organized by Matias Hernandez (MPI of Biochemistry, Martinsried).

In 1781 Sir William Herschel discovered Uranus, the seventh planet from our Sun. However, few people know that the French astronomer Pierre Charles Le Monnier had made observations of a “comet” almost two decades before the discovery by Herschel. Why is then Le Monnier not credited with the discovery of Uranus? A fellow astronomer of the name Arago, reviewing the research notes made by Le Monnier several years before, observed that Le Monnier’s notes were so poorly organized and barely legible, that he himself did not realize that he had actually observed the planet Uranus, thus passing by what would have been his most important discovery.
In this workshop, we provide an introduction on electronic lab journals and make a case on why we should all be changing our ways of recording research from the traditional “pen and paper”. Although the workshop will focus on LabFolder as a specific example, the workshop wants to emphasize the general principle that we must change some of our most basic practices in the lab in order to make our research more productive and enjoyable. In addition, a brief overview of what the MPG is trying to do about this via the Max Planck Digital Library will be provided.

Confirmed Speakers:

Matias Hernandez (MPI for Molecular Physiology)
Introduction: re-thinking the way we record and manage science in the lab

Florian Hauer (Co-founder of the electronic lab journal LabFolder, alumni of the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry)
The revolution of electronic lab journals

Juliane Schönfeldt (Max Planck Digital Library)
Overview of the Max Planck Digital Library and prospects for the future

Joram Schimmeyer (Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology)
A user’s perspective on electronic lab journal systems