Digitizing and Securing Archived Laboratory Notebooks

The Information Group at Millipore has been successfully using a digital rights management tool to secure the email distribution of archived laboratory notebooks. Millipore is a life science leader providing cutting-edge technologies, tools, and services for bioscience research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Consisting of four full-time professional information specialists, The Information Group performs scientific and technical as well as business and market research, publishes several current-awareness products, offers document retrieval services, and handles interlibrary-loan lending. The Information Group assists with in-depth research assignments, but it also offers end-user products and training for those who want to do fact-finding on their own. The group is also responsible for the issuance and archival of Millipore's laboratory notebooks. The purpose of this article is to describe the group's paper-to-microfilm-to-PDF conversions, the reasons and criteria for selecting a digital rights management tool for distribution, and some of the driving factors behind the decision to go digital.