This document discusses the importance of maintaining accurate experimental records and data. It covers recording data in laboratory notebooks, both paper notebooks and electronic notebooks. Paper notebooks should contain detailed notes of experiments including equipment, materials, methods, results and conclusions. Entries should be made in permanent ink without errors or empty spaces. Electronic notebooks offer benefits like easier searching, data sharing between collaborators, automatic backups, and audit trails of changes made. Overall electronic notebooks improve research accuracy and precision compared to paper notebooks, while also being more cost effective.

1. Maintaining
records of
experimental data
Presented by: Samiksha
Sawant
M.Pharm(IP), 3rd Sem

2. Data recording and retention
• Data means recorded information, regardless of the form or the
media in which it may be recorded
• The retention of accurately recorded and retrievable research
data is important for the progress of scientific integrity
• The record should be sufficient detail to permit to permit:
 Examination for the purpose of replicating the research
 Responding to questions that may result from unintentional
error/misinterpretation
 Establishing authenticity of the records
 Confirming validity of the conclusions
 Permit the filing of patent applications

3. Laboratory notebook
• The experimental notebook is the most common medium for the
documentation of experiments
• A specific type notebook with prenumbered pages and places for
date and investigator's and supervisor's signatures on each page
• The first page of the book should include information about the
investigator followed by table of content on the next pages
• The book should include detailed information about of the
equipments and materials used, sources of material, experimental
methodology, time and conditions of the work, results and
conclusions
• Entries should be made in the notebook in permanent black ink and
should be as legible and complete as possible. Do not use
abbreviations, code names or product codes without defining them
clearly
• Draw a line through all errors. Do not erase

4. • Entries should always be made in the notebook without skipping
pages or leaving empty spaces at the bottom of a page. If you wish
to start an entry on a new page, draw a line through any unused
portion of the previous page.
• Never tear out or remove a page from the notebook.
• Each page should be signed with the inventor's full name and
dated. No entry should be changed or added to after signature. If
the inventor has any additional information or corrections, a new
entry should be made.
• Each page of the notebook should be witnessed, signed and dated
by a colleague who understands the inventor's work.
• When the laboratory notebook is completely filled and is no longer
required for reference, it should be indexed and stored in a safe
location and, thereafter, handled in accordance with the
company's established record retention and destruction policy for
such documents.

5. Electronic lab notebooks
• Electronic lab notebooks are a fairly new technology and offer
many benefits to the user as well as organizations.
• An electronic lab notebook (also known as electronic laboratory
notebook, or ELN) is a computer program designed to replace
paper laboratory notebooks
• Electronic lab notebooks are easier to search upon, simplify data
copying and backups, support collaboration amongst many users
• ELNs can be divided into two categories:
 "Specific ELNs" contain features designed to work with specific
applications, scientific instrumentation or data types.
 "Cross-disciplinary ELNs" or "Generic ELNs" are designed to
support access to all data and information that needs to be
recorded in a lab notebook.

6. Features of electronic lab note books
• Labfolder is an electronic lab
notebook that helps to document,
organize and share your research
data.
• Digital Recording:
All that is necessary to record
your experiments can be
combined in ELN text, tables,
images, files. Simply drag and
drop data elements where you
want them to be.
• Search and filter:
Find what you're looking for in
your notebook by filtering your
research notes by project, author,
tags and dates.

7. • ELNs store information online:
Electronic lab notebooks
facilitate structured online
storage of information. Online
storage provides security of
information, as electronic lab
notebooks require a password
for entry.
• Import data:
Import Word, Excel and PDFs
easily. Drag and drop them into
ELN, where you can preview and
extract the contents. Your Word
files are separated into text,
image and table elements in ELN.

8. • Organize your research: With
ELN it's easy to organize your
research using projects and
folders. A powerful search
engine helps to find all your
documents. Template functions
enable you to create protocols
that can easily be shared with
collaborators.
• Collaborate with colleagues:
ELN allows you to work on
group projects with your
colleagues. You can work
together on projects, share
templates, exchange, comment
and re-use information.

9. • Protocol Templates: Re-use
information and protocols: ELN
allows you to create templates from
your lab notebook and to share
knowledge with your colleagues.
• Image Annotation: You can use the
most important features for image
annotation right in ELN: Mark, circle,
box, annotate and freehand label
your images and photographs in an
easy-to-use editor.
• Full Audit Trail & Signatures: Any
changes made to an entry are
recorded, stored, timestamped and
accessible in a version history (full
audit trail). Digital signatures ensure
the intellectual property of your
research group.

10. • Team Communication: Send
messages to all team members
and create and assign tasks - so
everyone knows what's going on
and what has to be done.
• Cloud and installable server
solution: Redundant storage and
daily backups keep your data
safe. One can always start using
the cloud version - if you decide
for the server option later, the
transfer of your data to your
local servers is included when
you buy the server version

11. • ELNs improve accuracy and precision of research:
A common complaint, particularly in academic laboratories, is the
difficulty individuals in a lab have interpreting information in
other lab members’ paper lab notebooks. Electronic lab
notebooks avoid issues associated with illegible handwriting and
crossed-out entries.
• ELNs are cost effective:
As ELNs have increased in popularity, particularly in the
pharmaceutical company, more vendors have produced this type
of notebook, which has driven down prices. In addition, the
amount of time saved by using an electronic lab notebook over a
paper lab notebook contributes to its cost effectiveness.

12. Conclusion
ELN has a number of
advantages over that of
paper lab book
Though paper lab book
are widely used today,
ELN has promising
features to emerge as the
ideal recording tool of
results in the near future!

13. References
• An article on Proper Maintenance of a Laboratory
Notebook(https://www.chem.tamu.edu/class/majors/syllabusm
aterials/laboratorynotebook.htm)
• Nine reasons to switch to electronic lab notebook by Labguru
staff, Jan 2015, (http://blog.labguru.com/blog-labguru/10-
reasons-to-ditch-paper-and-switch-to-electronic-lab-notbooks)
visited on 22/10/15
• A Review of Electronic Laboratory Notebooks Available in the
Market Today Michael Rubacha, Anil K. Rattan,* and Stephen C.
Hosselet, Journal of Laboratory Automation 16: 90, feb 2011
• Guidelines for Keeping a Laboratory Record Dr. David R. Caprette
(http://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/Lab_not
ebook_guidelines_DR_Caprette.pdf)
• An electronic lab notebook for laboratory
research(https://www.labfolder.com/), visited on 22/10/15

14. THANKYOU