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Using your electronic lab notebook (ELN)

An electronic lab notebook (ELN) like eLab allows lab notebook entries to be automated and customized… for example:
  • Templates: Use predefined templates for common activities (e.g., “Maintain Fly Colony,” “TBI Experiment”) to ensure consistency.
  • Attachments: Upload relevant files (e.g., data sheets, images) directly to entries.
  • Tagging and Linking: Employ tags and links to organize and easily retrieve related entries.
  • Resource Management: Schedule and reference lab Equipment ("tools"), Instruments ("things that provide a measurement of some sort"), and Expendables ("stuff that gets used up over time").
  • Timestamping: Securely record to an immutable worldwide blockchain (which may be important if you ever make an interesting "discovery")
Register an account here using your llu.edu email address.
  • Please read through the User Documentation and start using it. Don't be afraid to try out the various features - as far as I know, you can't "break" anything :)
  • Note that the "model" for this ELN is not to have 1 entry that serves as your entire notebook, but rather that each time you do something lab-related, you make a separate time-stamped entry (ideally using predefined Templates). Each individual entry is (unfortunately) called an "experiment" in eLab.
    • If you click the "Create" button next to Experiment (in your Dashboard or in the upper tabs), that will bring you to a "generic" entry template with Goals, Procedures, and Results laid out already.
    • Note that you can change these as you see fit for each entry. If you click on the little Left Arrow on the side of the Create button you should see a list of Templates that I have made (feel free to modify / make more). You can also see them all and edit / make more under My Templates in your upper right profile icon.
  • Generally, try to use pre-defined templates - for example, one lab member’s entry ("experiment") might be a "Maintain fly colony" entry. When another lab member maintains their flies, the steps / procedures should be pretty much the same except for specific numbers / parameters, etc. So, if both use the same "Maintain fly colony" template for those entries, consistency between and within projects should be preserved.
    • There is also a "Brainstorming / connect the dots" Template for recording ideas / general notes etc.
    • There is also a "Data analysis" template for uploading graphs, data files, recording stats procedures / results, etc.
    • Other templates can be easily made (e.g., make a template for recording Python code)…
Some helpful hints:
  • Use experiment Templates:
    • Create reusable Templates for common protocols, behavior assays, or data collection sessions.
    • Include:
      • Checklists
      • Required reagents
      • Time-stamped placeholders
      • Use variables ({{NAME}}, etc.) for quick, templated insertion.
      • Pro Tip: Name templates with a prefix like PROTO_ or TEMPLATE_ so users don’t confuse them with real experiments.
  • Leverage Tags and Categories:
    • Use tags for filtering (e.g., behavior, genotyping, PCR, urgent, pilot-study)
    • Use categories to group experiments by type or project. This makes the search function vastly more powerful for your growing dataset. For example:
      • Neuroinflammation Study
      • Pomegranate Intervention
      • Alzheimer’s Model
  • Use the Resources section fully:
    • Resources can be anything the lab tracks or maintains:
      • Antibodies, kits, cell lines, animals, equipment, software, datasets
      • You can attach files (e.g., datasheets, images, calibration logs)
      • Each resource entry can be versioned, tagged, and referenced in experiments, giving you a linked web of experimental context.
  • Link experiments to resources and each other:
    • In the body of an experiment, use @ to link to:
      • Resources (e.g., reagents, instruments)
      • Users
      • Other experiments (for replicates or multi-step pipelines)
      • EXAMPLE: This experiment uses @Western Blot Kit V3 and @Rico's flow protocol from @Exp #1245
  • Use the Scheduler (Calendar)
    • Track shared equipment usage
    • Schedule experiment blocks, surgeries, behavioral testing
    • Bonus: Link calendar entries to the actual experiment entries or protocols.

 

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