Electronic Lab Notebook ELN -- download

Myth It's easy to manipulate digital data without a trace, while integrity of paper records can be proven.
Reality On the contrary, it is easy to add text and modify text in paper notebooks at any time. Editing digitally signed electronic records would mean the central protection algorithm in all modern banking is broken. Which would make a fairly big news by itself. Why else use ELN? For convenience of keyword search, low space requirement and excellent data organization, to start the list!

Electronic Lab Notebook software (ELN) free download & free license

Download See it in action
Internet Explorer 9.0 or better will provide optimal page appearance.

SEARCH

This ELN finds search keywords in its pages in seconds. With piles of paper notebooks, the same search may take hours or never give results. For principal investigators (PI) or supervisors, this ability changes how they approach research in a major way. They receive instant electronic access to years of research records from all of their employees, students and postdocs. Wonder who ever worked on that BRAF purification ? Who synthesized or used BTZ8021 ? It will take seconds or minutes to find "that page" from 5 years ago.

SHARING

Project contents can be shared as electronic copies or over network. The special strength of the BiochemLabSolutions ELN is in using open-source HTML-coded pages (open-text format = ultimate data ownership by the user). One can send a copy of all ELN records to collaborators and the receiving party will be able to view the content on any computer and any OS without even installing this program. Several collaborators may share and co-author one ELN.

THE BIG PICTURE

Unlike paper, electronic pages can be linked in any way imaginable. If page "X" describes data relevant to page "Y" from the past month, wouldn't it make sense to somehow connect these pages so in future this relevance is not lost? This ELN supports unlimited custom links with comments from any pages and to any pages.

SECURITY

BiochemLabSolutions ELN is more secure than paper when encryption is enabled (watch). Once the program is closed, all data become locked at the bit level. The implemented Open Source TrueCrypt encryption can be set to encrypt-decrypt ELN on-the-flight. Encryption is cryptographically strong and deniable. TrueCrypt was developed by security experts and is trusted by security experts over the world. In fact, it is considered by many the golden standard in encryption.

AUTHENTICITY

"Was this sentence here on December 17, 2008 ? Or was it edited in yesterday ?" With digital documents, it is easy to do editing without a trace. If this question cannot be answered with a solid proof, ELN records lose value as a trusted documentation instrument. BiochemLabSolutions ELN integrates a simple and effective audit method to prove that every record, every comma and every byte in ELN project or in entire ELN is original and was not modified after the date of signing. The digital signatures used are cryptographically strong (symmetric equivalent of 256 bit) and once issued, cannot be compromised or bypassed. Digital signatures can be created automatically on a schedule. You don't need to be a security expert to use or interpret them. Watch video.

DATA MANAGEMENT

BiochemLabSolutions ELN is designed as a powerful data manager. The ELN stores all notebook records and all data files relevant to each ELN page. Opening ELN pages brings to view all the associated data to ensure a convenient way of storing and managing digital lab resources.

PHYSICAL SECURITY AND RELIABILITY

BiochemLabSolutions ELN is a locally installed executable. Users control the software, hardware and networking at all times. For highly sensitive materials, the ELN can be used completely offline.

AUTOMATION

Making records with this ELN is easier than using paper. Everything, from a quick note to time stamping with digital signatures, is automated and requires an absolute minimum or no user efforts and time. This ELN is designed with only one central idea - making records easy. This ELN frees researchers from routine actions associated with making records and considerably increases productivity.

NETWORKING

It takes minutes to set up this ELN for networking. The networking scenarios are endless and very flexible. In a simplest scenario, one specifies a network drive or a network path as the ELN home location, instead of the local hard drive. For low-security applications, file sharing over local network can be used. For secure communications, one may use virtual private network (VPN). The flexible networking capabilities of this ELN permit multiple users, centralized server setups and makes this program a good choice for individual researchers and for large groups. Most modern Windows computers can be set up as ELN servers without additional software installations.

All ELN records are cross-platform compliant

However to create new records under Linux or MacOS, please read F.A.Q. for running this executable via virtualization

Trial mode vs licensing

After installation the software will be running in trial mode. All features of ELN will be fully functional. Any records made in the trial mode will be fully useable and not be crippled in any way by the absence of license.

In other words, trial mode allows for creation of completely functional ELN records with no risk of losing data, should you uninstall the ELN or keep using it without licensing.

What will be missing in the trial mode:
you will experience reminder messages and time-limited sessions.You will need to restart the software periodically to continue your work.

With the license, software will run seamlessly.

Built-in Bio Lab Software Suite

Plasmid Restriction Enzyme Mapper
PCR Primer Designer
Biopolymer Calculator for DNA, RNA, Proteins
Matrix Buffer Calculator
QuickChange PCR Mutagenesis Designer
T7 RNA transcription designer

OPEN DATA FORMAT

BiochemLabSolutions ELN does not bind the user to any proprietary formats and therefore does not force those who used this software for any period of time to keep using it. All ELN records are explicitly designed to be immediately and fully compatible with Internet Explorer (watch) and other common web browsers.

& user-defined styles

Color palette, icons and
default fonts can be custom-defined.

Watch this video for an example minimalistic custom style.

ELN appearance can be custom controlled via a style.css file, which allows to change page design from "very square" to "very round", add shadows, add cell borders etc. Access this option from "Menu->Fonts and styles".

Self-contained ELN design permits viewing of all records and full-featured
navigation through the pages without ever installing this program.
Recent versions of Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Firefox
are recommended for optimal viewing.

The ELN is built around HTML to guarantee compatibility, accessibility and
ability to search in all OS and on mobile phones for years in the future.

Data do not leave your computer unless explicitly configured for networking and sharing.

Myth Paper lab notebooks are safer than ELNs.
Reality On the contrary, paper notes may be (and have been) lost after a first flood or fire. Digital ELNs can be duplicated and kept in many places.
Myth We will be able to read paper records a 100 years from now, but records made with long-gone hardware and software will be lost in a decade.
Reality This ELN uses HTML language and any web browser can be used to read the records. One can reasonably expect that today's HTML documents will be readable for many decades to come.