Exploring electronic lab notebooks (ELNs) at a R1 institution in the Southeast USA
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-02-2022-0013 |
| Published date | 29 June 2022 |
| Date | 29 June 2022 |
| Pages | 23-38 |
| Author | Plato L. Smith II |
Exploring electronic lab notebooks
(ELNs) at a R1 institution in the
Southeast USA
Plato L. Smith II
George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida USA
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to build a better understandingof researcher needs regarding support for data
that you create, store, and/or manage using an electronic lab notebook (ELN), also referredto as electronic
research notebook (ERN).The study also articulates the need for risk assessment for ELN productsused by
researchersfor both open data and sensitive data thatrequire standards.
Design/methodology/approach –The author used a participatory action research mixed-methods
approach. A working groupwas formed from an ELN initial meeting. The workinggroup team investigated
several institutional ERN solutions by setting up trials, speaking with representatives from other research
universitieswith ERN solutions and conducting internal and external research. This culminatedin abroader-
scale surveyexploration.
Findings –Findings reveal there is no single institutional ELN license solution to satisfy all scientific
disciplines. There is a need to develop foundational tools needed by all, provide additional tools and uses
cases with best practices that can be tailored to various labs and research processes and develop a how-to
guide on how to assemblethe parts to create a useful ELN solution.
Research limitations/implications –The research implications include providing support for
researchers selecting an ERN solution through a combination of online guides, short tutorials and training.
There is a need to develop foundational tools,uses cases with best practices that can be tailored to various
labs and research processes and how-to guide on how to assemble the parts to create a useful hybrid-ELN
solution.
Practical implications –Practical implications include aligning available ERN solutions with other
institution provided technologies across the research life cycle to provide researchers a suite of tools to
conduct and manage their research. Further investigating educational license discounts for courses using
eLabJournal,RSpace, Protocols.io, Open Science Framework,LabArchives or other ERNs currently funded by
student coursefees via grant funded projects are key implications.
Social implications –Social implications include the research computing environments of researchers
that use ELN solutions approvedthrough institutional risk assessment for open data are in compliance with
universityregulatory frameworks for use of the software in research.
Originality/value –The originality of this study includes risk assessments of ELNs solutions to
better guide researchers in the selection process. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this survey
was the first exploration of ELN on campus resulting in a final report to senior stakeholders. This
The author acknowledges Brian Keith, Rory McNeil (RSpace), Michelline Fedele, CliffRichmond,
Dr Steeve Boulant, Shen Lab @ UF Scripps Biomedical Research, Dr Marie Seraphin, James St.
Pierre (eLabJournal), Dr Erik Deumens, Alicia Turner, Christopher Barnes, Dr Matt
Gitzendanner, Hannah Norton, Mark McCallister, Melissa Rethlefsen, Dr Laurie Taylor, and
support from the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no. 2018–67016-
27578 awarded as a Center of Excellence from the USDA National Institute of Food and
Agriculture.
Exploring
electronic lab
notebooks
23
Received16 February 2022
Revised27 April 2022
Accepted15 June 2022
DigitalLibrary Perspectives
Vol.39 No. 1, 2023
pp. 23-38
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2059-5816
DOI 10.1108/DLP-02-2022-0013
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2059-5816.htm
study also highlights a developing grant proposal to further develop support across labs and
campus.
Keywords Stakeholders, Risk assessment, Data management, Open science,
Electronic research notebook, RSpace
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In FY 2021, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of
Research Integrity (ORI) Notice for Funding Opportunity: Considerations, Options, and
Resources for Data Management in Public Health Service Funded Research Opportunity
Number: IR-ORI-21–001 included eight topics of research interest for this funding opportunity.
The eight topics included as follows:
(1) provenance;
(2) recordkeeping;
(3)organization of data;
(4)storage of data;
(5)reporting of research data and results;
(6)sharing and access;
(7)institutional policies; and
(8)data management standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The HHS funding solicitation defined “recordkeeping”as effective “record of how the research/
experiment that resulted in the production of data was conducted.”While some universities
have devised new services to better manage data and other information derived from research,
many researchers flounder in a disorganized way and rising accumulation of useful findings
may be lost or unavailable when conducting future research (Kroll and Forsman, 2010,p.5).“An
easy way to increase the legibility, tidiness, and overall quality of documentation, can be the
introduction of an electronic laboratory notebook) in a research unit”(Hewera et al.,2021,p.3).
An electronic lab notebook (ELN) describes a software resource which records how
research resulting in the production of data is conducted. The use ofa resource that
documents research resulting in the production of data is not limited to within laboratory
environments. Thus, the term “electronic research notebook”is more applicable to denote
use across research units:
An electronic lab notebook is a software system for documenting your research work. In its most
basic form it might simply provide a word-process-like interface to replicate the way you
currently use a paper notebook, but with additional benefits such as shareability, searchability,
password protection and backup (University of Cambridge, 2021a).
“Many electronic lab notebook packages offerawealth of other features too, enabling data
management, collaboration, integration with other software, laboratory information
management system (LIMS)”(University of Cambridge,2021a, 2021b), and research
protocols. “Ideally, research protocols should be registered in advance and monitored in
virtual notebooks”(The Economist,2013) to support open science. ELN and electronic
research notebook (ERN)are used interchangeably within the scope of this paper.
In continued efforts to better understand and supportthe needs of researchers, the
Libraries conducted an initial meeting to gauge ERNs interest as a potentialinstitutional
DLP
39,1
24
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