Implementing RSpace as an institutional Electronic Research Notebook for UCL - PSDI ERN Meeting

The Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure (PSDI) hosted an Online Meeting on Electronic Research Notebooks: Implementation & Adoption Success Stories on 12th March 2026. This meeting brought together researchers and professionals to share practical insights, challenges, and real-world experiences in adopting electronic research notebooks, supporting the transition from paper-based to digital research workflows. https://www.psdi.ac.uk/event/electronic-research-notebooks/

This record contains a more detailed version of the presentation titled "Implementing RSpace as an institutional Electronic Research Notebook for UCL" delivered by Dr James A J Wilson (UCL).

Abstract: After a couple of years of discussing and measuring the potential need for an institutional ERN/ELN for University College London, a decision was made in 2020 that the time was right to acquire a system that would benefit a broad cross-section of the university and the university went to tender to purchase and implement such a system. We settled on RSpace, as the best fit to our strategy and after user testing. RSpace has now been in place for five years – enough time to learn lessons about what has worked and what remains to be done. This presentation will summarize the story behind the selection of RSpace and what we have learnt on the way.