Data Retrieval

With Labfolder you can filter your data by a number of ways. Use the filter bar on the top panel of the Notebook view. Filtering your data by the following options will help expedite your data retrieval. Spend less time searching and more time doing your experiments!

Filter by Project: You can select from a list or start typing in the project names.

Filter by Author: You can look for authors by selecting the person or people in the drop down list or again type them into the search bar. If you select a group, then all people involved in that group will be selected for author filtering.

Filter by Tag(s): This is useful for finding projects where you used a specific antibody or piece of equipment. You can scroll through the alphabetical list of tags or start typing to narrow down the options. Then select the desired tag.

Filter by Dates: Here you can search by created, modified, or custom dates between a certain date range.

Just like how Post-it notes can help you organize your lab notebook, tags in Labfolder can serve the same purpose and do it even better. Labfolder employs a tagging system that can help set up your data in a way that can be unified within your team.
To simplify the search for data for you and your colleagues, keywords can be used as a unique identifier of the technique, reagent or other experimental details. In this way, the tags not only help you to find data quicker but also provide a short summary of the entry below.

1. Go to your entry and double click on the section of tags in the entry header.
2. Add a tag by selecting from the drop-down list or simply type in the cell.
3. Click X at the top right corner of the editing box to exit.

You know that in your entry header you will see the creation and last edit date for an entry. But did you know you can add custom dates? These are especially useful for annotating important steps in your experiments and projects.

You might want to indicate when a specific step of an experiment was done – while it is already recorded in the edit history, you may want a way to quickly see when, for example, a transfection was carried out. It could also be the due date for a part of the project or a date after which no more edits should be made.

1. Go to your entry and double click on the section of the dates.
2. Enter a name or select one from the dropdown list in the bottom left cell written custom date.
3. Click on the cell to the right and select a date from the calendar.
4. Confirm your changes by clicking the Save button.

In the same project, you will be doing different experiments and each experiment requires several entries. You naturally want to connect these and you can do that with Labfolder’s Entry Reference tool. Within your text element inside an entry, you can reference it to one or more entries that exist in the same or a different project.

1. Open a text element in the entry you are working in.
2. Click the ” icon.
3. Then select the entry which you want to link to the one you are currently working on. You will then see a reference among the text, structured like this: Entry Name – entry #N in project ‘X’ (Author, Date).

Entry referencing only works for entries that have a title.

As mentioned before, you can search the data in your notebook. With the search tool you can search for content within your entries. This refers to the words and numbers used in your entries. By being able to search for entry content, you can save yourself the time that you would otherwise spend leafing through endless paper notes!

To make it much easier to find the data and entries you seek, Labfolder offers a unique Advanced Search feature, an important part of your electronic lab notebook. You can search for entries based on anything from a custom date, to a certain DE group, or even tags added to entries. It improves the ease of use of your ELN so that you can find what you’re looking for.

Search by categories

There are currently eleven categories to search from in the Advanced Search function:

1. Click on the magnifying glass icon at the top right.
2. Select the Advanced Search option.
3. Choose which category you want to search from.
4. Enter the parameters of which to search.
5. Hit the Search button.
6. Choose the entry you are looking for.

Search with automatic adaptation

You know that 500 μl is the same as 0.5 ml and that 600 μl is bigger than both, but so far there was no tool that provided an equivalent artificial intelligence in a scientific setting. Thanks to Advanced Search and Data Elements, Labfolder allows a better organization of your data as you can be confident when you search that it’ll show up even if the units are different, as long as the amounts are equal.

1. In the Advanced Search, select Numerical Data Element.
2. Name the data element and physical quantity.
3. From a drop down menu you are now able to select different mathematical comparison operations.
4. Hit the Search button and choose the entry you are looking for.

Apply logic gates

The Advanced Search can provide you with even better data insights. You will be able to apply logic gates (AND, OR, NOT) allowing you to fine-tune your search. For example, you can search for all the PCR experiments where you added 0.5 ml of buffer to the mix but did NOT use TAQ Polymerase.

1. Add another row of information by clicking the plus to the right end of the existing row.
2. Click on the downward arrow in the first cell of the new row.
3. In the dropdown menu, select AND, NOT or OR to filter your searching.

Advanced Search is also available in templates. So you can always find all these search options in the templates you are using and sharing with your team.

Next: How to manage your team and collaborate on research