Agilent OpenLAB Electronic Lab
Notebook: Accelerate workflows and
reduce costs through easy integration
with LIMS and other data sources
Technical Note
Introduction
In today’s competitive environment, organizations must capitalize on their science
with greater speed and efficiency. For this reason, forward-looking organizations
now deploy electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) systems to improve the way in
which their scientific information is captured, analyzed, and shared.
Agilent OpenLAB ELN streamlines lab workflows by bridging the gaps between
data systems, Lab Information Management Systems (LIMS), Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) systems, Chemical Inventory databases, data storage, and more.
With the ability to link these systems, OpenLAB ELN provides a uniquely userfriendly, low-implementation-cost, single-point-of-access to scientific information.
By automating the transfer of information to and from these systems, OpenLAB
ELN eliminates costly transcription errors and the time staff spends manually
entering and re-entering information. In addition, OpenLAB ELN enables labs to
standardize and share method protocols.
This technical note describes how OpenLAB ELN can unlock increased workflow
efficiency via easy integration with the applications you already use, with minimal
set up time and cost. By streamlining the flow of scientific information to and from
your ELN, you’ll increase productivity, safeguard against accidental data loss or
corruption, minimize unnecessary rework, and manage your lab more efficiently.
Import and export data to and
from your LIMS
The ability to set up bi-directional data
flow between your LIMS and OpenLAB
ELN is a powerful way to boost lab
productivity. OpenLAB ELN is designed to
easily integrate with LIMS.
Examples of the kinds information that
can be automatically imported from LIMS
include: Lot number, sample ID, expiration
date, client partner, part number, barcode
ID, forensics case study number, chemical
compound ID, chemical structure, and
reagent ID. The possibilities are infinite.
Unlike other systems, OpenLAB ELN is
fully vendor-agnostic. By automating
the reliable transfer of data, OpenLAB
ELN eliminates costly transcription
errors and saves employees’ time having
to manually enter these values into
lab notebooks.
Figure 1. Sample information can be automatically copied from a LIMS and
imported into an OpenLAB ELN Form. In this example, the user enters the barcode
of the mRNA sample to be analyzed. Based on the barcode ID input by the user,
the Form automatically returns the relevant data corresponding to the particular
batch of the sample that already exists within the LIMS.
Figure 1 shows an example of an
OpenLAB ELN Form used by a
biotechnology lab to automatically import
information from the company’s LIMS.
Here, when the user scans the barcode
assigned to the starting material, in this
case an mRNA sample, the OpenLAB ELN
Form automatically searches the LIMS
and returns the data corresponding to the
specific batch of sample. This OpenLAB
ELN Form has eliminated the lab’s timeconsuming, cut and paste of sample
information from their LIMS to their ELN.
Figure 2 provides another example of the
productivity-boosting power of OpenLAB
ELN Forms. Here the Form is set up to
automatically import a 96-well plate
plan directly from the LIMS, thus saving
the user 30 minutes of tedious manual
data entry, and preventing frustrating
and costly transcription errors. Overall,
work can now get done faster, freeing
scientists to work on their science.
Figure 2. A 96-well plate plan can be directly
imported from a LIMS to OpenLAB ELN without
manual data entry or cut and paste steps. When
the user types the plate number in the OpenLAB
ELN Form and clicks the “import” button
(top), the OpenLAB ELN software is able to
automatically retrieve the 96-well plate plan from
the LIMS (bottom).
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Integrate with internal and
external databases
OpenLAB ELN is also easily integrated
with other database applications,
including ERP systems, chemical
inventory databases, molecular structure
databases, and Agilent OpenLAB
Enterprise Content Manager (ECM).
In fact, OpenLAB ELN is designed to
allow you to automatically import any
kind of metadata from the databases
you use. For example, users can
quickly access company compounds
and chemical building blocks, and
transfer the associated data directly
to and from OpenLAB ELN. Not only
can you build OpenLAB ELN Forms
to communicate with your internal
databases and applications, OpenLAB
Forms can just as easily communicate
with public databases and repositories,
opening up a wealth of information
that can be captured and shared within
OpenLAB ELN.
Figure 3. Data from public sources, such as
OpenFDA, can be directly imported to OpenLAB
ELN. When the user clicks the “Get Substances”
button, the OpenLAB ELN Form automatically
imports the latest drug information from the
OpenFDA database.
To illustrate the remarkable power of
OpenLAB ELN Forms, Figure 3 shows a
Form configured to automatically import
data from the United States Food and
Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) OpenFDA
database, a publically available database
of drug information. In this example,
the OpenLAB ELN Form also performs a
filtering step on the data, to narrow down
the results and display only those drugs
who’s name begins with a user-defined
prefix “MET”.
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Leverage the power of OpenLAB
ELN Templates and Forms
Experiment Templates and Forms are
key to unlocking the increased workflow
efficiency provided by OpenLAB ELN.
OpenLAB ELN Templates are reusable
notebook pages that are set up to capture
and streamline lab-specific experiment
workflows. Templates can contain one or
more sub-sections, called OpenLAB ELN
Forms. OpenLAB ELN Forms help you to
structure and organize the information
collected in your notebook page.
Examples of OpenLAB ELN Forms include
pre-formatted tables, checklists, and data
entry fields.
In addition to organizing the information
collected in your notebook, OpenLAB
ELN Forms can also be interactive. For
example, you can create OpenLAB ELN
Forms that trigger an action to take place,
when the user clicks a button. These
Forms are referred to as Dynamic Forms.
Dynamic Forms are scripted using the
OpenLAB ELN software developer kit
(SDK). Customers who have computerprogramming experience can write their
own scripts. Alternatively, customers
who don’t wish to spend time on
scripting can commission one of Agilent’s
Informatics Enterprise Services team
members, to create Dynamic Forms that
address lab-specific workflows.
Figure 4. Example of an OpenLAB ELN Form that has been set up to streamline data capture and improve
data quality. This particular Form prevents transcription errors and incomplete data capture due to
the analyst accidentally forgetting to document all the required experimental details. Clicking on the
“Export…” button at the bottom of the Form triggers export of the recorded information to an XML file,
which is stored in the company’s OpenLAB Enterprise Content Manager (ECM). The button makes this
form a Dynamic Form.
Both static and Dynamic Forms can be
strung together by dragging and dropping
them into experiment Templates, and
both Templates and Forms can be saved
for use again and again. As shown
in Figure 4, OpenLAB ELN Templates
and Forms enable scientific staff to
quickly, easily, and consistently record
analytical methods and procedures
such as experimental conditions.
Data consistency can be enhanced
using conditional formatting, standard
calculations, and scripting that prompt
users for information.
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Templates and Forms can also be used
to share or standardize the protocols
associated with frequently performed
procedures. Laboratory staff will often
take the time to create a Form when
there is a process or procedure that is
repeated over and over again. The user
spends a little time upfront to set-up the
Form in order to save much more time
later when reusing it.
OpenLAB ELN has a modern
RESTful Application Programming
Interface (API) that can be
extended to share information
with other applications,
particularly database
applications. The RESTful API
allows OpenLAB ELN to be
integrated with other applications
without customization of the
underlying OpenLAB ELN
codebase (i.e. no modifying
or coding of the core ELN
software). With the assistance
of Agilent’s experienced team of
implementation experts, you can
connect OpenLAB ELN to your
company’s software applications
in just a few days, rather than
weeks or months!
As shown in Figure 5, access rights and
distribution of OpenLAB ELN Templates
and Forms are easily controlled by
lab management.
When Agilent releases new
revisions of the OpenLAB ELN
software, it can generally be
installed with some test scripts
and, if desired, qualification (IQ/
OQ). This eliminates the need
to worry if the new version of
OpenLAB ELN will work with your
company’s other applications
and if you will need to customize
each new revision--a substantial
savings over the long term. Figure 5. Organization of Templates and Forms
in an OpenLAB ELN end-user’s repository.
The Lab Manager can curate the content that
appears in the end-user’s file tree, allowing easy
management of user access rights to specific
Templates and Forms based on the employee’s
role or group.
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Use SDKs to automate
workflows
Many OpenLAB ELN customers create
their own tailored workflow automation
using the OpenLAB ELN SDK. Figure 6,
shows an example where the lab has
used the SDK to design a Form that
automatically flags out-of-range values
for easy detection by the user. Here
the “Ratio %” field is flagged with the
color RED when its value is outside the
range 0 to 100. By automatically flagging
erroneous values with an easily observed
color change, OpenLAB ELN’s helps the
lab reduce error.
Figure 6. Adding a script to an OpenLAB ELN Form to automatically flag out-of-range Ratio % values
using the SDK.
Figure 7 provides an example where a
simple script has been added to the Form
to validate that the column temperature
is within the acceptable range. The
script changes the background color of
the “Column Temperature” entry field
to ORANGE when its value is less than
10 or greater than 70. Otherwise, the
background color is white.
Figure 8 presents an example where a
script has been added to automatically
record the correct mass spectrometer
cycle time based on the cycle
mode chosen.
Figure 7. A simple script (bottom) validates the column temperature entered (top).
Figure 8. A script ensures the cycle time correctly reflects the cycle mode selected.
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Conclusion
Traditional paper laboratory notebooks
lack the connectivity and workflow
automation that labs need to meet
today’s demands for efficient, error-free
science. OpenLAB ELN is a solution
that substantially increases workflow
efficiencies, especially for workflows that
manually link to other systems. Unlike
many other ELN, Lab Execution System
(LES), and LIMS products, OpenLAB ELN
easily integrates with other systems and
applications – in just a few days, rather
than weeks – to provide a powerful
single point of access to scientific
information and protocols. For costsensitive labs, OpenLAB ELN Forms and
dynamic scripting, tailored to specific lab
workflows, can often eliminate the need
for an LES or a LIMS.
OpenLAB ELN users can automatically
import information from other databases
into OpenLAB ELN’s Forms and
Templates, providing a safeguard against
data loss or corruption, wasted time,
and unnecessary rework. The workflow
automation provided by OpenLAB ELN
minimizes the amount of time staff spend
entering routine data such as equipment,
volumes, and reagents, and facilitate
access to the wealth of information
available in public databases.
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www.agilent.com/OpenLAB
This information is subject to change without notice.
© Agilent Technologies, Inc., 2017
Published in the USA, February 7, 2017
5991-7689EN