Understanding LIMS And How They Help Laboratories

By Andrew Thompson


Virtually every lab that has ever existed has incorporated the use of what's called a laboratory information management system. The common abbreviation for this kind of thing is LIMS, which is helpful to know for anyone going into a laboratory setting for the first time and encountering this acronym. There are also other common names for the same type of system, such as LIS for laboratory information system, as well as LMS for laboratory management system.

It would be impossible to find a single modern lab in the world today that doesn't use a system like this. There is just no way around them when one considers the massive amounts of data and other information that these scientific research facilities have to go through on a daily basis. They are absolutely essential to make the tasks and duties of the scientists no only easier, but in a way that opens up the doors to greater possibilities.

When there are numerous different people working in a lab, it is easy to lose track of who worked when, who did what, and any other detail that can come into play in a specific type of scientific experiment. Losing just a tiny bit of data or having something mixed up can often make or break an experiment, and these little accidents can be extremely costly. That's why just keeping track of workflow in a reliable and automated way is something that research facilities need to have.

When information is put in manually, there is so much more room for error than when it is put in automatically. Although some people are very meticulous and extremely careful, there is just so much that can go wrong when records are kept this way. All it takes is for a number or decimal point to be put in the wrong place, or for a file to be misplaced, for disaster to occur, and that's why an automated method is best.

While every laboratory has this kind of system in order to serve a standard suite of purposes, these tools can also be extremely helpful in specialty laboratory situations. This means research facilities that are working in a specific area of science and research. This usually calls for customized information systems to help keep track of the data in the most efficient and helpful way possible.

A management system is nothing new, but the main thing that has changed about it is that they have grown much more advanced. This is both thanks to the help of, as well as to accommodate, the advances in technology. More advanced computers have allowed these systems to become more advanced, and more advanced science requires these capabilities.

These systems were first used to track samples. Scientists relied on them heavily in the early days of experimentation. Now the uses of information systems have grown immensely.

Just like there are many different types of scientists, laboratories, and branches of science, there are many different opinions on what the real definition of a laboratory's information system is. It is important to become familiarized with what the accepted definition in any given area or research is. This can help to avoid confusion as to what colleagues are talking about.




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