iLab

iLab provides researchers with effective information sharing tools. iLab's flexible architecture allows researchers to securely share virtually any information, including protocols, administrative documents, journal articles, presentations, figures and experimental data.

Commenting and messaging options on all types of information in the system let researchers quickly communicate with each other. The system automatically aggregates communications on each researcher's home page, with scientists choosing which specific comments they want to see. Researchers can also choose to receive email notifications.

Researchers can keep track of their own To Dos, and the To Dos of their collaborators on shared work.

• All To Dos are assigned to particular individuals, with specific due dates
• Anyone can assign To Dos on projects or other information stored in the system
• Researchers can create To Dos for themselves
• Filters allow researchers to quickly see which To Dos have been started, which have been completed, and which are past-due

By default, all information stored in iLab is private and only visible to the person who added it. In the 'share with' area, researchers can extend access rights to other individuals, groups, and projects. iLab's intuitive interface makes it easy for researchers select the level of access to they want to provide: "view," "edit," or "edit and share."

Every project has a dedicated page where members can view files, communications, To Dos and other information for the project. Key features of the project workspace include:

• All members can share files and other information with a project
• An unalterable time stamp is affiliated with every file uploaded to iLab
• The project retains an organized history of communications and To Dos
• New members joining a project automatically get access to all files, as well as the history of communications
and To Dos, facilitating the transition of research projects
• There is no limit to the number of projects that a researcher can create or join
• There is no limit to the number of members in a project

• Surveys indicate that receiving advice from colleagues on a new protocol increases experimental success rates rise by at least 30%.
• Surveys indicate that receiving advice from colleagues about new products increases experimental success rates by at least 30%.

The iLab service allows researchers to store and retrieve information in a consistent and organized way. Scientists store experimental data, journal articles, lab protocols, meeting presentations and notes, and administrative documents. Researchers can take advantage of a common set of functionality in working with every piece of information in the iLab system (referred to as "assets"). This functionality includes the ability to:

• Tag assets for future searching and browsing
• Share assets with projects and colleagues
• Upload an unlimited number of files to an asset
• Send messages about the asset to colleagues
• Link the asset to other assets within iLab or outside web pages
• Import data from external databases (e.g., PubMed)

iLab's design principles stress simplicity, consistency, and ease of use at all stages in the process of capturing information. iLab's knowledge asset creation page provides researchers with one simple and consistent interface for capturing any kind of information, from protocols to data sets to journal articles. Streamlining the user experience is an ongoing mission of iLab's product development team; every month iLab works with researchers to develop new features to reduce the number of clicks involved in using iLab.

Another important featuring in facilitating the creation of data in the iLab service is integration with outside data sources such as the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). This allows researchers to pull data from these outside sources directly into their own libraries without manual reentry.

iLab offers researchers multiple means of locating assets, including browsing, filtering, or using iLab's internal search engine. Conducting flexible searches of past research, protocols and journal articles provides a consolidated view of project information that today is often spread across emails, personal and shared drives, and paper notes.

iLab's robust data management infrastructure protects data against threats such as hardware failure, physical and electronic theft, unauthorized modification, or accidental deletion.

• Hardware failure protection: iLab creates simultaneous copies of all information on multiple fail-safe disks to protect against the risk of drive failure. iLab stores copies of all data in multiple locations to protect against localized physical threats (e.g., fire or earthquake).
• Electronic theft protection: iLab continually monitors system activity and responds rapidly to unauthorized access attempts. In addition, iLab installs the latest patches to all segments of the service architecture.
• Unauthorized modification protection: All researchers can see which colleagues have permissions to view and edit their knowledge assets; asset owners can modify these permissions. iLab maintains a log of all changes to assets, and researchers can choose to receive notifications of certain kinds of modifications.
• Accidental deletion protection: iLab preserves two weeks of rolling daily system snapshots to allow retrieval of deleted information.

iLab offers editing, commenting, and linking options that allow scientists to keep assets updated in an organized and consolidated way. This allows scientists to maintain and share with colleagues current versions of optimized protocols, up-to-date product information, and dynamic records of their research information.

iLab liberates time from lab logistics management, allowing scientists to focus on research and discovery.

• Requisitioning work flow management streamlines the process of requesting products
• Requisitioning analysis tools automatically identify certain requests for further review and allow easy analysis of spending patterns
• Organized tracking of samples, animals and equipment replaces ad hoc systems such as clipboards, spreadsheets and note cards

For researchers, iLab makes it easier to find the right product. Researchers can search a unified catalog of items from multiple vendors, or they can search their lab's own order history. Search results allow scientists to compare prices, as well as access qualitative metadata about products, such as product reviews, usage tips, and related protocols. Researchers can also see recent orders for their laboratory, to avoid duplicate orders. After identifying the desired product, researchers use a shopping cart to place their request with their lab manager.

iLab offers lab managers a consolidated view of all products requested by members of their lab. The system warns managers of requests meeting certain cost thresholds or requests that are potentially duplicative. Lab managers can also create lists of "held" orders to allow labs to meet volume thresholds for shipping or build discounts.

After placing requests, researchers can track the progress of their supplies through the supply chain process. Notifications about delivery times and locations reduce the risk of products spoiling.

iLab's order history analysis tools allow lab managers and administrators to segment understand spending by any combination of properties, including:

• Order date
• Project
• Lab member
• Vendor
• Product

Lab managers and administrators can modify and recreate these reports at any time with the latest spending history.

Labs can use the iLab system to track physical assets, such as equipment, animals or freezer stocks. In addition to iLab's pre-defined templates, researchers can create custom templates with fields for the specific information they want to store. These templates facilitate data entry, while ensuring consistency.