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At LabLog, we believe that providing feedback about our Electronic Lab Notebook platform, asking for technical assistance, or requesting a new feature should not feel like waiting in line at the DMV. That is why we rely on one-on-one conversations instead of outdated support ticketing models.
\r\nLabLog's customer support is personal. We respond to you quickly and honestly, instead of you filling out a one-off support ticket that is stored in a database. We strive to deliver the best customer support you possibly can get for an Electronic Lab Notebook.
\r\n\r\nStart a new conversation or follow up on previous conversations with us by visiting our website and clicking on the messenger icon in bottom right corner of the page.
\r\nIf you are an existing client, our customer service team will be ready to answer your questions and address any concerns that you may have during your conversation. For example you can request a new feature to be integrated in your Electronic Lab Notebook. The messenger allows you to continue conversations at a later date, either via email or by coming back to the messenger. If you have technical questions or just wondering how to use a feature in your digital lab notebook, the messenger can help you find the right answer in our user guide. Click here to view our user guide.
\r\nIf you are a new visitor looking to find an Electronic Lab Notebook app that best fits your needs, you can book a demo right from inside the messenger or by visiting our demo booking page.
\r\nGetting Started with an Electronic Lab Notebook is all about mastering the basics. Start a conversation with us today to learn how to install LabLog, manage teams, assign electronic signatures, generate reports, automate FDA Part 11 compliance, and more.
\r\nFinally, your privacy and data security is our priority. This includes every conversation we have with our clients. That is why we use reputable help desk providers, audited by our in-house regulatory affairs team to ensure all required standards are being met for all our customer support operations.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nTip: Ask about our FDA compliant User Guide during the demo or by starting a conversation. Electronic Lab Notebook User Guides used in regulated life sciences industries must adhere to certain specifications. We make these available to our clients who may undergo audits by the FDA.
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The LabLog customer support messenger: The screenshot below shows the capabilities of the messenger on our website. Start a conversation, search our knowledge base, or request a product demo right inside the messenger.
\r\nElectronic lab notebooks (ELN) tout themselves as productivity tools for life sciences researchers. Some ELNs are targeted to academic researchers, and some are for use in regulated industries like biotech startups. Electronic lab notebooks can be both a tremendous boon to a researcher's productivity and a fantastic way for organizations to manage a seamless digital workflow for laboratory information.
\nBut what are Electronic Lab Notebook best practices for meeting your needs and those of your organization? That's not always clear. For a quick guide, see below for some ideas on how to really get the most out of an Electronic Lab Notebook and get on the right track.
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The first hurdle in using an Electronic Lab Notebook is deciding which vendor to choose for your needs. Just like paper notebooks that are available in different colors and sizes, there are more than 60 ELN vendor options to choose from. The truth is only one or two of these vendors will truly meet all your specific needs. For starters, create a spreadsheet document that lists all the features that you need; divide these into different categories like features that must be included and bonus features. Enter one feature per row in a single column and in the neighboring column enter a more detailed description for each feature. Finally, the last column can contain a checkbox per feature that can be used to record feature availability for each vendor. A quick tip: One of the requested features can be the ability to request custom features for your needs. If working in an organization, the feature request spreadsheet can be shared with the team for review. For example, the R&D team can collaborate with the regulatory affairs team to have a complete list of the needed features that meet your organization's needs.
\nIn addition to some obvious features that you may need, here are some recommended features that you can ask for: -Provide local on-site support and training, -Data centers must be within the same country as the client; -Ability to interact with the system through an Application Programming Interface (API); -Provide a native app for tablets and mobile devices; -FDA part 11 compliance; -System availability during the working week; -Threat monitoring and alert system; -Assistance with regulatory compliance.
\nOne way to select an ELN vendor is to distribute the spreadsheet to multiple ELN vendors and request that they check the features that are already built-in in their systems. Then request a 1:1 demo and narrow down the ideal candidates.
\n\nSave time by downloading our ELN Feature Request template that can be customized and sent out to your shortlisted ELN vendors
\nClick here to request the Excel template
\n\n\nElectronic Lab Notebook software solutions usually allow users a certain degree of flexibility in how they use the platform for keeping scientific records. This freedom can be advantageous in terms of lowering the barrier to adoption, but it also can cause confusion in terms of how the system is being used in an organization for data entry and managing the entire digital workflow. To promote trustworthiness and regulatory compliance, an organization can publish guidelines or SOPs on how the system must be used. The ultimate goal here is to ensure consistency and reproducibility. In case things go wrong or there is a system failure it will be much easier to identify and resolve any issues if the system was being used constantly by following a rigorous set of guidelines. The ELN vendor may be able to assist with creating the standard procedures or provide templates for regulatory compliance.
\n\n\n\n\n\nUsing Standard Operating Procedures, Work Instructions and Quality Management System should not be limited to users of Electronic Lab Notebooks. The vendors have a responsibility to also establish these important measures to ensure a robust and reliable system that can be used by clients as part of their mission critical systems.
\n-Dr Hani Ebrahimi, CEO & co-founder at LabLog
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Let's be clear: Not all Electronic Lab Notebooks are necessarily a secure platform. That said, you can still achieve peace of mind by using a vendor who can provide you with impartial third-party audits of their systems for security compliance to standards such as ISO 27001 and FDA Part 11. A robust encryption system for data-at-rest must already be in place. Additionally, threat detection and an alert system, geo-redundant encrypted backups, and fault-tolerant systems can all ensure that your data is secure and always available to you.
\nFinally, one of the best reasons to pony up for a business/enterprise-grade solution is the ability to generate human-readable audit logs and document change history, which tracks all changes on your lab notes over time.
\n\nStudies that have looked at the obstacles in implementing new software have mainly concluded that the number one challenge is inadequate training. This is perhaps surprising considering that most teams think the biggest challenges would be related to product shortcomings, infrastructure, costs, and internal politics.
\nThe process of using a new ELN system can be overwhelming and confusing. This is even more important where an organization still has to perform scientific research as usual on a daily basis. So researchers are asked to tend to the tasks of their core job and participate in software training.
\nIt is clear, it's just not enough to spend a few minutes watching online videos or attending webinars. Proper software training is critical to a companies success. We don't mean any type of generic training, we are referring to training specifically tailored to your team's requirements. It is not surprising that the best way to tailor the training to your team's needs is by organizing on-site training sessions. On-site lab notebook app training also promotes consistent messaging between organizations and teams. This approach ensures seamless adoption of a new lab notebook platform while allowing growth and efficiency.
\n\n\nThere is no doubt that successful organizations are regularly shifting priorities to adapt to the dynamic needs of the life sciences industries. As research projects evolve and products are shipped to customers, there will be different demands in terms of what the ELN should do for your team. The best way to adapt to these changes is to work with the ELN vendor to continuously monitor system deficiencies and daily performance. Provide regular feedback and request new features or customized modules that help your mission-critical research. This ensures efficiency in R&D and a shorter time to market for new ideas.
\n\n\nNotebook Best Practices: https://labnotebooks.columbia.edu/content/notebook-best-practices
\nKeeping a lab notebook: https://www.training.nih.gov/assets/Lab_Notebook_508_(new).pdf
\nElectronic Lab Notebooks: https://datamanagement.hms.harvard.edu/electronic-lab-notebooks
\n\n6 Common Misconceptions About Electronic Lab Notebooks: https://labnotebook.app/blog/6-common-misconceptions-about-lab-notebook-apps
\n7 Ways to Become FDA Part 11 Compliant Without Spending a Dime: https://labnotebook.app/blog/7-ways-to-become-fda-part-11-compliant
\nHow do you manage your electronic laboratory notes? https://labnotebook.app/blog/managing-lab-notebook-data
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\r\nIn research laboratories, lab protocols give you step-by-step instructions for performing an experiment. Protocols allow you to corroborate the results of other researchers -a crucial step for advancing science. In the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, where product safety is paramount, standard step by step instructions are created to provide precise guidance for any activity related product design, manufacture and quality control. For example, detailed instructions must be followed for cleaning tools used for the manufacturing of drugs. In industrial settings, the step by step instructions are usually referred to as Standard Operating Procedures or SOPs.
\r\nAlthough lab protocols and SOPs follow a common structure, many labs and organizations have their own specific SOP format. Transferring SOPs to computerized formats provides many benefits. However, digitization can prove to be costly and time consuming if the organization's established format of the SOPs changes drastically as a result of digitization.
\r\nLabLog makes it very easy to create digital lab protocols and SOPs that are similar to the existing paper versions of your organization's SOPs. LabLog has enough flexibility to allow users to choose the format they want their experimental results and lab protocols to appear in digital and paper formats. In the world of software technologies, flexibility sometimes means compromise in user friendliness and ease of use. LabLog, however, is extremely easy to use while giving you the flexibility to create digital lab documents the way you prefer.
\r\nComputerizing lab protocols and SOPs does not have to involve endless rows and columns with rigid formatting requirements. LabLog provides a familiar interface for you to create lab documents. The beauty and simplicity of using pen and paper is never lost. Let's have a look at the paper versions of a commonly used lab SOP below. This was created using the LabLog app in less that 5 minutes.
\r\n\r\n1. The sample SOP below has three main sections: -Header, -General statements and information, -Detailed procedures. Let's have a look at these sections in detail.
\r\n\r\n\r\nIn the header section, you see that the title is followed by a unique id generated by LabLog. The header also includes a table to display key relevant information.
\r\nThis header format is commonly used by organizations in the life sciences industry.
\r\nLabLog takes care of generating the header section for you, so you can focus on the content. LabLog adds the document creation and signature information in line with CFR 21 Part 11 requirements.
\r\nYou can determine how the sections below the header should look like by the way you enter data in a LabLog method. The \"Related Documents\" section, in the above PDF, was created by entering \"Related Documents\" as a step title in a method in the LabLog App. The next step is \"EHS Statement\" (step title in LabLog) and it's description (step description in LabLog).
\r\nFinally, in the \"Procedures\" section was created by adding a third step to the method in the LabLog app. The title of this final step is \"Procedures\". In the description, step by step instructions are typed in.
\r\nIn the example above, the procedures section list is placed in one method step. An alternative approach to creating the procedures section is to create one method step per procedure. This will give you more flexibility in terms of performing tasks or experiments based on the individual method steps.
\r\n1. Launch the LabLog app and log in.
\r\n2. Tap on the Methods button in your main dashboard page. The methods list page appears.
\r\n3. Tap on the blue + button to create a new method.
\r\n4- On top of the page, give your method a title by entering text in the title field.
\r\n5- Top on the blue + button to create a new step.
\r\n6- The step detail page appears. The step detail page has a title field and a description field. An example of a step title is the \"EHS Statement\" in the above PDF. The corresponding step description appears below the title.
\r\nNOTE: You can attach files or videos/photos using your phones camera.
\r\n7- After you've finished adding all the details for the step. Tap on the back arrow on top of the step detail page to go back to the method detail page.
\r\n8- Repeat steps 5-7 to add more steps to your method.
\r\n9- Tap on the export button on top of the method detail page and select \"Export Method\" to create a PDF file that is similar to the above example.
\r\nThe process of creating a method in the LabLog web app is very similar to using the mobile app.
\r\n1. Log in to the web interface and select \"Methods\" from the top menu on your dashboard page.
\r\nNOTE: In the web app, your methods list and the method detail view are in the same page. click on a method in the list to reveal it's detail view.
\r\n2. Click on the + button to create a new method.
\r\n3- On the right of the page, you can add steps to your new method by clicking on the \"Add steps\" button.
\r\n4- The step detail page appears. Enter title and description. You can also attach files to the step on this page.
\r\n5- Tap \"Done\" to save the step and go back to the methods list page.
\r\n6- Repeat steps 3-5 to add all the required steps for your method.
\r\n7- Click on the Export method button to generate the PDF file.
\r\n\r\nCreating digital lab documents using LabLog is extremely simple and time saving. At the same time, LabLog is powerful enough to give you the flexibility to choose the structure of your final documents. You are no limited to rows and columns or a rigid electronic note format. Lastly, the printed and electronic versions of LabLog are FDA Part 11 compliant (CFR 21 Part 11).
\r\n\r\n\r\nRelated articles:
\r\nHow to write write SOPs in life science industry?
\r\nThe All-In-One Solution for FDA Electronic Records Compliance
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