Organize your research notes with eLabNext

HMS IT provides an electronic lab notebook service, which consists of an on-premise implementation of eLabNext as a pilot. The solution includes research documentation, tracking of inventories of samples, supplies, equipment, and protocol management. Available to Quad-based labs, departments, and Cores facilities.

Access the eLabNext system.

If you need to request an account or a consultation, email us at rchelp@hms.harvard.edu.

  • Eligibility

    Only available to Quad-based members of HMS
    Quad-based only
    • eLabNext is available to HMS Quad-based labs and research cores.
    • Research labs based in HMS-affiliated institutions are NOT eligible for this service. 
    • For HMS Quad-based labs that would like to use eLabNext to support projects that include collaborators external to the HMS Quad, please contact rchelp@hms.harvard.edu.

  • Features

    eLabNext has a number of key features
    Journals, protocols Inventory
    • Experiment Journaling – eLabJournal provides rich text, tables, images, attached files, and chemical drawings (ChemAxon). The platform includes a powerful text-based search engine that can be used to find projects, studies, and experiments. eLabJournal supports fully integrated Protocols and Samples, as well as Chemical Drawing and Microsoft 365 documents.
    • Journal Organization – eLabJournal has a hierarchical organizational structure: Groups > Projects > Studies > Experiments. Users can organize work by project or by individual researcher within that structure. It is also possible to organize across Groups by defining Project Groups.
    • Protocols and SOPs – eLabProtocols allows users to document and share step-by-step protocols with protocol versioning. Protocols can be included within experiments and integrated with samples and supplies.
    • Inventory Support – eLabInventory enables users to create and configure their own sample types, equipment, and storage units. Samples can then be stored in specific locations within the storage units and linked to experiments or protocols. The inventory module also enables labs to keep track of equipment and supplies and can notify lab managers when supplies are getting low.
    • Integration with other platforms – eLabNext can integrate with Dropbox, Mendeley, Google Drive, Google Translate, and certain barcode scanning and printing hardware. Additionally, users can upload files of any type and view or edit them with their associated desktop app.
    • Mobile Devices – eLabNext includes a mobile app that augments the web platform. It enables users to view Protocols and Experiments, take notes, upload images, and work with Samples.

  • Access and security

    Secure access, data security, data portability
    Data integrity Data protection
    • Access – Users can sign in with their HMS account ID and password.
    • Platform – On-site virtual server system managed by HMS IT.
    • Platform data protection
      • Daily, off-site data backups.
      • High-availability architecture.
      • Data is replicated in real-time between two separate servers and remotely to different data centers.
      • Regular patching, security scanning, and identity protection as per current IT security practices. 
    •  Data portability
      • Data exported from eLabNext can be saved in PDF, CSV,  XML, or JSON format. 
      • Saving data in a structured format like XML or JSON enables data archival and potential importation of data and metadata into another ELN platform.
      • The robust API also allows us to import data exported from some other Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) platforms.

     

     

  • Support and training

    HMS IT provide support, training and consulting
    Onboarding Consulting

    HMS Research Computing provides an onboarding service that includes consulting, account provisioning, essential user training, importing existing samples and catalogs, and ongoing support. The vendor can provide additional support and consultation where necessary.