Today, I am thrilled to unveil a new series called “The Chemotion Files.” With this series of datasets, I aim to provide researchers with the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the electronic lab notebook Chemotion ELN through a mystery, escape-room-like riddle-solving experience. This post is divided into three parts. The first part discusses electronic lab notebooks in natural science, the second part delves into Chemotion ELN, and the last part provides detailed information on what The Chemotion Files entail, how to use them, and what to expect in the future. If you are already acquainted with ELNs and Chemotion ELN, feel free to skip to part three; otherwise, I recommend starting with part one 😉

1. What are Electronic Lab Notebooks?

In a natural science lab, electronic lab notebooks (ELNs) serve as valuable tools for documenting research in a digital, standardized, and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) manner. To achieve this, two key elements must be in place. Firstly, you need the right tool – the appropriate ELN. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, a topic beyond the scope of today’s post, but one we will address in the future. Secondly, you must be familiar with your ELN’s features. Working with an ELN differs from using a paper notebook, requiring time to adjust and become acquainted with the new software. I highly recommend attending workshops, using video tutorials, and more. In my conversations with researchers who have recently adopted electronic lab notebooks over the past two years, some of their challenges were easily solvable, but they weren’t aware that a particular feature existed.

2. What is Chemotion ELN?

Chemotion ELN is developed at KIT and is part of NFDI4Chem. It serves as an electronic lab notebook designed for chemistry and all related fields. With one of its newest modules, LabIMotion, users can add their own templates, making it an enticing ELN for the entire natural science research community. I will link videos and documentation about Chemotion ELN below this post. Due to my involvement with NFDI4Chem, I am well-acquainted with the ELN, making it an excellent starting point for utilizing gamification to familiarize oneself with the ELN.

3. The Chemotion Files

As described in part one, becoming familiar with an ELN’s features is crucial. With The Chemotion Files, I use gamification to showcase the various tools Chemotion ELN offers for documenting research. Each case in The Chemotion Files focuses on a different aspect of the ELN, starting with basic functionalities and progressively advancing. To participate in The Chemotion Files, you need to solve riddles in an escape-room-like manner to arrive at the correct answer. Simply download the provided dataset from Zenodo and upload it into the official Chemotion ELN demo instance at KIT. I’ve created a short video explaining how to use The Chemotion Files.

I hope this provides an enjoyable way to acquaint yourself with an ELN. In the future, other datasets for different ELNs will be released. If you discover that Chemotion ELN isn’t the right fit for you, stay tuned. Also, feel free to suggest which ELN should be featured next.

All you need to play “The Chemoiton Files”:
Dataset: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10577628
How to use (short video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJkigRQZ6E8
The Chemotion Files: https://view.genially.com/6661656a1512b9001571f527

More information about Chemotion ELN:
Documentation: https://chemotion.net/docs
Tutorial videos: https://chemotion.net/docs/eln/videos
Information about LabIMotion: https://chemotion.net/docs/labimotion
Chemotion YouTube-Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chemotioneln9781/featured