Electronic Research Notebook Service (ERNS)

To support researchers in recording and retaining research notes and associated datasets, Northwestern University has a site license to the LabArchives electronic research notebook platform. LabArchives is a cloud-based service designed as an analog to a paper notebook.
 

Features and Benefits

By using the ERNS you will be able to:

  • Log in to an easy-to-use web interface with your Northwestern NetID
  • Store Level 1 and 2 research data
  • Keep a permanent record of your research notes and file attachments, including all changes
  • Organize your data into notebooks by project or by research group member
  • Subdivide notebooks into pages and entries for separate studies or analyses
  • Granularly share whole notebooks, pages or entries with other LabArchives users
  • Easily create static offline backups
  • Integrate with Microsoft office documents
  • Sync data to your computer using Folder Monitor

 

Limitations

LabArchives should not be used to store

  • Individual files larger 16 GB max
  • Level 3 and 4 research data


Our site license only includes the Electronic Laboratory Notebook for Research, not the ELN for Education, Scheduler or Inventory products.

 

Available to

  • Researchers including faculty, staff, postdocs, and students

 

Cost

This service is offered at no cost to Northwestern researchers

 

How to Request Service

Anyone with a Northwestern NetID can create a LabArchives account. Follow the linked instructions to create a LabArchives account using your Northwestern credentials. This process will allow you to link any accounts that were created with a non-Northwestern email address.

 

Support Resources