Exploring Electronic Research Notebooks (ERNs) at a R1 institution in the southeast USA – part 2

Synopsis: A formal University ELN Committee led by College of Medicine was developed to explore institution-wide ELN adoption. The University ELN Committee comprises twenty-five stakeholders from over 20 different departments, disciplines, ranks, statuses, and titles.  An informal ELN Task Force led by the Libraries was developed to support the University ELN Committee. The informal ELN Task Force includes members from the University ELN Committee. Three ELN/ERN vendors were identified for further exploration. All three vendors responded to twenty-five (25) ELN/ERN vendor questions developed by the University ELN Committee/Working Group. All three vendors were invited and gave a presentation on September 26, 2022. The attached presentation includes the development of ELN/ERN efforts from 2017 to 2022 with the most progress in the past few months. The Appendix includes the disciplines represented in the official University ELN Committee and the twenty-five (25) questions developed  for and answered by three invited ERN vendors.

Latest: A formal ELN brief update was executed earlier this morning at the University Information Technology Committee meeting. The Director of Research Computing copied the Data Management Librarian on an email response to the Director of Academic Technology on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 concerning the listing of ELN on the agenda for the Senate IT Committee. An ELN brief was requested. The Data Management Librarian shared an updated  working draft presentation on the progression of ELN/ERN efforts with the Director of Academic Technology and Director of IT Research Computing which received a favorable response.  As a result of sharing the updated working draft ELN/ERN presentation, the Data Management Librarian was invited to give a brief ELN/ERN update at University Information Technology Committee on October 17, 2022. The Data Management Librarian gave a 3-4 minutes brief update on current ELN/ERN efforts rather than showing the slides. However, the slides were updated this morning as a result from questions from some of the committee members such as links to the ELN vendors, questions on costs (directed to University ELN Committee Chair), and current users of ELNs at UF.

Updated presentation: The attached presentation was sent to the University ELN Committee Chair and IT Research Computing Senior Director for final review, vetting, and approval. Minor edits were suggested and integrated. Thus, the following updated ELN/ERN presentation has been vetted for sharing. The Libraries as collaborator, partner, and stakeholder in this ERN process was socio-technically enriching and administratively enlightening.