New Display for Freezer Box in LabArchives Inventory

You may have worked in a laboratory at some point where the contents of most boxes in the freezer were a mystery.  That freezer box in the very back of the lab may contain samples from 1985, the year the PI obtained their PhD, and somehow the lab manager has had to reorder the same anti-CXCL2 antibody three times because nobody can find where it was placed.  

LabArchives Inventory helps keep laboratories organized, streamlines the ordering process, and tracks reagent lot numbers for quality control.  Now, with the new Freezer Box display you can visualize the contents of your freezer boxes without ever needing to open the door. 

The Freezer Box display looks just like a standard freezer box. You can change the size by adjusting the number of rows and columns.  You can also choose labeling nomenclature that matches your box type.  You control how much information you provide for each inventory item – catalog number, lot number, grant, volume, safety information, whatever is most important for you and your institution.  You can assign colors to each item category (e.g., cell line, antibody, enzyme, plasmid, etc.) for quick visual reference. As with all LabArchives products, there is a focus on accessibility, so in addition to the color labels, the label is also written out in text.

If you need to quickly scan the contents of a freezer box to find, use, add, or manage the locations of items, the new easy-to-use Freezer Box display streamlines the process all on one screen.  While you control what information you provide for each reagent, it is especially useful for tracking inventory items used in an experiment in the LabArchives ELN for Research.  That way if there is a concern with a specific reagent or sample used,  you can easily access the full details of each item. 

To help keep the freezer box in order, the display also lets you know if more than one item has been assigned to the same cell or if there are items that were assigned to the freezer box but never to a specific cell.  The easier it is to find and use items, the easier it is for lab managers to stay on top of inventory usage to manage efficient use of storage and avoid waste. Just like with all LabArchives Inventory items, you can track usage and users.  Once a reagent has been used entirely, the item is added to the “out of stock” items. Like other LabArchives Inventory items, it is not permanently deleted so that you can track key information associated with your experiments in the future.

In some cases, you may want to have certain items in a series or aliquot. Rather than typing out the same name for 20 different items, you can duplicate the item across multiple cells in the freezer box. This makes it easy to track total usage across various cells where that reagent is stored.

These features build on the utility of LabArchives Inventory to meet the needs of our academic and industry users and the relevant regulatory and funding agency requirements for their lab management. To learn more about this new display, click here.