{"id":3440,"date":"2020-12-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/analyteguru\/how-to-not-excel-with-column-logs\/"},"modified":"2024-04-19T23:34:45","modified_gmt":"2024-04-19T23:34:45","slug":"how-to-not-excel-with-column-logs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/analyteguru\/how-to-not-excel-with-column-logs\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Not Excel with Column Logs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I have previously written about the need to reduce the proliferation of Microsoft\u00ae Excel\u00ae spreadsheets in the laboratory and how our Chromatography Data System (CDS) admin team can utilize Thermo Scientific Chromeleon CDS to bridge the gap (Let’s Talk About the Elephant in the Lab: Spreadsheets and Data Integrity<\/a>). The latest step that we are taking is to use to manage the inventory of all our columns for our formulations team.<\/p>\n

\"\"Currently, all our column details are stored on two Excel spreadsheets, one for HPLC columns another for GC columns<\/a> (Figure 1). For each column, a unique ID is assigned and the column inventory (or log) associates multiple column details (type, dimensions, stationary phase, etc.) with that ID.<\/p>\n

The two spreadsheets can currently be accessed by over 70 analysts who have full editing rights (including deletions) and can save at any time without any automatic traceability (there is a Standard Operating Procedure detailing the use of spreadsheets, of course!) This could be considered a data integrity issue as there is no way of knowing who has changed what, when, or why. Then, there is the unthinkable situation we had quite recently where the spreadsheet was accidentally deleted! Fortunately, we were able to recover the file from our backup, but it just serves to highlight the vulnerability of the current system.<\/p>\n

\"\"Figure 1. The Excel GC column log<\/em><\/p>\n

With this freshly in mind, together with our knowledge of using Chromeleon Reports as a spreadsheet, we set about using Chromeleon software to manage our column logs. What we came up with is a sequence that acts as a column log, with the column ID and details recorded as Chromeleon Injection Custom Variables (ICV) (Figure 2 and Table 1). Then the column ID ICV can be added to every sequence where the column is used giving us the added benefit of keeping all things related to the chromatography and analysis together inside the CDS. Furthermore, it allows us to comply with all data integrity requirements, with all changes attributable to a user, every change logged in the audit trail, the sequence able to be locked to prevent changes, and nothing can be deleted.<\/p>\n

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Figure 2. The new Chromeleon CDS column log<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

The new column entry\/update process is as follows:<\/p>\n