Friday, May 25, 2018

Understanding What LIMS Stands For

By Karen Smith


This is the common abbreviation for what is known in the scientific community as a lab information management system. A LIMS might also be called a lab information system, or a lab management system, abbreviated as LIS and LMS respectively. Although there are some differences between these, they are all basically the same thing.

These information systems are types of software that are used in all modern laboratories around the world. In order to manage all of the data and information that these sophisticated and complex facilities go through on a daily basis, these systems play a crucial role. The job of software like this is to support all of the many different operations that the lab undergoes, making higher levels of research not only possible but also much easier.

Some of the key things that this kind of a system helps in a laboratory is keeping track of all the workflow that goes on in the facility. It is also a way of tracking all of the data that is recorded so that it is easy to access and understand. With the many different kinds of specialty labs that are out there, the uses of these kinds of systems go far beyond these basic examples.

People might not realize that these systems have been around for a long time. At first, their only use was sample tracking. This had evolved into the advanced software that labs use today.

It is necessary to get to know any given laboratory and the workers there to know what they really mean when they refer to a laboratory information management system. This is often dependent on what kind of studies they are doing in their labs. Knowing this is a big help in understanding why they think of these systems in the way that they do.

There are a number of different categories that these systems are put in, but it is easy to see that the main purposes remain the same across all of them. The specific needs of some labs have led to some that have special tools to look at commercial and research aspects. Others are mainly for the clinical and forensic side of things.

Scientific studies have been growing more advanced ever since they were first performed, and so the software that researchers use to record their data has become more advanced with the studies themselves. This is necessary for the systems' functions to be able to keep up with the researchers' needs, and so that they can bring together the core pillars of science. As their uses have grown, the different kinds of software have become more similar in nature.

Back in the days when manual data entry was necessary, it was much easier to accidentally record a number wrong or for the records to be compromised than it is today. Removing this potential for error makes a big difference in securing the accurate results of an experiment or research study. It is amazing to think of the amount of money and time that was wasted due to a simple transcription error.




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