10 Top Tips for Investing in an Electronic Lab Notebook

We outline things you need to consider before investing in an electronic laboratory notebook.

Protect your data and IP

The IP that your researchers create is important for patent filing and regulatory submissions. Ensure it is captured and stored following  the requirements of 21 CFR (11).

Don’t waste time

Select a system with modern interfaces that is simple and intuitive to use, to avoid hours of training. 

Keep it really simple

Don’t over complicate the solution – focus on tools that help the synthetic chemists and biologists execute their work effectively.

Don’t rely on scientists to have legacy knowledge

As your organization grows, legacy knowledge becomes harder to articulate. 

Encourage a culture of information sharing

An electronic knowledge management system allows the organization to reduce repeated effort. 

Don’t host or maintain the system yourself

Cloud solutions are industry standard nowadays, simplifying your IT infrastructure and overhead significantly. 

Don’t try to automate everything

Small labs with a few users don’t need every system or piece of equipment to be connected.

Aspire to grow

Every organization has ambitions to expand and be successful. Choose a platform that can grow with your needs.

Use industry standard formats for everything

Use known standard to ensure your data is stored in a well-recognized format, making it easier to migrate if you need to in future.

Ask about established partnerships

Having a seamless integration to other applications reduces the burden of transcribing information.