• Majority felt they kept better records than before
12. UW-Madison ELN Pilot
• At end of pilot, 91% of respondents wanted to continue
using an ELN
• 60% of CERF users wanted to try a different ELN
• Required <12 hours to learn interface
• Users employed training sessions and trial and error to learn
• Users liked linking and adding data files
• Drawing tools and mobile versions did not live up to
expectations
• http://academictech.doit.wisc.edu/ideas/electronic-lab-
notebooks
13. Demonstrations
• eCAT
• CALS-supported installation from UW ELN pilot
• Pilot testers liked this ELN
• DoIT looking into possibilities to expand
• Has limited free version which I will demo
• http://www.researchspace.com/
• LabArchives
• Was not part of pilot but an option that DoIT is currently looking into
• Has limited free version which I will demo
• http://www.labarchives.com/
14. Demonstrations Caveat
• I am showing free versions of software
• Free versions have limited features
• No data sharing goes against data stewardship policy
• Data security and storage issues
• Limitations on other features
• Testing with free versions
• May need to test with fake data
• Don’t plan to use free versions in long term
17. How to Adopt an ELN
• Figure out your needs
• Test out software
• Have an adoption plan
• Have an exit strategy
18. Questions to Ask Before Purchase
• Do I have any special needs?
• How much do I want to integrate the ELN into my
workflow?
• How much customization do I want?
• Do I need to share?
• PI should have access to all notebooks at very least
• Where should the information be stored?
• If cloud-based, look for secure US-based hosting
• Can I support a local server hosting the ELN?
19. ELNs and Patents
• Some ELNs are acceptable for proof of patent
• Depends on functionality
• Important features:
• Audit trail (includes data files)
• User verification
• Controlled data sharing
• ELNs can make best practices more achievable
• WARF a great resource on this topic
• Note: patents require data retention of at least 26 years
20. What to Look for in Software
• Note taking and searching ability
• Adding external files
• Adding links between pages
• Log of revision history
• eSignatures
• Access permissions
• Ability to export
21. Test Software
• Can be big financial investment
• One ELN software package will not work for everyone
• Ask to test before purchase
• Ideally a week-to-month long test in the lab
• Use as a notebook and look at features in depth
• Keep both paper and electronic records during test
• Takes time and effort to test but very important
• Won’t buy a car without a test drive. Same for an ELN.
22. Adoption Plan
• Large shift in workflow in adoption of ELN
• For gentler adoption
• Easier to adopt at beginning of a project
• Rolling adoption with new students
• Or just plunge in!
• Put someone in charge of installation
• Get software support
• Get IT support
• Backups
23. Exit Strategy
• No guarantee that 1st generation ELNs will be here in 5
years
• Ideally, write files to an open file format
• PDF common
• XML
• HTML
• Word (.doc/.docx)
• At worst, need to be able to print out all pages
• Useful to have a batch method to do this
24. Future of ELNs
• ELNs will become the norm in research in the future
• Graduates going into industry may be using ELNs now
• May be 5-10 years before market coalesces
• Enterprise ahead of academic market
• Good product available now
• UW-Madison wants to help with this transition
• DoIT Academic Technologies offering support
25. Recommendations
• Test the software out before converting
• Not all software works for all researchers
• Keep both electronic and written records during test
• If you adopt now, have an exit strategy
• Pick an ELN that writes to an open file format (HTML, XML, PDF)
• Lots of benefits and some risks in adopting an ELN
• Keeping a paper notebook has risks but they’re different
• Need digital infrastructure to support ELN
• If risks too big, wait a few years
26. Resources
• DoIT Academic Technologies
• http://academictech.doit.wisc.edu/
• http://academictech.doit.wisc.edu/ideas/electronic-lab-notebooks
• WARF
• http://www.warf.org/
• Research Data Services
• http://researchdata.wisc.edu/
27. Thanks
• Jan Cheetham, DoIT Academic Technologies
• Victoria Sutton, WARF
• Ariel Neff, UW-Madison Chemistry Library
• Bock Laboratories
• This presentation available under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 license