Creating tags and custom date lists in Labregister

To ensure proper tag and custom date usage in a Labfolder Group, it is important that they are managed centrally. One way to do this is by creating Labregister categories for them. Labregister is our Inventory Management System that helps you organize your equipment and supplies. Next to lab inventory, you can also use Labregister for alternative use cases such as tag and custom date lists. Each Group member shall quickly see which tags and custom dates have been used for which purpose already and be able to add new ones. This ensures that all Group members know for which keywords they have to filter / search for when trying to retrieve their own data or data from other Group members.

Tip: You may want to read the other articles on standardizing data collection and organizing in Labforlder Groups also.

1. First, a category has to be created for the Labfolder Group tag or custom date list.

2. In this category, a short text attribute can be selected to determine the definition of a tag or custom date (e.g. the tag "WB" stands for "Western Blot"). A dropdown attribute may determine the tag or custom date category (e.g. techniques, Project management, and samples in the case of tags).

3. Under Manage permissions, it must be defined which Labfolder Group members may have editing privileges for the lists.

Before using a specific tag or custom date, one would check the respective list and see if a tag with the same intention was created before. In this case, you would simply copy and paste the tag or custom date. In case no such a tag or custom date exists yet, the Group member will add it to the list and therefore predefine its spelling and intention for the rest of the Labfolder Group.

Note: When everyone in the Group uses the same tags and custom dates for the same purposes, you can use different Notebook filter combinations to retrieve very specific Entry information in a few seconds! For example, filter for the tags "WB", "Finished" and "Data for publication" to quickly find the Entry with this one beautiful blot image that you will use for your next publication.