Types of Digital Notebooks
Historically, notes related to experimentation and research have been captured on paper but the advent of digital technologies have provided many different ways that these notes can be recorded using different software and hardware. The use of digital notebooks for capturing notes also enables the linking together of notes with data and other resources used in research, such as safety protocols and references from the literature. Any form of digital notebook that is used to record research can be considered an 'electronic research notebook'.
Although it is possible to create a digital file from a paper notebook, for example, by using a scanner or taking a photograph, it can be very difficult to get useful content out of the notebook or to search these files for a specific experiment, reaction, or compound. However, technology is improving in this area, for example our partner Data Revival uses artificial intelligence to extract chemical data from paper notebooks.
Although it may now be technically possible to extract digital content from paper notebooks, there are many benefits of using electronic research notebooks to capturing your notes in digital format natively rather than on paper, especially for electronic laboratory notebooks (ELNs) which can provide more functionality to help you with your research.
Generic digital notebooks
Generic digital notebooks describes any software that enables you to capture your notes in a digital format. Although typically the term refers to software dedicated to note-taking, many people also use other kinds of text-based software such as word processors to capture their notes. Generic digital notebooks may have additional functionality to help improve note-taking, for example, text formatting, spell-checking, and the ability to add images to the notebook. Some note-taking software stores the notes in the cloud which can be useful for syncing across multiple devices and for keeping a backup of the notes.
Generic digital notebooks are usually relatively simple and can be particularly useful for teaching notetaking practices, but they do not have advanced capabilities that are helpful for recording research such as providing an equation editor, a chemical drawing editor, or a way to import digital data from an instrument. Examples of generic digital notebooks include Microsoft OneNote, Evernote, Obsidian, Joplin, Bear, and Simplenote.
Hybrid note-taking with digital pens and smart notebooks
Using a digital pen or stylus can provide a way to capture notes that feel more natural than typing text into software. These technologies allow the user to write with a pen with the movement of the pen captured in digital format. There are two major technologies that support this way of capturing notes:
- smart pens
- smart notebooks
Smart pens are electronic pens that typically work with smart paper and mobile software to detect and capture the position and movement of the pen on the paper, along with the pressure of the pen and any button presses. Some smart pens are able to capture drawings as well as writing, and others have functionality to capture voice notes. Examples of smart pens include Neo Smartpen, Livescribe, Rocketbook, and Moleskin Smart Pen.
Smart notebooks are electronic devices that enable the user to write and draw on them with a pen-like stylus. These tools can usually store the notes on the device and some enable on-line back up. Other features often include templates for different backgrounds such as lined and graph paper, and many have handwriting recognition so that written words can be automatically converted into text format for export via email or PDF. Examples of smart notebooks include Kindle Scribe, Remarkable, and Kobo Elipsa.
As with the generic digital notebooks, digital pens and smart notebooks provide functionality for capturing notes, but they do not have
Electronic laboratory notebooks
ELNs are designed specifically for the scientific community to aid with recording, managing and sharing experimental data, protocols and results. There are dozens of different ELNs available with different functionality for different uses. For example, many ELNs are targeted towards different domains such as life sciences, synthetic chemistry, and biochemistry, whilst others are more generic and geared for use by any discipline. Common capabilities include storage in the cloud, collaboration, search functions, and templates for recording repeated processes, other functionality can include connection to instruments for automatic data collection and experiment control, laboratory management functions, sample tracking, and project management tools. Whilst most feature rich ELNs require a paid for license, many ELNs are available as completely free or with free versions to try.
The following table provides a list of the many different ELNs available. The ELN Finder tool provides information about many of these ELNs including information on functionality and pricing.
| ACAS | Active LN | AgiLab ELN | Agilent SLIMS | AI4Green | Alchemy ELN |
| Arxspan ELN | Benchling ELN | BioChemLab Solutions ELN | BioRails | Biovia Notebook | Bookitlab |
| CBIS E-Notebook | CDD Vault ELN | CERF 5.0 | ChemCart ELN | Chemia | Chemotion |
| Colabra ELN | CompuDrug ELN | Dotmatics ELN | E-WorkBook | Ec-LabNote | eLabFTW |
| eLabJournal | eLabNotes | EmsoChemLab | Espresso ELN | eStudy | eSystems |
| Formulator | Gene Inspector | GenoFAB | GOLIMS | Herbie | iLES Platform |
| InELN | iQ | Kadi4Mat | Lab Integrated Data (LabID) | LabArchives | LabCloud |
| LabCollector ELN | LabFolder | LabGuru ELN | Labii | LabKey ELN | LabLog |
| LabsForm | LabSpaces | LabStep | LabTrack LN | LabTrove | LabVantage |
| LabWare ELN | Laby | Limsophy LIMS | LogBook | Logilab | LOGS-ELN |
| Mbook | MyLabBook | NOMAD ELN | NotebookMaker | NuGenesis | Online ELN Worksheet |
| Open Enventory | openBIS | OpenText ELN | PASTA-ELN | PatentSafe ELN | quattro/LJ |
| RedFox | Rspace | SampleDB | Sapio Seamless ELN | SciCord ELN/LIMS | Sciformation ELN |
| Scilligence ELN | SciNote | Signals ELN | Stackwave ELN | STARLIMS ELN | Studylog |
| Sun Bio ELN | Thermo Scientific Core ELN | Uncountable |
What to do next
- Discover the benefits of digital notebooks
- Understand the barriers to adoption and how to overcome them
- Get insights into what you should consider when choosing an ELN
Related links:
- Creator: Cerys Willoughby, Samantha Pearman-Kanza
- Last modified date: 2025-04-07
- License: CC-BY-4.0
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