Page 59 - DLIS102_LIBRARY_AND_ITS_USERS

Library and its Users

Notes 9.1.4 A Cell Biology Research Laboratory

Our primary collaborator on Labscape is the Cell Systems Initiative (CSI), part of the Bioengineering
Department at the University of Washington. Five biologists share the immunology laboratory at
CSI—three are full-time researchers and two are students.
The laboratory consists of one main room, two auxiliary rooms, and some equipment in the hallway.
While performing work in the laboratory, the biologists frequently move between various stations,
as the stations are highly task specific.
The biologists primarily work in the main laboratory, but occasionally use the other areas. Though
the researchers each have a small station in the main laboratory that is considered their personal
space, the majority of the laboratory and equipment is shared; the students do not have any personal
space.

Self Assessment
Multiple Choice Questions:

3. CSI stands for:
(a) Cell Systems Initiative (b) Cell System Interactive
(c) Cell Social Initiative (d) None of these.
4. Cell biology research laboratory consists of:
(a) One main room (b) Two main room
(c) Three main room (d) None of these.

9.1.5 Information Needs
Biologists need to plan, execute, and document their laboratory work. In planning, records of previous
procedures may be consulted to avoid introducing unintended variability into the experiment and to
review previous results that may influence their plans. During the procedure’s execution, biologists
may need to access their plans, track progress, and record observations and data. Finally, biologists
must formally document their work for future reference and legal compliance.
Biologists meet their information needs in a variety of ways; the most prevalent is through the use
of pencil and paper. In addition, commercial laboratory information management systems and
electronic laboratory notebooks can be used to organize and access data produced by laboratory
experiments. Such systems have penetrated highly repetitive clinical and production laboratories,
especially those having stringent legal record-keeping requirements. However, these tools are rarely
found in research-oriented laboratories that require flexibility and rely on voluntary use of
information technology. New computing tasks that do not contribute to the biologists’ abilities to
perform good experiments are quickly abandoned.
Labscape is a ubiquitous laboratory assistant that satisfies these information needs without distracting
biologists from their work: it presents needed information in the context of the experiment, it records
experiment data and observations as the work is performed, and it provides ubiquitous access to
the experiment record. As we develop a better understanding of the biologists’ needs and how
technology might help, we can further enhance the environment to improve their ability to focus on
the biology rather than on the information support system.
Biology research is a goal-oriented activity that allows for iterative assessment of performance on
similar tasks before and after the deployment of new technologies. As a result, Labscape is an excellent
test case for user study techniques in the iterative design and evaluation of ubicomp applications.

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