This section introduces the concepts of experiments and resources and provides guidance for creating initial entries.
Experiments vs. Resources 👤🟩
There are two types of entries:
- Experiments (or “entries”) include the documentation of any type of research activity or conduct, i.e., experiments, measurements, simulation runs, performance tests, data collection, field study, step of data analysis.
By standard setting, they belong to a user. - Resources list and organize things used in experiments, i.e., research projects, equipment, inventories, instruments, recipes, rooms and sites, meetings, software, descriptions of datasets like codebooks, questionnaires, organizational descriptions, proposals.
They belong to the team, with standard categories set by the admins. They can be made bookable, so that shared usage can be managed.
Creating Your First Resource 👤🟩 👥🟦
As a first step, it is recommended to create a resource that describes the research project or projects your team will be working on. This resource serves as a central reference point, similar to a root folder in a structured file system, and should be linked to in related experiments and resources.
Include the following elements to ensure clarity and consistency:
- Choose a clear and consistent name: Agree on a naming convention with your team. A suitable format might be: [Project Name or Acronym] [Year]
- Provide a detailed project description: Use the built-in editor to outline key information that should be accessible to all team members. This may include:
- Project description
- Overview of work packages
- Objectives
- Roles and responsibilities
- Timeline and milestones
- Methodological approach
- Complete the metadata fields: Add relevant metadata such as:
- Project leads or principal investigators
- Start and end dates
- Funding or financial identifiers
- Attach or link supporting documents
- Upload or link non-sensitive project documents: Confidential or personal data, like working contracts or patient data, must not be uploaded. This does not only include documents, but any other data. Examples of appropriate content include:
- Public sections of grant agreements or proposals
- Work plans
- Data management plans
- Use tags and categories: Add relevant tags and assign the resource to a suitable category, such as a project, to improve organization and searchability.
5W2H Method
💡 Best Practice: To ensure completeness, consider using the 5W2H method when writing your project description:
- What will be done?
- Why will it be done?
- Where will it be done?
- When will it be done?
- Who will do it?
- How will it be done?
- How much will it cost or require in terms of resources?
Creating Your First Experiment 👤🟩👥🟦
Once your project resource is set up, the next step is to create your first experiment entry. Follow these best practices to ensure consistency and traceability:
- Start by using a template to structure your experiment
- Link the experiment to the relevant project resource to keep it grouped
- Apply tags that follow the tagging logic used by your team
- Choose a predefined category that broadly reflects the type of experiment
- Set a status to indicate the current stage of the experiment