Offering a ‘scrapbook’ approach to recording experimental data, today’s generic electronic lab notebooks (ELNs) allow users to store data and analysis files from multiple scientific disciplines, collating text, spreadsheet documents, instrument output, images and tables, all in one place. However, these generic ‘scrapbook’ ELNs do not meet the more complex needs of explorative and investigative biology-based research. Biologists need to perform detailed investigations of multidimensional interdependent systems to help understand and analyse the interactive nature of complex systems such as drug metabolism pathways. Whilst a ‘scrapbook’ approach can help capture general information and IP, it cannot support the fact (structured) data management that biologists require.
In general, generic ELNs only accommodate unstructured document-based data capture and searching and, due to their limited data models, cannot capture fact data and therefore cannot provide fact data searching functions.
To truly accommodate the diverse needs of biology, an ELN should enable the researcher to capture and search both unstructured data (text, documents, spreadsheets, etc) and highly structured factual result data. Support for complex experiment design and set up is essential to accommodate the biologist’s workflow, as is the ability to change parameters mid-experiment and to perform statistical and contextual analysis within and across studies.
IDBS’ BioBook is a hybrid ELN solution that provides both generic ELN functionality via its science-neutral framework, while multi-dimensional biology-aware spreadsheets support the capture, processing, analysis and reporting of structured fact data.
By recording both contextual data and fact data, BioBook maintains context in inter-related data, which can be shared across teams and queried from one interface – making all ‘experimental data’ searchable.
A major global pharmaceutical company now uses E-WorkBook and BioBook as its ELN solution in discovery biology, Safety Sciences, pharmacokinetics dynamics and metabolism, and secondary pharmacology research. The company was seeking a one-stop application that would help streamline and automate workflow from experimental design to publication of results. BioBook was chosen because of its combination of ‘scrapbook’ style ELN capabilities integrated with the flexible dynamic analysis environment of its XML-format spreadsheet component.
The generic ELN or ‘scrapbook’ functionality of E-WorkBook has brought users a reduction in administrative documentation, easier collation of data and improved collaboration. BioBook spreadsheets are used to accommodate studies of varying size and design, and to adjust parameters and visualisations. BioBook has brought significant improvements in data analysis processing times, reducing tasks that took days down to hours and tasks that took hours down to minutes.
While providing IP record protection and electronic file management, generic ELNs do not address the specific data management requirements of biologists.
BioBook, an ELN that can combine the generic approach with specific tools for complex biological data management, has been shown to provide significant productivity gains. Direct data capture from laboratory instruments, inbuilt statistical and analysis methods specifically for biologists, and easy study reporting measurably increase biologists’ productivity.
Paul Denny-Gouldson is Product Manager, IDBS, Guildford, Surrey, UK. www.idbs.com
