FAQ

The features that MyLabBook has compared to other ELNs derive from the WordPress plugins. Plugins can provide the following features that are not found in most ELNs.

• Maps and Geo-locations
• Social Networking features, including groups, profiles, chat, and messaging
• Easy embedding of audio, video, sophisticated image display, and inline image editing
• Tracking of web page usage and analytics
• Commenting ability
• Mobile capabilities

Some plugins include several of these capabilities in the same plugin. For example, the Directories Pro plugin that we document in our knowledge base provides a directory, maps, images, video, integration with social networking plugins, commenting, custom post types, and backup and restore capabilities.

Two publications from our group are specifically about the ELN and mention Drupal as the CMS in use. We have since transitioned to WordPress. Many of the same explorations are still relevant, however, since they are both based on a general CMS platform instead of dedicated ELN software. These two publications are listed below.

• Iyer, R., Kudrle, W. (2012) Implementation of an Electronic Lab Notebook to Integrate Research and Education in an Undergraduate Biotechnology Program, Technology Interface Journal, Vol. 12 (2), 5-12.
• Kudrle, W., Iyer, R. (2012) A Semantic Lab Notebook for Education, Computers in Education Journal, Vol.22 (3).

Some publications about the biotech background that the MyLabBook approach was developed for include the following.

• Iyer, R., Smith, K., Kudrle, B., and Leon, A. (2015). “Detection and Location of OP-degrading Activity: A model to Integrate Education and Research”. New Biotechnology. Vol. 32(4), 403-411.
• Iyer, R., Wales, M. (2012) “Integrating Interdisciplinary Research-based Experiences in Biotechnology Laboratories”, Journal of Advances in Engineering Education, Vol. 3 (1) 1-35.
• Iyer, R., Fitzgibbon, W. E. (2009). “Building the future biotechnology workforce: A University of Houston model”. Journal of Commercial Biotechnology, 15(2), 171-182.

Other publications or blogs that explore using WordPress as an ELN include the following.

• Catherine Voegele et al (2013) A universal open-source Electronic Laboratory Notebook, Bioinformatics, Vol. 29(13), 1710-1712.
• EvoPhylo Blog and Additional Notes
• Quantixed Blog

In addition to having some unique features for an ELN, the use of WordPress can provide the following advantages compared to most other ELNs.

• Compared to commercial ELNs, WordPress provides a very affordable alternative because of the large number of free plugins and the low cost of most commercial plugins.
• Since WordPress is used in over 40% of all websites, it has a strong case for sustainability when compared to many other ELN platforms that might be abandoned if their business model does not work out well.
• Because of its popularity, using WordPress for an ELN ensures that there is a large pool of talented developers, agencies, hosting companies, and documentation to utilize and fall back on as needed.
• The basic installation of WordPress is relatively simple and well-documented and it uses the popular PHP language, the LAMP stack, and plugins for extending capabilities. The LAMP stack is also known for its simplicity of installation. All of these qualities make it relatively simple for someone with basic website skills to install and extend WordPress for an ELN.
• Again because of its popularity, skills developed for a WordPress ELN are transferable to many other domains like blogging, eCommerce, and general website building. This might be motivational for graduate students or other personnel to learn to use WordPress for an ELN.
• The use of a relatively simple and well-documented plugin approach to extend WordPress capabilities allows someone with basic programming skills to create custom capabilities for their research project.

The MyLabBook approach would not be a good choice for several scenarios at this time. This may change in the future as there is no inherent limitation for WordPress in these scenarios. However, at this time if you have any of the following requirements, then it would be advisable to use an alternate solution.

• You need a large company to support you that is focused entirely on using WordPress for an ELN. There are numerous well-established WordPress hosting companies and numerous well-established WordPress agencies that could host, support, and develop your custom WordPress site. But to our knowledge, there are currently no well-established companies that focus primarily on using WordPress for an ELN.
• You need an ELN that is tightly integrated with a Laboratory Information System (LIMS) for tracking your materials
• You need extensive capabilities for documenting chemical reactions that include drawing chemical structures, analyzing spectra, and mining of chemical data
• You need out-of-the-box capabilities to physically automate your lab workflow (e.g., with robotics) and have the automation be integrated with your ELN

For many other situations, your financial resources, time constraints, personnel constraints, or your particular situation and resources would lead to the use of commercial ELNs or a capable open source approach like eLabFTW as the better choice instead of the MyLabBook approach.