LabArchives Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Overview

LabArchives is a cloud-based Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN). Features of LabArchives include:

Easy sharing of information within the laboratory, as well as the ability to invite collaborators from outside of MIT to join the ELN
Ability to create standard ELN formats and templates for your lab or research group
Secure storage of data on the LabArchives servers- multiple redundancy ensures 24x7 data availability
Maintenance of all revisions of ELN entries

Questions

Getting Started with LabArchives

How do I log into LabArchives?

LabArchives will be more broadly announced to the MIT community in early 2016; the ELN is currently being supported for use by early adopters.
Contact labarchives-support@mit.edu for access to MIT's enterprise license.
LabArchives is Touchstone-enabled. Once you have set up your account, you will be able to log in using an MIT personal certificate or kerberos username and password.

Are there materials I can access for an overview of LabArchives?

Are there training webinars?

See LabArchives Training Webinars

Creating electronic notebooks and granting access

Create your electronic notebook(s)

Labs or research groups may wish to create a single notebook for the lab, subdivided into folders for lab members or to create project-based notebooks.
LabArchives recommends that the Principal Investigator (PI) or head of the research group create the lab notebooks and grant administrator access to the lab manager(s).

Granting access

By designating administrators for the notebooks, the PI or lab head can delegate responsibility for adding or removing access to the notebook.
Access can be added to the entire notebook or to specified portions of the notebook.

Sharing your LabArchives ELN

How can I use LabArchives to collaborate with other researchers?

Using LabArchives ELN

Is there a limit to the amount of data that labs can store in LabArchives?

Under MIT's enterprise license for LabArchives, users are able to store unlimited amounts of data.

Can I export data from LabArchives?

The export to PDF function enables users to export the entire lab notebook or any portion thereof.

Other Resources

Getting Help

IS&T and the MIT Libraries are partnering to provide this service and assist early adopters in customizing lab notebooks to meet the needs of their lab or research group. We are interested in your feedback on LabArchives and how well it meets the needs of your research.

For assistance, contact labarchives-support@mit.edu.