Important Notice - In June 2024, we released a new version of our Inventory system. Updated documentation for the Inventory is available in our new Support Portal. All documentation for the entire eLabNext platform will be fully migrated to the new Support Portal over the course of 2024. Start using the new Inventory documentation.


You can find samples by navigating to the Sample List in the Inventory tab. Enter a search term the keyword search field to find a relevant sample. eLabInventory uses a dedicated indexing server that indexes all samples to facilitate searches based on all stored sample information. The sample search index contains data that has been added in the following fields:


  • Sample Name - contents included in the sample name
  • Sample Series Name - contents included in the sample series name
  • Sample Description - contents included in the sample description
  • Sample Notes - contents included in the sample notes
  • Sample Owner - the name of the sample owner
  • Sample Creator - the name of the sample creator
  • Sample Location - the storage unit layer or compartment where the sample is located
  • Custom Sample Fields - contents included in the custom sample specifications fields






When searching, you are filtering to find any contents in the above mentioned data. You can use the following operators to search in eLabInventory. Note: keyword searches are case-insensitive.


  • bacteria yeast - finds any contents that include the words bacteria and yeast
  • “bacteria  yeast” – finds any contents that include the exact phrase bacteria yeast
  • bac* -   finds any contents that include a word that starts with "bac"
  • *teria -  finds any contents that include a word that ends with "teria"
  • bacteria | plant – finds any contents that include either the word bacteria OR the word plant
  • bacteria -Plant – finds any contents that include the word bacteria but does not contain the word plant
  • “bacteria Plant”~10 – finds any contents that include the word bacteria and plant in the proximity of 10 words
  • (bacteria | plant) yfp - finds any contents that include the word bacteria OR plant as well as the word ypf
  • "bacteria plant yeast fungus algae"/3 - finds any contents that include at least 3 of the words bacteria plant yeast fungus algae


You can also search for samples in the Inventory Browser. The results will be displayed in the search results dropdown list, from which you can click the links to navigate to either a location or a sample information sheet.




To further narrow down your search results, use the Advanced Sample Search.