Electronic Lab Notebooks

Completed Project Pilot

The Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELN) subgroup formed out of an interest to create a community of practice around digital record-keeping methods.

In 2018 the group surveyed Longwood Medical Area researchers on their ELN practices and usage, which lead to the creation of the Electronic Lab Notebook Comparison Matrix, a decision making tool to aid researchers in identifying notebook platforms to meet their specific research needs. The matrix has been recognized around the world on X (formerly Twitter), Wikipedia, and in Nature, making it a go-to educational tool and decision map for librarians and researchers alike. In 2021, the matrix was archived and is no longer maintained. The archived project information is available on Zenodo.

Later subgroup work included collating information about Harvard University and Affiliated Organization supported ELN solutions, and developing guidance around ELN recommended practices and resources. This information is maintained on the Electronic Lab Notebook page of this website, and lead to the further development of guidelines for using ELNs at Harvard Medical School.

Ultimately, the work of this subgroup lead to the implementation of the ELN eLabNext for HMS Quad-A labs and research cores. This software is supported by HMS Research Computing ELN Services.

Additional outputs from the ELN Subgroup:

Loveluck, Joanna. 2020. Finding the Right Electronic Lab Notebook with the Corey Lab. RDM News.
Goldman, Julie, Katherine Dannehl, James Gould, Sarah Lace Hauserman, Kathleen M. Keating, Mason Miranda, and Daniel Wainstock. 2018. "Spreading the Word on Going Digital in the Lab." Poster presented at FORCE2018, McGill University, Montreal, Canada (October 11-12, 2018).

Below are the subgroup yearly goals and accomplishments from 2019-2023.

Yearly Goals & Accomplishments

2023

Improve connections to the research community, inviting input from a wider audience, to better understand ELN requirements, and the reasons for the slow uptake of ELNs (completed)
Encourage researcher uptake and utility of digital record-keeping tools by disseminating information about the tools, resources, and practices supported by Harvard University and Harvard Medical School (completed)
Re-establish and grow a community of practice among Harvard-affiliated institutions by developing a network of relevant experts and stakeholders, to share information and practices related to ELN deployments and use cases (completed)
Improve connections with the broader Harvard University community and Harvard University Information Technology (HUIT) to share ELN related information and practices (completed)

2022

Archive the existing ELN matrix and related pages (completed)
Develop and disseminate updated information about digital record-keeping tools, resources, and practices supported by Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard-affiliated institutions (completed)
Encourage researcher uptake and utility of digital record-keeping tools supported by Harvard University and Harvard Medical School (completed)
Establish a community of practice among Harvard-affiliated institutions by developing a network of relevant experts and stakeholders, to share information and practices related to ELN deployments and use case (completed)

2021

Establish a partnership with an external organization to ensure regular maintenance of the ELN matrix and related pages (completed)
Encourage researcher uptake and utility of digital record-keeping tools by disseminating information about the tools, resources, and practices supported by Harvard University and Harvard Medical School (completed)
Establish a community of practice among Harvard-affiliated institutions by developing a network of relevant experts and stakeholders, to share information and practices related to ELN deployments and use cases (completed)
Explore and evaluate new opportunities for the adoption and/or technical support of specific digital record-keeping tools, to support institutional decision-making (completed)

2020

ELN Matrix operations: clarification of ELN definition and ELN Matrix purpose (completed)
Track and present information about Harvard affiliates ELN pilots and rollouts (completed)
Identify primary ELN contacts at each institution within our community to enhance communication and referrals (completed)
Collect information on community institutional ELN experiences to support and advise Research Workflow Infrastructure (RWI) identification of relevant tools and pilots for the HMS Quad (completed)
Disseminate information about HMS Quad pilots and rollouts to ensure researcher uptake and utility

2019

ELN Matrix operations: support and updates; ELN consultation (completed)
Support university initiative: Harvard University RSpace (completed)
Explore Harvard Library Open Science Framework (OSF) (completed)
Pursue Evernote License to improve Security for existing Evernote ELN users
Support for local ELN initiatives (completed)
Exploration of computational notebooks (completed)