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Help and Support

Need help using Labnodes? Aside from contacting us, please review the information available below.

Table of Contents

Training Documents

Training Videos (YouTube)

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FAQs

  • How can I give members permission to add/manage resources?

    If you are the owner or a leader in a community/workgroup and you want the members to be able to create resources, there are a couple of options: 1) Check YES next to Members manage resources on the Manage Preferences page, or 2) Make the member a Leader in the community/workgroup.

    Members manage resources:

    1. Navigate to the community/workgroup, click on the Actions button and select Preferences.
    2. Click in the Yes box and Save.  This will allow the members to create and manage resources; however, they will not be able to manage the community data (profile, members, contact details, etc.)

    Assign the member the role of Leader:

    1. From the community/workgroup click on the Actions button and select Members from the drop down menu
    2. Click the drop down next to the cog wheel icon next to the member's name and select Edit.
    3. Click on the drop down in the Community Role field and select Leader, then Submit
    4. This will give the member full privileges

    Added on 9/16/2013, last modified on 9/16/2013

  • How do I add publications to my member profile?

    After you log in, click on "Update my publications" on your member dashboard page; next, use the search function to search PubMed remotely.  You can use the same search strings that PubMed offers via its website.  For example, to restrict your search to an author, you can type in "LastName Initial [au]", where "[au]" restricts your query to author lists.

    Added on 6/28/2010, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I change my title?

    Each member title is assigned on a per-community basis. In short, community owners and leaders are the only ones who can change your title for the community in question. Please ask them to make any changes via their community > manage affiliations page.

    Added on 3/5/2013, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I format a MMRRC URL link?

    According to MMRRC, the correct format is:
    https://www.mmrrc.org/catalog/sds.php?mmrrc_id=[ID]

    The URL's [ID] correlates to the MMRRC ID with no leading zeros and no center. For example, Stock Number: 032238-UNC would be: https://www.mmrrc.org/catalog/sds.php?mmrrc_id=32238.

    Added on 11/3/2016

  • I created my account with a non-Vanderbilt email address but I cannot log in. Why is this?

    If you have an active account, then you should be able to log in.  If you are sure you have the correct credentials, please email us.

    Added on 2/20/2013

  • I have a VUNetID but I cannot login. Why?

    If you have an active association with Vanderbilt University and have an active VUNetID, then you should be able to log in.  If you are sure you have the right credentials, please email us.

    Added on 2/20/2013, last modified on 2/20/2013

  • Known Issues

    1. In Internet Explorer 8 (Windows platform), the Keyword Manager text field has a placeholder value ("Press enter after typing in each tag") that will be unintentionally used (and saved) when a user tabs out of the text field or if they click in and out of the text field.

      Solution: Click on the "X" next to the keyword to remove it

    Added on 3/25/2013

  • Once I have created an account, may I invite non-Vanderbilt individuals to my workgroups and communities?

    Yes!  Once you have created a workgroup, or a community has been created for you, you may invite anyone with a valid email address and password.

    Added on 2/20/2013, last modified on 2/20/2013

  • What can I do from my dashboard?

    From your member dashboard you may:

    • Update your profile and contact information
    • Update your publications
    • Go directly to your personal workspace and view any resources that have been shared to you
    • Team up and collaborate by creating a private workgroup
    • Add resources to your collections
    • Manage your delegates
    • Add meetings

    Added on 2/20/2013

  • Who can use Labnodes?

    Anyone with a valid VUNetID and password may create an account at Labnodes.  This takes less than one minute.  Simply click the “Create an account” button on the Labnodes home page.  Individuals who do not have a VUNetID may view the public data.  They may also be invited to a workgroup by a current user.

    Added on 2/20/2013

General Definitions

  • What are community roles?

    Roles are definitions assigned to users of the system.  Currently, there are three roles that are used to discriminate between affiliates of a community:

    • Owners – A community owner is the owner of the community, and is able to fully manage a community.
    • Leaders - Leaders can co-manage a community just as an owner can.  This is a useful role for delegating management/administration to responsible parties.
    • Members - All other users can be assigned as members, which provide them with minimal community management, but the ability to be part of a community and interact with it in various ways.

    Added on 2/20/2013, last modified on 2/20/2013

  • What is a collection?

    Collections (also called resource collections) are like folders.

    Collections help organize resources (records) into "virtual containers" (like folders or directories).

    Collections are created in the context of a community and they can be "shared" with multiple communities.

    Added on 6/21/2010, last modified on 2/20/2013

  • What is a community?

    A community is a space defined by a group of people, with its own context.  This might be a lab, a core facility, a committee, etc.  Labnodes provides a community hierarchy, as shown on http://labnodes.vanderbilt.edu/community/.

    There are various community types:

    • World - The World community serves as the public space for sharing resources to in a fully-disclosed manner.
    • Institution
    • Institute
    • Department
    • Center
    • Core Facility
    • Laboratory
    • Workspace
    • Group
    • Committee
    • Workgroup

    Added on 6/18/2010, last modified on 2/20/2013

  • What is a contribution?

    A contribution is the relationship that exists between a resource and a collection.  A resource can be contributed to more than one collection and a collection can have more than one resource.  Generically, resources have a primary contribution into a collection. If it is then contributed into a secondary collection, this is called a shared contribution.

    Actions available with contributions include:

    • Move a resource from one collection to another
    • Copy a resource record from one collection to another
    • Share a resource to another collection
    • Share a resource to a workspace
    • Remove a share
    • Remove a resource from a collection

     

    A contribution can exist in only one of the following statuses at any point in time:

    • Offered - When a resource is first contributed to a collection that does not automatically approve contributions, it is offered and must be accepted by the community owner or leader of the community that owns the collection it is contributed to.
    • Active – Resources that have been accepted to a collection and are viewable to those who have access to that collection.
    • Removed – Hides a resource from view, but does not delete it.
    • Deleted – Permanently deletes a resource from a collection.
    • Pending - When a resource is being initially created, but has not been submitted, it remains in the pending state.  This is useful for those who wish to collaborate on resource entry before the final submission is made.

    Added on 6/21/2010, last modified on 2/20/2013

  • What is a member?

    A member is a user of the system, generally speaking.  However, a member can also be an affiliate of a community as defined by the "member role," which is decided upon by community owners or leaders.

    A member can have more than one affiliation, i.e. can be affiliated to more than one community.  However, they cannot have more than one affiliation to the same community, regardless of the role.

    Added on 6/18/2010, last modified on 8/26/2011

  • What is a member role?

    Roles are definitions assigned to users of the system.  Currently, there are three roles that are used to discriminate between affiliates of a community:

    1. Owners - Community owners are the owner of the community, and are able to fully manage a community.
    2. Leaders - Leaders can co-manage a community just as an owner can.  This is a useful role for delegating management/administration to responsible parties.
    3. Members - All other users can be assigned as members, which provides them with minimal community management, but the ability to be part of a community and interact with it in various ways.

    Added on 6/19/2010, last modified on 2/20/2013

  • What is a MeSH term?

    MeSH is the National Library of Medicine's controlled vocabulary thesaurus. It consists of sets of terms naming descriptors in a hierarchical structure that permits searching at various levels of specificity.

    MeSH descriptors are arranged in both an alphabetic and a hierarchical structure. At the most general level of the hierarchical structure are very broad headings such as "Anatomy" or "Mental Disorders." More specific headings are found at more narrow levels of the thirteen-level hierarchy, such as "Ankle" and "Conduct Disorder." There are 27,883 descriptors in 2016 MeSH with over 87,000 entry terms that assist in finding the most appropriate MeSH Heading, for example, "Vitamin C" is an entry term to "Ascorbic Acid." In addition to these headings, there are more than 232,000 Supplementary Concept Records (SCRs) within a separate file. Generally SCR records contain specific examples of chemicals, diseases, and drug protocols. They are updated more frequently than descriptors. Each SCR is assigned to a related descriptor via the Heading Map (HM) field. The HM is used to rapidly identify the most specific descriptor class and include it in the citation.

    Src: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/mesh.html 

    Added on 4/13/2017

  • What is an affiliation?

    An affiliation is the relationship that exists between a user and a community.  A user can only be part of a community if he/she has an active affiliation.  Affiliations are managed from the community context.  For example, community owners and leaders (member roles) can manage community affiliations, which allow them to perform the following actions:

    • Add an existing user (of Labnodes) to a community, thus creating an affiliation.
    • Remove an affiliation, which can be used to remove (but not delete) a user from a community.
    • Restore an affiliation, which is used to restore an affiliation to a community.
    • Delete an affiliate, which is used to permanently remove a user from a community.

     

    Currently, affiliations cannot be requested by members via the system.  They must be created from the community context.

    Added on 6/19/2010, last modified on 2/20/2013

  • What is a resource?

    A resource is a generic term used in Labnodes to describe any number of records.  Currently, resources include:

    • Antibodies (Monoclonal or Polyclonal)
    • Documents (Pages, Services, Protocols)
    • Mouse Strains (Genetically-Modified Mouse Strains)
    • Vectors (BACs, Plasmids)

     

    In most instances, a resource must exist within the context of a collection, i.e. if you want to add, view, or otherwise manage a resource, it must be done within the context of a collection.  The exception is when a resource is shared to another member (via that member’s workspace).  In this case, the resource is not within the context of a collection.

    Added on 6/21/2010, last modified on 2/20/2013

  • What is a subscription?

    A subscription is the relationship between a community and a collection.

    Each collection has a master community, which "owns" (and is the creator of) the collection.  A subscription defines the collection permissions that users have regarding managing the collection and the resources it holds.  More than one subscription can exist for each collection, but each must be to a different community (or workgroup).

    Overall, it is recommended that only community owners and leaders have the ability to manage collections, and in turn their subscriptions. The ability to manage collections and subscriptions is key to resource access within a collection.

    Added on 6/21/2010, last modified on 2/20/2013

  • What is a workgroup?

    A workgroup is a member-defined community, in which the only users who can access the workgroup are those who have been invited by the workgroup creator.

    Workgroups are ideal environments to collaborate in small groups and share information confidentially.  Since workgroups fall within the user context, they are not viewable by anyone else.

    Anyone with an active Labnodes account may create a workgroup.

    Added on 6/21/2010, last modified on 2/20/2013

Member

  • How do I add keywords?

    Keywords are your connection to other Labnodes members, collections and resources.  The more keywords you add, the more connections you will create. You may view the keyword connections by clicking on the keyword in profiles, collections and resources.  When you click on the keyword the matches will be displayed, either in list view or graph view.

    You may add keywords to your member profile by logging in and clicking Update my profile and contact info on your dashboard page or by navigating to your member profile and selecting Actions / Profile.  Both actions will take you to your Manage Profile page where you will see a field labeled, Keywords. Begin typing the keyword into the field provided.  Keywords that  have been entered previously will be displayed and you may select the desired keyword from this list or you can type in other new keywords into the field. Click Save profile at the bottom of the page.

    Added on 10/14/2015, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I add my CV/resume?

    You may add your CV or resume PDF file to your Labnodes member profile by logging in and clicking on Update my profile and contact info on your dashboard page or by navigating to your member profile and clicking Actions / Profile.  Here you will see a Browse button next to the CV label. Click on the Browse button and locate your PDF formatted CV / resume. Open the file. Click Save profile at the bottom of the page.

    Added on 10/14/2015, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I add my degree(s)?

    You may add your degree(s) such as M.D., Ph.D., M.S, B.S., etc. by logging in and navigating to your member profile.  Select Actions / Contact.  Here you will see a field labeled, Degrees. Type the abbreviation for your degree(s) into the field provided. Separate degrees with a comma. Click Save.

    Added on 10/14/2015, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I add my home department or center?

    You may add your (Vanderbilt) home center/department by logging in and navigating to your member profile. Select Actions / Contact.  Here you will see a field labeled, Vanderbilt Primary Department/Center. Select your home department/center from the drop down list and click Save.

    Added on 10/14/2015, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I add my ORCID ID?

    In order to create an "ORCID iD" you may register at the ORCID home page.  Once you have created your ORCID iD, you may add it to your Labnodes member profile by logging in and clicking on Update my profile and contact info on your dashboard page or by navigating to your member profile and clicking Actions / Profile. Type your ORCID iD number into the field labeled ORCID.  Here's an example of an ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8897-7494. Click Save profile at the bottom of the page.

    Added on 10/14/2015, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I add my professional summary/biography?

    You may add your professional summary/biography by logging in and clicking Update my profile and contact info on your dashboard page or by navigating to your member profile and selecting Actions / Profile  Both actions will take you to your Manage Profile page where you will see a field labeled, Profile. Type, or copy paste, your professional biography into this field and click Save Profile at the bottom of the page.

    Added on 10/14/2015, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I add my ResearcherID?

    You may create a ResearcherID by logging into the ResearcherID home page.  Once you have created your ResearcherID, you may add it to your Labnodes member profile by logging in and clicking on Update my profile and contact info on your dashboard page or by navigating to your member profile and clicking Actions / Profile. Type, or copy-paste, your ResearcherID number into the field with this same label.  Here's an example of a ResearcherID: D-2543-2010. Click Save profile at the bottom of the page.

    Added on 10/14/2015, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I add my telephone and/or fax number(s)?

    You may add your telephone/fax number(s) by logging in and navigating to your member profile.  Select Actions / Contact.  Here you will see two fields labeled, Phone / Fax. Type your phone and/or fax number(s) (including the area code) into the field(s) provided and click Save.

    Added on 10/14/2015, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I add my title?

    You may add your title, such as Dr., Mr., Ms., etc. by logging in and navigating to your member profile.  Select Actions / Contact.  Here you will see a field labeled, Title. Select your preferred title from the drop down list and click Save.

    Added on 10/14/2015, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I add or update my photo?

    You may add/update your member photo by logging in and clicking Update my profile and contact info on your dashboard page or by navigating to your member profile and selecting Actions / Profile.  Both actions will take you to your Manage Profile page where you will see a link labeled, Change profile image. Click on the link and follow these steps:

    1. Select the red Upload a file button.
    2. Locate and open the file.
    3. Click Save Profile at the bottom of the page.

    Added on 10/14/2015, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I add publications?

    Anytime you see a publications entry form that asks for a PubMed ID (PMID) or a more generic PubMed ID search, you can retrieve and/or search PubMed for indexed publications.  Depending on the context, you can use the same search strings that PubMed offers via its website.  For example, to restrict your search to an author, you can type in "LastName Initial [au]", where "[au]" restricts your query to author lists.  If the form requests a PMID, then enter the appropriate PubMed ID as an integer.

    Added on 6/28/2010, last modified on 10/22/2015

  • How do I upload my biosketch?

    You may add your NIH (or other) biosketch PDF file to your Labnodes member profile by logging in and clicking on Update my profile and contact info on your dashboard page or by navigating to your member profile and clicking Actions / Profile.  Here you will see a Browse button next to the Biosketch label. Click on the Browse button and locate your PDF formatted biosketch. Open the file. Click Save profile at the bottom of the page.

    Added on 10/14/2015, last modified on 10/22/2015

Need additional support?

Please send your questions to labnodes@vanderbilt.edu