Most important features when choosing an electronic lab notebook

11 Most Important Electronic Lab Notebook Features

www.scinote.netFree Open Source ELN

www.scinote.net

ELN Features ChecklistMost important electronic lab notebook features you would want to check before making a final decision

Free Open Source ELN

Is the electronic lab notebook easy to use? How much time for implementation can you

afford?

www.scinote.net

1. Ease of Use


www.scinote.net

Try to choose an ELN that doesn’t require complex integration or intensive trainings before you are ready to use it.

Some companies offer fully functional versions of ELN for free and payments only apply if you need additional modifications or more storage space.

Ease of Use


Does the digital notebook enable search option that allows you to search through all your data

and contents of the attached files?

www.scinote.net

2. Search through files


www.scinote.net

Can you find your data easily?

Advanced search is actually one of the biggest advantages of ELNs.

It enables you to instantly find those results you saved a couple of weeks or a couple of years ago.

Search through files


Can you import different files e.g. .txt, .xls, .jpeg, .pdf and other?

www.scinote.net

3. Saving different types of files


www.scinote.net

The main purpose of digital notebooks should be to organize your research and replace your paper notebooks completely.

This means that you should be able to save your notes, different file types, pictures, figures and everything else all in one place.

Saving different types of files


Do you ever need to summarize your results for the PI, lab manager or a grant?

www.scinote.net

4. Writing and creating reports within an ELN


www.scinote.net

Can you gather specific data you would like to include in your report, edit it and print it?

Is there any automated way for creating reports within the ELN? How flexible is it?

Writing and creating reports within an ELN


How big is your team? Would more people be using the digital notebook? Is it important that only certain people

see certain data?

www.scinote.net

5. Collaboration with your team


www.scinote.net

Can you collaborate with colleagues on the same or different projects?

If you are working with students, can you use the ELN to monitor their work and activities?

Try to define user preferences that suit your team and meet your levels of privacy, authority and organization.

Collaboration with your team


Are you looking for a free solution? Some available options on the market use freemium models,

others offer paid subscription, some are completely free.

www.scinote.net

6. Defining your budget


www.scinote.net

You should be able to discuss all pricing details with someone from the support team. The support team should be transparent about it all so you know what to expect when it comes to initial and future costs.

Defining your budget


www.scinote.net

7. Cloud or local? What to choose?There are different regulatory requirements

for scientific data storage depending on your location and your line of work


www.scinote.net

Today, the vast majority of software solutions and applications we use operate in a cloud. This means that your data will be safely saved on remote servers by one of the established cloud providers, for example Amazon.

Some ELN vendors also offer possibility to install ELN on your institution’s servers.

It is possible that cloud solutions are not accepted by your institution due to the data safety regulations.

Cloud or local? What to choose?


www.scinote.net

More articles about saving research data in the cloud:

I am concerned about using software in the cloud, can you tell me more about that?http://scinote.net/electronic-lab-notebook-tour-10-frequently-asked-questions/

Saving scientific data in the cloud – biggest hurdles to overcomehttp://scinote.net/saving-scientific-data-cloud-biggest-hurdles-overcome/

Cloud or local? What to choose?


http://scinote.net/electronic-lab-notebook-tour-10-frequently-asked-questions/



http://scinote.net/saving-scientific-data-cloud-biggest-hurdles-overcome/

http://scinote.net/saving-scientific-data-cloud-biggest-hurdles-overcome/

www.scinote.net

8. Printing your dataCan you easily print data from the digital

notebook?


www.scinote.net

Most probably you won’t be able to avoid printing or signing reports completely, so it is useful to be able to print your data from the ELN anytime you need it on paper.

Printing your data


www.scinote.net

9. Exporting your dataCan you easily export all your data from the

digital notebook?


www.scinote.net

If you ever decide to change the ELN vendor, it is very important that you can export your data in the format that is suitable for your further use.

Exporting your data


www.scinote.net

10. Data archivingIt is important that your data is safely

archived on a cloud or on the local servers.


www.scinote.net

Around 17% of scientific data is lost each year. So make sure you can archive all your data to be able to retrieve it if you ever need it again, instead of completely deleting it.

Data archiving


www.scinote.net

11. Meeting the support teamMake sure you can contact the team behind

the ELN and ask them any question that wasn’t obvious from your online search.


www.scinote.net

Check how responsive the support team is. Are they ready to listen to your needs and take them into account?

Live, online demonstrations of ELNs are a good way to meet the team behind the ELN, see how it works, ask questions directly and discuss your needs with the product specialists.

Meeting the support team


www.scinote.net

No software is perfect, but out of cca 100 ELNs to choose from, there is at least one that fits your

needs.

What else is important to you?


www.scinote.net

If you want to learn more about ELN‘s, check out our blog for researchers who want to go

digital :http://scinote.net/blog/


http://scinote.net/blog/

www.scinote.net

Free Open Source Electronic Lab Notebook

Thank you!


http://scinote.net/

http://scinote.net/

Most important features when choosing an electronic lab notebook

Science

Transcript of Most important features when choosing an electronic lab notebook