×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳

RSpaceÌýprovidesÌýa comprehensive set of FAQsÌýat:

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The FAQs here focus mostly on ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳’s implementation ofÌýRSpaceÌýand theÌýelements of the service that are provided by the university.
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How do I?

How do I create a second or subsequentÌýresearchÌýgroup?

(Updated 06/12/21)

RSpaceÌýprovides directions for creating a newÌýresearch group at:

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At present, however,Ìýyou will need to contactÌýern-support@ucl.ac.ukÌýto create a secondÌýor subsequentÌýresearch group.

Access

IÌýcollaborate with people outside of ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳. How do I add them to a project in the ERN?

(Updated 03/12/21)

In order toÌýedit work inÌýthe ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ ERN, collaborators will need to have their own ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ sign-in credentials.Ìý

We are working on a mechanism that willÌýenable external collaborators toÌýbe added to a group without going through the honorary membership process. This should be in place in 2022.

Ways in which ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ researchers can share their work with external collaboratorsÌý(read only) areÌýexplained in theÌýRSpaceÌýFAQ at:

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under the ‘Sharing’ section.

Can we set up an RSpace area for our department/institute/faculty enabling us to share content more broadly than just at the research group level?

(Updated 03/12/21)

Yes. The institutional version of RSpace provided by ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ enables 'communities' which can be administered at the departmental or other level,Ìý

Further information about creating a community in the ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ ERN can be found at:

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If you would like us to help create a community, please write to us atÌýern-support@ucl.ac.uk.

MigrationÌý

I am already using the Community version ofÌýRSpace. Can I move my existingÌýcontent to the ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ institutional version?

(Updated 03/12/21)

Yes.ÌýInstructions are provided byÌýRSpaceÌýat:

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I am currently using a different Electronic Lab / Research Notebook. Can I migrateÌýthe content from this into the ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ institutional ERN?

(Updated 03/12/21)

The answer to this depends on the export functions of your currentÌýELN / ERN. It is usually a complex and time consuming process.

If your existingÌýsystem only exports content as .pdf files, you will essentially need toÌýsave these and then link to them fromÌýRSpace. They won’t be editable.

.html exportsÌýare not much better, as they (normally) won’t come with any of the metadata or database relationships that they had inÌýtheir original notebook system.

There is greater hope ifÌýthe source notebook can export content in machine-readable formats such asÌý.xml. In such instances it may be possible to write computer code thatÌýcan migrate content from a source notebook toÌýRSpaceÌýin a non-manual way. It will however take time and expertise. It may be possible for Advanced Research Computing (ARC) to help with this, although this is not a free service. Please write toÌýern-support@ucl.ac.ukÌýif you would like toÌýdiscussÌýthis further.

TheÌýRSpaceÌýAPI (Application Programming Interface) is available to you if you have the expertise to create a migration script yourself.

One of the reasons that ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ choseÌýRSpaceÌýis that it is (relatively) easy to extract content in a format that enables it to be moved to other systems in future, this reducing the risk of vendor lock-in.ÌýGetting data out ofÌýRSpaceÌýand into other systems is likely to be easier than getting data out of other systems intoÌýRSpace.

SecurityÌý

If I use ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ RSpace, who else can see my work?

(Updated 03/12/21)

×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ staff and students will be able to see that you have set up an account in ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ RSpace via the MyRSpace Directory tab (which helps when finding other members of your research group(s)), but they will not be able to see your work unless you actively choose to share it with them.

Publication

Can I publish in the Electronic Research Notebook?

It is now possible to publish in the Electronic Research Notebook (ERN).

Please see our help page forÌýthe Electronic Research Notebook's publication functionality.

Policy

Am IÌýallowed to continue using other digital solutions?

(Updated 03/12/21)

You can use whatever software you like, provided it's secure. In some fields, there are specialist electronic notebooks which may have important functionality that RSpace currently lacks. However, we would strongly encourage you to adopt the ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ ERN in order to simplify support, make it easier to collaborate with other groups in the future, and to begin to establish a common set of research data management tools that will ultimately help improve research reproducibility and (appropriate) reuse. Plus, you will never need to pay for it!

Training & Support

I've used paper lab/research notebooks for years, but am interested in moving to a different approach. What sort of support/training can you offer me?

(Updated 03/12/21)

There are onlineÌýsupport pages at:

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and a 'getting started' guide at:

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We will be working with RSpace to provide group training sessions. Details will be posted on our website and communicated to everyone who has created an account in the ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ ERN as and when these sessions are scheduled.

Is training provided?

Updated 03/12/21)

We will be running regular training sessions in conjunction with RSpace staff. These will be advertised via our website and communicated to everyone who has created an account in the ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ ERN.

RSpace also provides a number of video tutorials covering various aspects of the software, from general introductions to guides for PIs on managing groups. These are available from:

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General support materials, along with a search engine and comprehensive FAQ can be found at:

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BackgroundÌý

Why have you decided to offerÌýaÌýcentrally-supported Electronic Research NotebookÌýfor ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ users?

(Updated 03/12/21)

In part, ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ are providing a centrally managed Electronic Research Notebook to staff to encourage the move away from traditional paper lab notebooks to much richer and more functional electronic versions.

Electronic Lab/Research notebooks help researchers (amongst other things):

• link notes to data, code, visualizations, Office documents, and other electronic content
• enable collaboration and sharing of notes between individuals and groups
• may include sophisticated experimental workflow models reflecting / enforcing recognized standards and discipline-specific metadata
• provide indelible time-stampingÌýand versioning

The institutional version of RSpace in turn provides advantages over the community version:

• Single sign on integration for additional security
• Links to institutional and lab-based file stores
• Integration with institutional repositories and archives
• Sysadmin control (we can help if things go wrong)
• Multi-tiered admin, including the ability to create and administer Communities

Perhaps most importantly, however, it enables institutional support and life-cycle data management. ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ can preserve a record of research undertaken at the university and ensure that it is associated with related outputs to build a rich and well-documented record of the research process, ultimately improving research reproducibility and (appropriate) reuse.

Having a single ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳-supported ERN also makes it easier to support researchers streamline and automate their processes. The RSpace Application Programming Interface means that you do not need to do everything manually – you can write computer code to speed things up and ensure consistency. Even if you or your group lack the programming skills to do this yourself, there are others who can help. Advanced Research Computing (ARC) employs a number of programmers and data managers who can work with you to address research challenges. Please write toÌýern-support@ucl.ac.ukÌýif you would like to explore this option further.

Why did ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ choose RSpace?

(Updated 03/12/21)

The Electronic Research Notebook market has become increasingly competitive in recent years, and there were a number of good options for us to choose from. We would like to thank all of the vendors who took part in our selection processÌýandÌýall the researchers at ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ who helpedÌýus test the shortlisted options.

We settled onÌýRSpaceÌýdue to its combination of excellent functionality and match with ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳’s user requirements, its interoperability with other software and systems, and its popularity amongst researchers who helped us trial the shortlisted products.

Things that helpedÌýRSpaceÌýstand out included its focus on supporting research beyond traditional lab environments. Although all of the potential solutions we looked at were initially developed to meet the requirements of researchers working in wet-lab environments, ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ is keen to partner with a vendor that has shown the intention to broaden the scope of their product to serve research beyond the lab,Ìýwhich RSpace has done. Another factor was the flexibility of its API (Application Programming Interface). Whilst this may not have been the first concern of the researchers we spoke to during the project, it is important in terms of what it allows us to do in the future. Being able to write software code that interacts with the service enables us to more easily integrate it with existing and future research support infrastructure and software at ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳. It also provides the opportunity for researchers to automate aspects of the scientific process on a customized basis – such as data processing and documentation. Finally, we were impressed by the relative ease by which ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳ would be able to get its data out again in a usable format.

What sort of research activity will benefit from the use of RSpace? Is it just for lab-orientated research, or can other research areas gain benefits?

(Updated 03/12/21)

RSpace, like almost all Electronic Research Notebooks, was originally developed to meet the needs of researchers working in lab environments. This is still very clear from the terminology used and the initial integrations offered by the service. One of the reasons we have chosen to enter into a partnership with RSpace is, however, because of their intention to serve the broader research community in the future. Researchers in many disciplines are likely to benefit from the 'organisational 'notebook' structureÌýand the ability to selectively share content with colleagues, whilst the oversight that the system can grant PIs over their students and junior staff can helpÌýenable them to identify potential problems and offer help earlier than would normally be the case. WeÌýhope that the versatility and ease of use that the ERN provides will encourage uptake across multiple fields and provide broad benefits to researchers. If you have suggestions for improvements to the ERN that would make it more useful for research in your field, please do let us know viaÌýern-support@ucl.ac.uk.

Other

I have a question not answered here. What shouldÌýI do?

(Updated 03/12/21)

If you are working in the RSpace interface thenÌýyou will generally find you'll get theÌýquickest response to any questions you may have by clicking the question mark button atÌýthe bottom-right of the screen. This will activate RSpace's live chat services as well as provide an index of support options. Otherwise, questions about RSpace should be addressed toÌýsupport@researchspace.com. Questions related to ×î×¼µÄÁùºÏ²ÊÂÛ̳'s implementation of RSpace should be addressed toÌýern-support@ucl.ac.uk.

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