Rescentris CERF provides the features you need in an ELN solution
CERF does more than simply replace your paper
lab notebooks with a digital solution. CERF is a highly usable and
useful product that offers the features you need to improve research
performance throughout your organization - contact us or sign up for a webcast
to see how!
Advantages of the CERF-Notebook solution
- Designed for life scientists and the diversity of Biology
- Combines full-function ELN with scientific content management solution, collaboration, project organization
- Built on standards and ontologies to enable extensibility and rich content. ‘The semantic ELN™’
- Cross-platform - same experience on Windows/Linux/Mac
- The Knowledge Worker’s desktop: CERF unifies personal and team
activities and content. CERF is designed to be user-centric rather than
data-centric
- Offers adaptable and customizable add-on components: The CERF Development Kit includes the Ontology Manager suite for the creation of forms, templates, workflows, scientific data & metadata models, controlled vocabularies, and database integration
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Rescentris CERF features include:
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Collaboration in a Secure Environment
CERF projects and notebooks are available for access and real-time data
sharing with any number of users - so long as they supply suitable
digital credentials to be authorized. CERF offers easy use through
intuitive user interfaces that hide the sophistication of a robust and
extremely secure system designed to meet the requirements and
challenges of today's life sciences research organizations. Views and
action menus are automatically filtered to reflect the rich sets of
role based access privileges associated with membership in CERF
workgroups - so that users have transparent access to everything that
they can see and do (and never have access to restricted content or
activities). |
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Version Control
CERF offers a full document control system that makes it easy to track
information while meeting the requirements of 21 CFR 11.
Content in CERF can be placed under version control to avoid
overwriting changes when collaborating on documents. All versions
are tracked and retained, each with its own metadata, and users can
browse and open previous versions on demand. The version history
includes a record of contributors, updates, identifiers, and resource
information. Strong access controls give users the flexibility to change their personal protocols and templates without inadvertently changing lab SOPs. |
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Metadata
CERF automatically extracts basic metadata from each document when it
is registered in the CERF database. Metadata are useful in constructing
audit trails and include contributor, creation date, resource type, and
last update. Users can use forms to add more metadata such as author,
comments, or definitions, and they can select from the Dublin Core
metadata set, custom scientific data models, and customizable
controlled vocabularies for a more powerful means of annotating (and
searching) for resources. CERF supports batch additions of content and
metadata, as well as configurable automated data processing of diverse
object types. |
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Ontologies
Actions in CERF are defined by OWL ontologies that control
what a user can do with a given type of resource. For example, if a user
adds a jpeg image file to the system, CERF knows that
the user can manipulate the resource using a graphics viewer. If the user
specifies that the jpeg is a Biomedical Image, CERF may give
the user a completely different set of functions than are available for
standard images - the metadata form will contain controlled vocabularies
that are specific to biomedical images, and the image may be opened with
specific rather than generic image viewers (e.g., gel analysis software).
Custom ontologies can be created for practically any user, resource, situation,
and workflow, and may include automation and data processing scripts. |
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Forms and Templates
Much of research involves recording data, and this task may involve many
people across your organization. Templates provide a means for standardizing
procedures and increasing the accuracy and efficiency of data input. As
with all resources in CERF, templates have associated metadata that provide
a complete audit history and added search capability. Templates and forms
are easily customized - either by Rescentris, or by your CERF administrator
or power users - to suit your requirements. |
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Controlled Vocabularies
Instead
of having to enter annotations by typing in a string of words, CERF
offers controlled vocabularies that allow the user to choose appropriate
metadata categories and keywords from pre-defined lists (flat or hierarchical). These controlled
vocabularies are configurable and customizable, so that you can have
different sets associated with different types of resources. Now everyone
in your organization will spell correctly and be able to find relevant content. |
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Digital Signatures
Any document, dataset, or Notebook page in CERF can be digitally signed by
the resource contributor and one or more cosigners (according to your
designated workflows). This allows for authentication and verification
of a document's origin and contents, and it includes a time/date stamp
and signer comments. CERF-Notebook™ generates unique encryption
keypairs for each user and even allows you to attach a scanned image of
your handwritten signature to the signed documents. Notebook pages
allow a configurable signature workflow in which cosigners with
specific signing roles must sign the resource in a defined order - all
managed behind the scenes by CERF. |
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Microsoft Office Integration
CERF comes with an optional Microsoft Office® Integration
package, which makes it even easier to save Microsoft Office documents
to your CERF-Notebook. After running the installation, you will see
a new "Export to Local CERF" button in your Microsoft Office
applications. The Microsoft Office Integration package comes with a "Select
'n Search" option that allows you to search a number of databases
by highlighting text as the search term(s) and then save the results of
your search to CERF. |
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Optional integration with Amphora
PatentSafe™
The Rescentris CERF-Notebook™ has been integrated with the Amphora
PatentSafe™ system - now you can have the best of both worlds!
Instant access to the secure electronic records in their original format,
in the ELN, and secure printouts of your records on the Amphora
PatentPad security paper. |
| Selected additional features of Rescentris CERF |
Browse CERF to review and reuse previous work (filtered by access controls)
- Projects, Experiments, Notebooks, files
- Background information, database references
Search CERF to find the information you need (content and context)
- Titles, authors, metadata
- Full-text search
- Locate experts and expertise
- Using terms from hierarchical controlled vocabularies
Manage web and database content
- Rescentris Microsoft® Office/IE integration
- Save web pages
- CERF integration with data sources (applications, web services, SQL/XML
database systems)
- Public and 3rd-party data access/management
Store any kind of data and simplify data entry
- Work with data from all your favorite applications (general, scientific)
- Use custom data entry forms that match specified research content types and support consistent annotation, including controlled scientific vocabularies, and required/optional form fields
Increase the quality and consistency of research.
- Use Notebook templates to create experiment structure and contents, including all the forms and files to fill in during the course of the project.
- Capture the raw and processed data for reuse and re-analysis by the scientists, and create and manage human-readable notebook views and printable PDF renditions of data (in the context of the complete record and evidence trail) to support regulatory compliance
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