Journal:Smart electronic laboratory notebooks for the NIST research environment

Full article title	Smart electronic laboratory notebooks for the NIST research environment
Journal	Journal of Research of NIST
Author(s)	Gates, R.S.; McLean, M.J.; Osborn, W.A.
Author affiliation(s)	National Institute of Standards and Technology
Primary contact	Email: ulrich.dirnagl@charite.de
Editors	william dot osborn at nist dot gov
Year published	2015
Volume and issue	120
Page(s)	293–303
DOI	10.6028/jres.120.018
ISSN	2165-7254
Distribution license	Public domain
Website	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4730679/
Download	http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/jres/120/jres.120.018.pdf (PDF)

Abstract

Laboratory notebooks have been a staple of scientific research for centuries for organizing and documenting ideas and experiments. Modern laboratories are increasingly reliant on electronic data collection and analysis, so it seems inevitable that the digital revolution should come to the ordinary laboratory notebook. The most important aspect of this transition is to make the shift as comfortable and intuitive as possible, so that the creative process that is the hallmark of scientific investigation and engineering achievement is maintained, and ideally enhanced. The smart electronic laboratory notebooks described in this paper represent a paradigm shift from the old pen and paper style notebooks and provide a host of powerful operational and documentation capabilities in an intuitive format that is available anywhere at any time.

Keywords: cloud, collaboration, computing, ELN, electronic, laboratory, notebook, SELN, tablet

Introduction

Laboratory notebooks have been used for centuries to document and archive the thoughts and work of inventors, scientists, and engineers. Even before the invention of paper, Archimedes (circa 287 BC – 212 BC) made notes and drawings of his mathematical discoveries and mechanical inventions on parchment made from animal skins. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) encapsulated perhaps some of the best known early combinations of experimental documentary concepts when he put pen to paper to combine his creativity and artistry in a format that has endured well beyond his lifetime (see Fig. 1). He even employed a degree of data encryption in his mirror writing, to provide a measure of privacy. Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) and Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) not only kept notebooks on their ideas and interests but they utilized a portable version of a memo pad made from thin ivory leaves, fastened together at one end so they could be fanned out for use. These were re-writable; therefore, notes had to be ultimately transcribed to permanent notebooks for archival purposes, but the portability aspect was a key feature. Charles Darwin (1809–1882) is another familiar example of someone who combined artistry with documentation to provide compelling evidence that led to his theory of evolution. During his long (1831–1836) voyage on the Beagle, he used 14 different notebooks on his extensive field excursions, with a separate notebook dedicated to each major location. Later, prolific inventors like Thomas Edison (1847–1931) made extensive use of laboratory notebooks to document exploration into a wide variety of fields. This was mainly to organize and document information to serve as a legal instrument for the development and protection of patents, so an audit trail was an important feature. But pen and paper is a static and limited medium. Enter the computer age and the internet where data, text, and images can be stored and transported as electrons and we have a new paradigm: the electronic laboratory notebook (ELN).

Figure 1. Examples of early lab notebooks: Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man illustration, Thomas Jefferson’s portable/re-writable ivory leaf note pad, Darwin’s first rough sketch of the evolutionary tree concept, and his illustrations of Galapagos Finches.

Early versions of ELNs were typically software features within main computers (mainframes, desktops) and associated with data collection from an instrument or group of instruments in a laboratory. They were often referred to as laboratory information systems (LIS), laboratory management systems (LMS), or laboratory information management systems (LIMS). They were used to collect, analyze, and organize data and even streamline the output of recently collected data into reports that could be stored electronically, and printed and sent to clients or colleagues. These programs were usually highly specific to an instrument or field and proprietary to the instrument vendor. Later, more generic versions attempted to be more encompassing and universal for a variety of documentation and data management tasks for the bench scientist. The development of portable computers and Ethernet networking provided a measure of transportability and access to the process that added value to the concept. The internet, WiFi, and the World Wide Web further enhanced and accelerated that evolution. The electronic laboratory notebook described in this paper (see footnotes) is a modern solution that closely mimics the form factor, portability, and convenience of the classic paper lab notebook. It has been enabled by the evolution and convergence of several key technologies involving hardware, software, networking, and cloud-based infrastructure, to allow a seamless and powerful tool that could be used by a wide variety of scientists and engineers in many disciplines. The solution documented here is only one of many that could be used. It was selected and optimized based on the research needs and resources of the authors along with the externally applied constraints of the information technology (IT) infrastructure of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The solution is termed a “smart” electronic laboratory notebook (SELN) because it also incorporates several advanced sensor, communications, and documentation features (e.g., cameras), more familiar to users of “smartphones” than lab notebook users.

Notes

This presentation is faithful to the original, with only a few minor changes to presentation. In some cases important information was missing from the references, and that information was added. Direct citations of Wikipedia were replaced with a relevant citation from that Wikipedia article.