New features in Oxford's electronic lab notebooks (ELNs)
With more storage and a new inventory feature, our ELN contract has been renewed! Find out about this useful, free service
Whether you are conducting research, writing a paper, or preparing for a presentation, having well-organised and accurate notes can greatly enhance your ability to understand and communicate your findings.
Accurate records are also important for open and reproducible research and proving the creation of intellectual property. Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs) are a core tool to help with these processes.
What does the University offer to help with record keeping?
You have probably discovered that lots of options for recording notes and ideas related to you research. It’s important that your work is secure and easy to access.
To help with this, University provides a web-based electronic lab notebook (ELN) service which is free at the point of use for researchers and other University members. Our popular ELN service is provided by LabArchives has been in place since 2018 and we are pleased to confirm that the contract has now been renewed for a further 3 years (until Aug 2026).
What’s new with the ELN service?
The service has been updated with:
- Increased individual file sizes from 250MB to 4GB allowing many more file types to be added more easily (such as raw data from scientific equipment, large images, and videos).
- A new inventory feature, which is a sample/consumable management system. With many benefits such as bulk-uploads, QR codes, and report generation, this new feature can be used for stock management alongside label-printing. It can be used independently and may be of interest to lab managers.
Why should I use an ELN provided by the University?
Formal record-keeping systems such as ELNs are designed for specific regulatory requirements and are more structured, searchable, collaborative, traceable and secure than other basic note-taking tools.
ELNs are often used in industries such as pharmaceuticals, biotech, chemical and manufacturing to keep track of important data, experiments and research. However, a secure and collaborative tool for storage of notes and protocols could also be useful to many University members who will never set foot in a lab.
How to sign up for an ELN
Further information about how you can sign up is available on our electronic lab notebook service page. You can also talk to your local IT support staff (ITSS) and others in your department for further guidance.
Find out more
Join the LabArchives event on 6-10 November to hear tips, advice, and best practices on getting started and adopting LabArchives Notebook, Inventory, and Scheduler.
Keep an eye on this website for sign-up information.
