Centre for Proteome Research

As Lab Manager at the University of Liverpool’s Centre for Proteome Research (CPR), one of Victoria Harman’s primary responsibilities is to ensure the smooth and safe running of the laboratory. Whenever research is conducted, the standard protocol is to record all procedures and observations by hand in a small lab book.

Collecting research in this manner is less than ideal for several reasons. In the event of water or fire damage, the record is gone. Lab partners also lose time deciphering each other’s handwritten notes. But the biggest drawback is that notes taken in the lab cannot be brought out due to the contamination risk they pose. “If you’re working with pathogens or chemicals, they get onto papers and pens, which can then transfer to phones, mugs, and clothing. We spent a lot of time copying and duplicating our notes between lab and office.”

Ownership of Data

Victoria and her team evaluated several software services before signing up for Evernote Business. A major deciding factor was Evernote’s 3 Laws of Data Protection. “As we’re working with unpublished data most of the time, it’s very important that the University of Liverpool retains the rights to our research data. The Privacy Policy reassured us that Evernote Business was the right choice for us.”

Evernote, the Electronic Lab Book

With Evernote Business, Victoria and the researchers found a more efficient way to transfer notes between the lab and the office. The team keeps an Android tablet in the lab at all times to document work, and all notes are synced to the cloud and made accessible outside of the lab. Each researcher has an individual Space in Evernote Business dedicated to his or her research project, and within each Space are different notebooks containing meeting notes, related reading, and data collected from the lab. Researchers can join or leave a fellow’s project Space at any time, which means that everyone is able to access the right research and data whenever they need to.