For scientists, keeping an organized and accurate record of the data collected in their research process is essential to achieve progress as well as to have support and backup of the results or tests performed. Thus, being the notebook an indispensable tool in every laboratory maintained over the years due to its importance, it has been improved and adapted to the current digital era, changing the traditional notebook to an electronic one. Thanks to this innovation, large laboratories have managed to reduce work time with SciNote Electronic Lab Notebook, which allows a greater mastery of the recorded data that facilitates the search and sharing of these records, unlike the old method of pen and paper.In this sense, the ELN with its features and functionalities aimed at improving, facilitating, and increasing research performance can provide benefits appreciated by all researchers, which we will explore below.
What is an Electronic Lab Notebook?
An ELN (Electronic Lab Notebook) as its name suggests, is a digital notebook designed for the scientific community whose work is carried out in laboratories. This notebook with a simple interface specializes in replicating the traditional function of paper notebooks with special and advanced functionalities to keep records of any type of research. Due to its wide functionality and importance, it provides multiple benefits to scientific knowledge, which we mention below.
What are the advantages of using an electronic laboratory notebook (ELN)?
With the digital era present in various fields and industries, laboratory notes have been revolutionized in the form of software that allows the digitization of processes that were originally carried out manually. Given this, it has been able to provide great advantages in laboratories such as the following.
Time savings
ELN software facilitates time savings compared to traditional notebooks. Due to its functions, it can automate time-consuming manual tasks, generating reports, saving, and entering data in a matter of minutes.Following this line, by having the electronic laboratory notebook, scientists have millions of data in the same platform that can be found immediately through a search engine, which facilitates the work and allows them to move quickly to other tasks, increasing efficiency.
Security and support
Unlike traditional notebooks, these are password-protected to prevent access to notes and files if they are not entered correctly, thus ensuring more excellent protection against theft. In addition, it is periodically backed up, which allows backing up all types of information to prevent its total loss, providing a safe and reliable way to store huge amounts of data securely.
Increases collaboration and facilitates the exchange of information
The exchange of data among the scientific community is necessary to achieve the proposed objectives, since within any project, each scientist is responsible for keeping their notes, which must then be analyzed by the team, which is often difficult in traditional paper notebooks. Thanks to the ELN, each individual can share his or her notes in real-time with the rest of the researchers, allowing for more effective and instantaneous collaboration.Similarly, the laboratory’s electronic notebooks include the function to share notes in different formats, write comment, or include messages regarding the research process.
Accessibility from anywhere
Depending on the software and its configuration, the ELN can be accessed from anywhere with internet access, since it usually stores the information in the cloud to be reviewed at any device, place, or time. Similarly, it can be stored in the internal storage of the devices or in any removable storage to be carried at all times without taking up space in the luggage or backpack.
Increased organization and structure
Organization is perhaps, one of the biggest problems when it comes to keeping notes and data in a traditional lab notebook. But, thanks to electronic lab notebooks, scientists can easily get rid of this problem due to their built-in classification and organization structure.Following this line, the ELN allows researchers to keep the order of their research, data, notes, and results at all times, even when new notes have emerged from already recorded data, allowing their classification, labeling, graphing, and so on. Because of this, it is possible to maintain an order that facilitates the search for each project when necessary, resulting in a more functional notebook at the time of work. In summary, the ELN is one of the tools with the greatest benefits in laboratories in various areas, highlighting the organization and preservation of data and their security. The use of ELN can generate an abysmal change for scientific research thanks to the power of automation that increases the efficiency and productivity of the research team.Moreover, due to its compatibility with other tools needed in scientific laboratories and their research, it makes it a complete software with which to achieve a high workflow, necessary for correct performance in the area and substantial for long-term work. In general, with SciNote ELN notebook the possibilities are endless.
