I was pleasantly surprised to actually meet a couple people at the SFN 2008 Annual Meeting who wanted to talk about ELNs!
While discussing how I was using my ‘ELN’, it occurred to me that it has been a long time since I have written a ‘guide’. In fact, I came to the website and noticed it’s very difficult to even navigate back to the old posts!
So, within the next couple weeks I will try to write an updated guide - simple ELN with Onenote (and Groove sharing). Plus I will try to refresh the site a little (maybe make it easier to get to the ‘old’ posts).
Posted 5 days, 3 hours ago at 9:59 pm. Add a comment
This is a long shot, but if any ELN users out there are going to be in DC in a couple weeks then stop by my poster at the SFN annual meeting held in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and say hello.
My poster and session is:
Sat, Nov 15, 3:00 - 4:00 PM
33.7/D65 - Activity-Dependent Increase of NRSF / REST levels suppresses expression of the hyperpolarization activated cyclic-nucleotide gated (HCN) channel
Posted 2 weeks, 2 days ago at 10:20 pm. Add a comment
So, it turns out that my insatiable desire to always try out new programs that I think will make my life easier, inevitabley backfires and initially makes my life much harder.
Capturx(from Adapx) is back in the news (at least back in mine).
If you read my Review of their pen (which I feel could really bridge the traditional and the electronic lab book worlds), then you know my major disappointment was that I did not have the ability to print my own form or protocol and then use the pen to mark it up.
Well check out their new offering (as far as I can tell it’s the same pen) - Capturx Excel Forms. There’s a demo that really shows it at work.
So now I could print a protocol, mark it up with the pen with any data or changes to protocol, and then just plug the pen in to the computer and upload the information.
Better still, if I am recording (or a student is recording) numerical data, it could be uploaded, and calculations in a spreadsheet could automatically be made! Very innovative idea.
I still would love to be able to print from Onenote or Word as well, but maybe that’s coming in the future.
What would be really cool is if Microsoft (and all other Office software developers) would get rid of the idea of a word document, excel spreadsheet,etc.. Just integrate them all into one ‘document’. I would love to be able to use excel spreadsheets in my Onenote lab notebook without opening excel -maybe create a table in Onenote, where the cells could add, subtract, average, slope, etc.
Hopefully I’ll be able to do a hands on review some time in the future. For now go check it out at their website.
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago at 3:33 pm. Add a comment
Endulge my wild imagination for a moment. I’m going to discuss a possible Super ELN which may seem outrageous, but actually is feasible now!
I have mused of the ‘Legend’ video recording lab safety glasses in the past. But let’s take it to the extreme.
[Problem]Why do most people not write directly to their lab books as they are performing their research?
I mean, in Academia when I teach a lab class I always feel like 90% of it is exhortation to the students to ‘record what your are doing in your lab notebook’.
Answer- Because they are busy performing their research!
Back to the undergrads- they may not be likely to write in their lab notebooks without constant pressure from me, but they are very likely to have a written procedure sitting right next to them to peruse.
Thus the rationale for ELNs to have a template for a certain lab procedure. But if you diverge from the template/protocol then you need to make note of it in your lab notebook. [Problem]Again there is a reluctance to always record this since you are in the midst of performing your research. And I must admit that in my ELN usage experience, sometimes I go back over my research from days past (in order to plan for my next experiment) and notice that I neglected to change PCR cycle numbers or gel running times or whatever.
What can be done?
Well, if writing stuff down is going to get in our way, then let’s just not write it down! Heck, we’re scientists for goodness sake - so I think by definition we think we are smart or something. So if we don’t want to do something then we should be smart enough to figure out an alternative, right!?
Sure the ‘Legend’ video recording lab safety glasses allow for us to have a record of what we did without writing things down, but then one of ELN’s major benefits disappears - the ability to quickly and powerfully search your lab notebook. Searching through hours of footage (even in super fast forward) to find something specific seems very unlikely. *But I don’t want to give up this cool gadget in my Super ELN.
[Solution]Neural Impulse Actuator - Brain-computer interface - A headset that can allow you to control things with your mind. Make simple notes in your ELN by thinking, scroll through or change protocols without touching anything!
So here’s the Super ELN of the future - Hand’s free:
A light Tablet PC
w/ touch screen and active digitizer - for when you want to interface in such a way
w/ a wireless connection to the internet where your web based ELN is located
&
A modified Emotiv like headset
throw in a video cam on the headset to record and take pictures of things when you want
Now- you have a wireless headset and wireless Tablet PC
- take it wherever you are doing your experiments (lab, in the field, at the large hedron collider)
- open it up so you can see the screen
- with your mind call up the template for the experiment you are going to run
- follow the protocol
- whenever you change anything or observe something use your mind to make note
- if you want to take a picture or record your procedure use your mind to turn on the camera.
- while you’re working, you could scroll through or search and find similar experiments you have done in the past to reference!
It’s so seemless, it brings a tear to my eye.
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago at 6:22 pm. 2 comments
Everyone is always looking for the next big thing. In cell phones maybe it’s fast, touch screen internet, in stocks/business maybe it’s alternative power, in politics maybe it’s a minority(race/gender) in the white house.
But, what is the next big thing for the world of ELNs?
Maybe it’s eELNs, web-based ELNs, e-lab-books (my personal favorite moniker), any other ideas for a catchy name?….
Okay, okay. Sure ELNs haven’t even taken a strangle hold in labs yet. But the reality is the shift from the traditional lab notebook to electronic data is very wide spread, people simply don’t recognize it as an ELN (and continue to keep a traditional lab notebook for some reason).
In my current PhD research, I keep my ‘Onenote ELN’ on a shared network drive and can feasibly use it, record to it, peruse it at different computers. But only in the lab, and only if they have Onenote as well (can’t write freehand unless the computer is a tablet).
There are some web solutions out there. Labtronics, for instance, at paperlesslab.com, have a nice looking idea with their web based ELN (e-lab-book :)). I think you could easily set it up to be pretty flexible (or rigid for those undergrad researchers you get every semester). They don’t have the ability to write using a pen/stylus like in Onenote, or all the easy formating options of Onenote, but I think one could actually do that.
Over at Gottabemobile.com and todoUMPC.com they have integrated the ability to write using your tablet PC to the forums, you can actually ‘ink’ messages. Such an application could be integrated into an e-lab-book! Also maybe the pen/paper idea of Adapx (see earlier post) could be integrated as well, so that you could just upload your pen data to your e-lab-book on the web.
This would be great for academia, for instance, if you were to visit and work in another lab for a week or two. While your learning a new technique you would have access to all your info!
Anyway, to have everything integrated (such as the ability to ink, use the Adapx pen, …) is more of a dream. But my fortune teller’s prediction is that the NEXT BIG THING IS ELNs ON THE WEB.
What do you think?
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago at 1:35 pm. Add a comment
I have added a forum (see menu at the top of the page). Hopefully we can get some good discussion on ELNs going. That way the site can get different points of view (other than my tech nerd scientist point of view).
Capturx(from Adapx) may be able to finally bring peace to this world which is so tragically divided into TechNerds and TechPhobics.
Quick Summary - Pros & Cons
If you find someone very opposed to using ELNs in the lab, slip them the Capturx pen and notebook. They’ll be recording their work as usual, unaware that they have stepped into the 21st century! It works as advertised- simple, easy, Onenote integrated (thus you can search for text since Onenote has handwriting recognition), and waterproof. The battery was never an issue and the pen seems durable. The pen is larger than a normal pen, but not too large. You do need special paper or the special notebook, but if you are using it for a lab notebook, you should be writing everything only in the notebook anyway. I see areas for improvement, but very few drawbacks.
Pros
Simple - to use and connect to computer
Text Recognition of Onenote
vs Tablet PC
Spilling chemicals on it won’t cost you a thousand dollars
Smaller, lighter, less conspicuous than writing on a computer
Fits in a lab pocket Cons
Price (over $300) - less than a tablet pc though
New notebooks are over $20
Can’t print a protocol and ink directly onto it (maybe in the future) Continue Reading…
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago at 12:43 pm. Add a comment
I’ve played around with alot of tablet gadget programs, and have always been a little disappointed.
The most useful tool for me has always been Onenote - which nowadays I mostly use minus the pen anyway.
When I had classes, I did frequently use the pen to take notes - in Onenote.
This new INKSEINE program looks to really change the way you take notes!
It’s a very interactive way to take notes, and provides added Tablet interface functionality as well.
When taking notes you can quickly attach word, prdf, excel,… files to a note or idea. Much more easily than doing so in Onenote!
Furthermore, you can quickly tag things for future searchs, or quickly search the internet as you’re taking notes.
I can see this helping students in the active learning process - even in the case of a boring professor - your quickly getting added internet content and explanations. (I can also see A.D.D. distracting notetakers from the speaker - all in the quest for knowledge)
Should be Media player below, may want to go fullscreen
PEOPLE LOVE LISTS, SO HERE’S MY PROS
Scrolling through lists by swirling clockwise or counterclockwise - GENIUS.
Easy to learn pop up tips
Quick & Easy linking of files
Quick & Easy searching internet
History of running research
Only real CON - should just be a part of Onenote so everything can be organized better.
Loading ...
