Abstract
The development of an electronic lab notebook (ELN) for researchers working in the field of chemical sciences is presented. The web based application is available as an Open Source software that offers modern solutions for chemical researchers. The Chemotion ELN is equipped with the basic functionalities necessary for the acquisition and processing of chemical data, in particular the work with molecular structures and calculations based on molecular properties. The ELN supports planning, description, storage, and management for the routine work of organic chemists. It also provides tools for communicating and sharing the recorded research data among colleagues. Meeting the requirements of a state of the art research infrastructure, the ELN allows the search for molecules and reactions not only within the user’s data but also in conventional external sources as provided by SciFinder and PubChem. The presented development makes allowance for the growing dependency of scientific activity on the availability of digital information by providing Open Source instruments to record and reuse research data. The current version of the ELN has been using for over half of a year in our chemistry research group, serves as a common infrastructure for chemistry research and enables chemistry researchers to build their own databases of digital information as a prerequisite for the detailed, systematic investigation and evaluation of chemical reactions and mechanisms.
Highlights
In the field of organic chemistry, like in any research area, the availability of digital data is a prerequisite for a sustainable and successful research as it allows the access to results, the search for information, and the processing of the obtained research data [1,2,3]
As the identified criteria for a system to face the challenges of professional data management in academia could not be fulfilled by the currently available Open Source systems, we initiated the development of a powerful electronic lab notebook (ELN) for chemical sciences
While the user management interface facilitates the work with information of the ELN user, it contains management functionalities for the organization of information that has been gained from other researchers or that has been provided to other researchers
Summary
In the field of organic chemistry, like in any research area, the availability of digital data is a prerequisite for a sustainable and successful research as it allows the access to results, the search for information, and the processing of the obtained research data [1,2,3]. The development of the Chemotion ELN resulted in such a modern infrastructure that offers intelligent support of academic research projects being a key instrument for the acquisition, storage and management of digital data in chemistry. Results The Chemotion ELN offers an extended management system for projects allowing the formation of a clear structure for research data.
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