Project Description

The Electronic Lab Notebook is a proposed electronic version of the traditional lab notebook used by research scientists. The Electronic Lab Notebook is to be used by a well-defined audience in one specific environment as a tool performing two main roles: improve work performance operate as a learning tool       The idea for the Notebook was originally conceived by Dr. Charles Mobbs, Associate Professor, Fishberg Research Center for Neurobiology and Neurobiology of Aging Laboratories, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.

Goals for the Product

Reduce the time researchers spend copying out procedures Reduce the time researchers spend converting standard protocols Reduce the potential for error in calculating conversions Reduce the time and effort required to create graphical representations of standard equipment Increase the accuracy of recording information through graphical representation Reduce the effort required to read ambiguous letters, unaligned numbers, and miscellaneous handwriting artifacts Provide first-time or follow-up instruction on procedures to multiple learners simultaneously Increase the comfort level of trainees

Goals	Functional Requirements
Reduce the time researchers spend copying out procedures	allow researchers to take advantage of the same basic word processing capabilities they use in other areas of their work reproduce individual steps, sequences of steps, and whole procedures anywhere on the electronic page without error in a single command reproduce a procedure and then edit it
Reduce the time researchers spend converting standard protocols (published formula for mixing a given volume of a specific solution) Reduce the potential for error in calculating conversions	store standard protocols recalculate them for any required volume or concentration
Reduce the time and effort required to create graphical representations of standard equipment Increase the accuracy of recording information through graphical representation Reduce the effort required to read ambiguous letters, unaligned numbers, and miscellaneous handwriting artifacts	provide blank templates ready to be pasted onto any electronic page for different configurations of wells, plates, slots, and other equipment allow editing of shapes and plug-in shape libaries to match specific laboratory equipment allow creation and editing of storable diagrams built with individual shapes
Reduce the effort required to read ambiguous letters, unaligned numbers, and miscellaneous handwriting artifacts	allow free-form creation of electronic pages while assisting researchers in: lining up page elements creating standard charts and tables making clean, legible entries as quickly as possible
Provide first-time or follow-up instruction on procedures to multiple learners simultaneously	contain instructional segments covering a range of procedures offer self-paced instruction geared to researchers' prior knowledge and working conditions offer, but do not insist on delivering, the most basic information along with very advanced training provide repeated observation with opportunities to practice directly in researchers' own labs