Using Evernote as an Electronic Lab Notebook in a Translational Science Laboratory. December 2012 Journal of the Association for Laboratory Automation. 2013 Jun;18(3):229-34. Doi: 10.11212471834. Epub 2012 Dec 27. Using Evernote as an electronic lab notebook in a translational science laboratory. Walsh E(1), Cho I. Author information: (1)New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10010, USA.
Electronic lab notebooks (ELNs) have a reputation for being complex, hard to learn, and expensive. The increasing popularity of general-purpose note-taking applications such as Evernote has prompted some to ask whether this kind of software could be used as a simpler, less expensive ELN.
Tips for organizing notes, notebooks, and tags. Although Evernote makes it easy to search for content, it's a good idea to establish a consistent way to organize and name notes, notebooks, and tags to make it even easier for you and others find what they need.
The idea sounds appealing - but is Evernote really a viable ELN option today?
Why Scientists Love/Hate ELNs
A recent (informal) survey from NYU asked participants about their experiences with ELNs versus paper lab notebooks.
When paper notebook users were asked why they didn't switch to an ELN, the top responses included:
- 'Like the ability to draw/freehand directly into a paper notebook' (75%)
- 'Am comfortable using a paper lab notebook' (70%)
- 'Like the familiarity of the paper lab notebook' (57%)
- 'Like the portability of a paper notebook' (57%)
When ELN users were asked about limitations of their current systems, the top responses included:
- 'Can't draw or freehand into an entry' (75%)
- 'Inflexible or rigid format' (50%)
- 'Concerns about security or legality (HIPAA etc.)' (42%)
- 'Can't carry notebook around with me' (33%)
Flexibility and ease of making entries showed up as a key factor in both staying with a paper notebook and frustration with an existing ELN. A secondary factor was the perceived physical portability of a PLN compared to an ELN.
The Good
Evernote has many features to make it an attractive replacement for a paper notebook. For one thing, it's free. A highly functional, cost-free version of Evernote can be used indefinitely. The main restriction is on the amount of data that can be stored. Premium accounts remove this restriction and add other features as well.
Another reason to like Evernote is its availability on both desktops (Windows/Mac/Linux) and tablets (iPad/Android). An additional advantage is that Evernote makes sharing data across devices easy with its cloud-based storage option - a key consideration with the increased use of tablets in labs.
Ease of use, a concern of many ELN users, is virtually a non-issue with Evernote. The combination of a simple interface and widespread usage outside the lab increases the chances of getting down to work quickly.
The Not-So-Good
The biggest limitation of Evernote as an ELN may be its lack of structure. Although the simplicity of preparing freeform Notes and compiling them into notebooks is appealing, Evernote offers little in the way of the structure needed for many ELN applications out of the box.
Fortunately, a number of third party extensions are available through the Evernote Trunk. One standalone ELN (and apparently the only one) to offer Evernote integration is iPad ELN, which confusingly enough bears no relationship to the iPad device.
Another limitation of Evernote is poor in-app integration with custom data handling tools. Although Evernote comes with remarkable document text-indexing capabilities and can display many kinds of images, custom data types such as chemical structures, spectra, and other instrument data will likely exist as nothing more than flat file attachments inside a Note.
In some lab settings, security and legal concerns (such as 21 CFR 11 compliance) may further limit the feasibility of using Evernote.
Resources
In addition to the previously-mentioned survey on ELN use, which also describes a six-month trial of Evernote as an ELN in a lab setting, a few other explorations of Evernote as an ELN have been documented:
- Lab Evernotebook, an apparently defunct blog.
Conclusions
For labs with minimal requirements around special data types and electronic signatures, Evernote offers much to like as a replacement for a paper notebook or expensive ELN system. For others with more specific needs, paper or a dedicated ELN system will be the only options.
Using an Electronic Lab Notebook
Lab notebooks are good for writing down procedures, observations, conclusions and for drawing flow charts and diagrams by hand. However, in order to accommodate the increase of digital data collected, researchers have taped instrumentation and computer printouts onto the pages of their notebooks, or cross-referenced larger data sets by recording file names and locations in the notebook.
Sample Evernote Notebooks
An Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) is a software tool that in its most basic form replicates an interface much like a page in a paper lab notebook. In this electronic notebook you can enter protocols, observations, notes, and other data using your computer or mobile device. This offers several advantages over the traditional paper notebook.
Evernote Sub Notebooks
Read more about choosing an ELN: Kwok, Roberta. 2018. 'How to pick an electronic laboratory notebook.' Nature 560 (7717): 269-270. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05895-3