1. Gurdon Institute Developmental biology and cancer biology
250 researchers in 18 groups
Imaging and informatics
No institutional data curation policies
No institutional naming conventions
No institutional metadata strategy

2. Electronic lab notebooks
Wish list:
Single but flexible platform
Integration of all data & resources
University-owned storage
10yr DOI
Cross-platform accessibility
Resilience
Change log & back-track
Flexible collaboration
Useful export in native formats
Anxieties:
Bewildering choice
Individual or team
Cloud or self-hosted
Transition upheaval
Infrastructure required
100% commitment required

3. Risks
Dependence – complete reliance on a 3rd party for provision of a reliable, stable, secure, compliant service for a long term.
Loss of access – a simple administrative hiccup or network fault could result in service interruption
Difficulty of disengagement – export in CSV, PDF, HTML, XML etc, not helpful for ingestion into a new system

4. Currently… One group is using eCat
One group is using Business licenses for Evernote & Dropbox
Some individuals are using Personal ELNs
Many individuals are using other personal productivity tools.
Large number of DIY solutions
Growing discomfort regarding lack of discoverability

5. Survey of interest across SBS
345 responses from 13 Departments:
Biochemistry Genetics
Pathology Pharmacology
PDN Plant Sciences
Psychology Vet Medicine
Zoology Gurdon Institute
Sainsbury Laboratory Stem Cell Institute
Systems Biology Centre

6. What is your position? n=345 46 135 115 11 22 16
Principal Investigator 46
Postdoc
135
Graduate student
115
Undergraduate student 11
Research Assistant/ Technician 22
Other 16
Other = Facility Manager Visiting Fellow Professor
Research Manager Lab Manager Retired UTO Safety Officer Snr Research Associate

7. Do you, or have you, used an electronic lab notebook system to record/share your experiments and projects?
n=343
Yes, as an individual 49
Yes, as part of a group system 33 No
261
LabGuru < LabFolder <
LabArchives < Benchling <
Findings < Clarity LIMS <
Quiver < E-Notebook <
Pelican < eCat <
Rspace < Several bespoke Pharma solutions

8. Do you, or have you, used an electronic lab notebook system to record/share your experiments and projects?

9. Do you use other software to record/share your experiments and projects? (e.g. Word, Evernote, Dropbox, Googledocs etc)
n=345
Yes, as an individual
195
Yes, as part of a group system
112 No 38
Excel Latex R Markdown Evernote
Confluence Livescribe Powerpoint Dropbox
oneNote Googledocs Access Github
HTML Word

10. Do you use other software to record/share your experiments and projects? (e.g. Word, Evernote, Dropbox, Googledocs etc)

11. If you have ever considered committing to an ELN, but chose not to, what were your reasons? (please tick all that apply)
n=161
Complexity or difficulty of use 79
Cost 82
Inappropriate feature set 48
Fear of critical data being hosted/ managed by an external organisation 54
Difficulty of disengagement if you were to change your mind 48
Duplication of effort Hardware dependence Language confidence Security
Continuity of access ‘Wet’ biology bias Mandatory paper copy? Electronics on wet bench?
Network reliance Disruption Less thoughtful Cross-platform compatibility

12. If you have ever considered committing to an ELN, but chose not to, what were your reasons? (please tick all that apply)

13. Would you be interested in a Campus/School/Departmental Electronic Lab Notebook package?
Yes
274 No 67
n=341

14. Would you be interested in a Campus/School/Departmental Electronic Lab Notebook package?

15. 210
110
147
133
157 84 52 53
Ease of use
Security
Reliability
Ability to share data/notes with others
Searchability
Customisability
Data analysis capabilities
Cost
If yes, please select three features which you regard to be most important from the list below:
n=285

16. If yes, please select three features which you regard to be most important from the list below:

17. Additional comments? Requests: Concerns: Training Voice recognition
Collaboration tools
Remote access
100% reliable backups
Date stamps & change log
Concerns:
Duplication of effort
Speed
Accuracy (copy/paste errors)
Upheaval
Language support
Reliability
Wet bench bias
Cross-platform compatibility
What if I/my lab moves?
Cost

18. Indications Clear interest across whole school, at all levels
Guidance or direction required
Diverse range of interests/requirements to be accommodated: clinical, pharmaceutical, fieldwork specialists, wet bench, dry bench, computational, behavioural scientists etc.
Unlikely that a single solution will satisfy a whole campus.
Aim for 70% satisfaction? Support multiple systems? Or just provide advice to individual departments?
Limited time window for action.