Let start by defining 'Protocol' and 'Experiment page'
Protocol: A stand-alone template of a procedure performed routinely in the lab, which can be structured according to your preferences using various elements (i.e text element, steps element, form element, samples element, etc.)
Experiment page: Can be generated from a protocol to contain all the data in the experiment page, or can be opened as a blank page to be structured according to your preferences. Experiments must be assigned to a specific project and folder. |
Use Cases
Using protocols for initiating experiments can prove useful whether you have repeatable procedures or routinely performed actions.
When starting an experiment from a protocol, instead of writing everything from scratch, all required information is already present in the experiment page.
We’ve gathered a few use cases to demonstrate scenarios in which using protocols or blank experiments is recommended:
R&D Lab
In the early stages of developmental work, when the procedure is not yet defined, use a blank experiment page to document your work. Once you’ve achieved a fine-tuned procedure, you can save the experiment as a protocol to create a predefined template for the initiation of future experiments.
QC Lab
Analysis methods performed in QC labs are well-defined and thus best suited for protocols. Employing protocols is the most efficient way to ensure repeatability and enforce structured data input, especially when using the Form element.
CRO
As a CRO, you can create protocols by using the form element to document customers’ information and have a protocol for each type of provided service. Experiments initiated from these protocols can be saved under a Labguru project that represents the customer (as shown above, in the CRO projects use case)
Generally, the best practice recommended by the Labguru team is to use protocols as predefined templates.