ELN: Frequently Asked Questions

Documentation
Premium Feature — Available in LabKey LIMS, Biologics LIMS, and the Professional Edition of Sample Manager. Learn more or contact LabKey.

Within LabKey Biologics LIMS and the Professional Edition of LabKey Sample Manager, you can use data-integrated Notebooks for documenting your experiments. These electronic lab notebooks are directly integrated with the data you are storing and are a secure way to protect intellectual property as you work.

How can I use Notebooks for my work?

Notebooks are available in the Biologics and Sample Manager applications.

  • Already using Biologics? You'll already have Notebooks, provided you are on a current version.
  • Already using Sample Manager? You'll need to be using the Professional Edition of Sample Manager, or the Enterprise Edition of LabKey Server to access Notebooks.
  • Not using either of the above? Please contact us to learn more.

Who can see my Notebooks?

Every user with "Read" access to your folder can also see Notebooks created there.

What can I reference from a Notebook?

You can reference anything in your application, including data, experiments, specific samples, and other notebooks. Use a direct reference selector to place a color coded reference directly in your Notebook text. Add a single reference at a time, or add multiple references in bulk.

The combined list of all elements referenced from a notebook is maintained in an Overview panel.

Learn more in this topic: Add a Reference

How are Notebooks locked and protected once signed?

After the notebook has been approved we create a signed snapshot. The snapshot will include all notebook data including:

  • Notebook metadata and text
  • Any data referenced in the notebook (samples, entities, experiments, assay runs, etc.)
  • Attached files
The data archive will be compressed and stored in the database to allow future downloads. We will compute a SHA-2 cryptographic hash over the data archive and store it in the database. This allows us to verify that the contents of the data archive are exactly the same as the notebook that was signed and approved.

What happens to my Notebooks when I upgrade?

  • Once you create a Notebook, it will be preserved (and unaltered) by upgrades of LabKey.

What are team templates?

"Team templates" is a term that was in use in earlier versions for templates that are now called Shared Templates.

When you view the Notebook Templates Dashboard, all the templates you created are listed on the Your Templates tab. Templates created by yourself or other users and shared (i.e. team templates) are listed on the Shared Templates tab.

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