A Whole New Lab: Transforming Research with ELNs (Electronic Lab Notebooks)
Abstract
Presentation by Dr Samantha Pearman-Kanza on: A Whole New Lab: Transforming Research with ELNs (Electronic Lab Notebooks), for CAMS Data Analytics and SciY Presents FutureLab: Chemistry in the Digital Age. Abstract: As scientific research communities strive to make data more FAIR—Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable, there has been a growing movement to adopt digital solutions in the laboratories. One of the tools that has emerged as a key part of this are Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs). ELNs have evolved significantly since their early adoption in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when they were primarily used in industry to streamline documentation and improve compliance. Over time, their use has expanded into academia, driven by the need for better data management, collaboration, and reproducibility. Today, ELNs are seen not just as digital replacements for paper notebooks, but as central components of a modern, FAIR-aligned research infrastructure. However, their implementation is a complex sociotechnical challenge, requiring thoughtful planning, cultural change, and ongoing support and engagement. This talk will explore the complex landscape of ELN implementation, the barriers and considerations, and what it truly takes to make digital lab records work for researchers, institutions, and the wider scientific community.
Full text
https://www.psdi.ac.uk/ A Whole New Lab: Transforming Research with ELNs (Electronic Lab Notebooks) CAMS Data Analytics and SciY Presents FutureLab: Chemistry in the Digital Age 14th October 2025 Dr Samantha Pearman-Kanza University of Southampton
Presentation Outline About Me Why are we here? Introduction to Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNS) Challenges & Implementation Considerations for implementing ELNs What is PSDI and how can we help? CC BY-ND 4.0 Errant Science - https://errantscience.com /
About Me Principal Enterprise Fellow at University of Southampton Principal Investigator for CaSDaR (Careers & Skills for Data-driven Research) Pathfinder Lead on Process Recording for PSDI (Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure) Deputy Chair of the Faculty Ethics Committee Advisory Boards/Committees: Future Labs Live, London Labs Live, MADICES, Machines Learning Chemistry, RSC-CICAG, STRIX Award, KnowLedger: An Open Digital Research Notebook for Research Data Management, STEP-UP Research Interests: Data Stewardship, FAIR Data, Semantic Web Technologies, IoT, Research Data Management, Digitisation, Lab of the Future, Paperless Labs, Re-use of Technology
Why are we here? Research data is growing at an exponential rates, this could provide great opportunities…but… Many scientific researchers have a fragmented paper/digital approach to writing up their experiments and linking all of their work together This means that frequently data associated with scientific research is stored in random places and cannot be located Research and data generation is being wasted due to these issues as people cannot access or build on others work Consequently, a vast quantity of scientific research cannot be re-used or reproduced CC BY-ND 4.0 Errant Science - https://errantscience.com /
So is paper the root of all evil? Not necessarily! Paper records aren’t always bad e.g. Darwin’s early Notebooks Electronic records / methods aren’t always good e.g. spreadsheets with unintelligible column names Just because something is in an electronic form does not immediately make it high quality data! We still ultimately need Digital Tools such as Electronic Lab Notebooks! “It Was A Normal Day Of Office When A Sweet Voice Break - Computer Vs Paper” – free download from SeekPNG
•Idea of using digital methods to capture experiments was born •The term “ELN” started appearing in literature •Some early digital notetaking systems and databases were being used in laboratories •ELN Market exploded with hundreds of ELN offerings •Many ELN offerings moved to cloud-based systems rather than desktop apps •Increased emphasis on FAIR data principles driving adoption •First commercial ELNs were launched •Open Source ELNs also started to emerge •ELN Market starts to grow •ELNs started to evolve past just being a “replacement” •ELNs integrate with SDMS, LIMS, Inventory Systems, Equipment, AI •Many ELNs are modular and API driven 1990-2000 - ELN Foundations 2010-2020 - Cloud ELNs 2000-2010 - ELN Commercialisation 2020-Now - ELN Platforms History of Electronic Lab Notebooks
Challenges & Considerations Choice Infrastructure Cost Time Data & Interoperability People / Change Management Image created using imgflip.com
Electronic Lab Notebooks There are now over 85 active ELNs on the market! LabFolder Labguru ELN Labii LabKey ELN LabLog LabsForm LabSpace LabStep LabTrack ELN LabTrove LabVantage LabWare ELN Laby Limsophy LIMS LogBook Logilab LOGS-ELN Mbook MyLabBook NOMAD ELN NotebookMaker NuGenesis ACAS Active LN AgiLab ELN Agilent SLIMS AI4Green Alchemy ELN Arxspan ELN Benchling ELN BioChemLab Solutions ELN BioRails Biovia Notebook Bookitlab CBIS E-Notebook CDD Vault ELN CERF 5.0 ChemCart ELN Chemia Chemotion Colabra ELN CompuDrug ELN Dotmatics ELN E-WorkBook Ec-LabNote eLabFTW eLabJournal eLabNotes EmsoChemLab Espresso ELN eStudy eSystems Formulator Gene Inspector GenoFAB GOLims Herbie iLES Platform InELN iQ Kadi4Mat Lab Integrated Data (LabID) LabArchives LabCloud LabCollector ELN Online ELN Worksheet Open Enventory openBIS OpenText ELN PASTA-ELN PatentSafe ELN quattro/LJ RedFox Rspace SampleDB Sapio Seamless ELN SciCord ELN/LIMS Sciformation ELN Scilligence ELN SciNote Signals ELN Stackwave ELN STARLIMS ELN Studylog Sun Bio ELN Thermo Scientific Core ELN Unacountable
WHAT PROBLEM ARE YOU SOLVING? •What are you trying to achieve by implementing an ELN? •What data or information isn’t currently being captured on paper or your current systems, and how will this ELN address that? DOMAIN •What domain(s) are you trying to cater for? •What are the different data and system requirements for those domain(s)? •Some companies may have a much narrower research focus FEATURE REQUIREMENTS •What features do you need? •Do you require specific compliance? •Do you require API functionality? WHO IS THIS FOR? •Is this for Researchers at a company? •If this is for a University, is it for Undergraduates, Postgraduates or both? •Is this for the individual or the collective? COST •How much are the license fees? •Can you afford this in your budget? •Can you afford the other associated costs regarding staff time •Industry typically favours commercial ELNs INTEGRATION & INTEROPERABILITY •Are there specific tools or software that this ELN needs to integrate with? •Are you looking for ”just” an ELN or a full digital research platform Choice Challenges & Considerations
Time Considerations Implementing a new ELN takes considerable time Time to convince people/institution Obtain Budget Approval Setup Lab suitably & Obtain Hardware Identify Staffing/Logistics for admin/infrastructure ELN Setup Develop and deliver training Potentially run a trial https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/19281104642853801/
Financial Considerations Licensing & Development Costs Renovation costs: Installing more power sockets/ethernet sockets / WIFI boosters Power costs: Facilitating charging of devices “University Funding in a Nutshell” by ErrantScience.com is licensed under CC-BY-NC Hardware costs: Replacing legacy equipment, providing devices for digital capture in the lab Staffing Costs: Setup & Run ELN
Change Management / Adoption / Training People are arguably one of the biggest barriers Top-down influence can make or break this Need to get the whole group on board Demonstrate the benefits Identify champions and keen early adopters and first years / new starters PROVIDE TRAINING AND CONTINUED SUPPORT! CC BY-ND 3.0 Dataedo - https://dataedo.com/cartoon/
Transforming Research with ELNs Capturing data in a more structured form to improve quality Improved capability to search for and find your own work Better sharing between researchers Preservation of valuable research for future use Production of FAIRer data for publication (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) “Electronic Lab Notebooks are great, but not on vacation” Cartoon by Phil Johnson for MIT.
What is PSDI, and what do we provide? UK funded project through the UKRI Digital Research Infrastructure theme (DRI) via EPSRC Developed out of a community statement of need Lead institutions: University of Southampton and Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Data Services Data Tools Community Data Sources Knowledgebase Collaboration
How PSDI Can help with ELNs 01 03 02 04 KNOWLEDGEBASE SERVICES COMMUNITY COLLABORATION
Conclusions This is a highly complex endeavour ALL of these considerations need to be taken into account – You need to ask the right questions You need to identify how to measure progress and success This requires dedicated time and people to make it happen PSDI are here to help! CC BY-ND 4.0 Errant Science - https://errantscience.com/
Acknowledgements Thanks to everyone who has been involved in PSDI, and our range of ELN Case Studies/Research PhD Supervisory Team (Nick Gibbins & Jeremy Frey) PSDI/Southampton ELN/OneNote Team (Matthew Partridge, Nicola Knight, Cerys Willoughby, Colin Bird, Jeremy Frey, Simon Coles, Sally Bloodworth, Philip Leadbitter, Andrew Hector, Janice Sumner, Mark Goulding, Mansoor D’Lavari, Bobbie McVey, Mark Light, Sam Perry, Thomas Logothetis) Data Revival Team (Samuel Munday, Jeremy Frey, Louis McLean, Finlay Morrison, Ashley Unitt) ERN Community (Valerie McCutcheon, Cerys Willoughby) AI4Green Team (Jonathan Hirst, Peace Nwafor, Cerys Willoughby, Katherine Jolley) Wellington School (Caroline Evans, Jo Grundy)
Getting involved with PSDI @PSDI_UK PSDIUK @PSDI_UK @psdi-uk.bsky.social https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/PSDI www.psdi.ac.uk @[email protected]