FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For further information, please see http://www.censml.org and http://www.amphora-research.com, or contact:
Simon Coles – Chief Executive Officer / Stephen Bruce – PR & Marketing Manager
Amphora Research Systems Ltd.
+44 (0) 1344 753703 / +44 (0) 1344 753724
simonc@amphora-research.com / stephenb@amphora-research.com

Amphora Research Systems Announce CENSML

Crowthorne, Berkshire (UK), October 1st, 2001: Amphora Research Systems today announced the release of an open, XML-based file format called CENSML, and are inviting all interested parties to contribute to its design and development.

CENSML (Collaborative Electronic Notebook Systems Markup Language) represents the information stored in Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs), and can be used to import and export data between them. It can also be used as a long term data storage format, or as an integration mechanism between systems.

Simon Coles, Chief Executive Officer of Amphora, said:

"We believe it is in everyone's interests - especially purchasers of ELNs - to be able to move data from one ELN to another, whether this is for patenting or regulatory compliance purposes, transferring records upon upgrading or replacing a system, or simply taking old research and applying new techniques to it. We therefore hope that CENSML will achieve wide industry support, so that it will best serve these needs".

As well as textual and image information, CENSML aims to store proprietary data formats from other applications in a neutral way that minimises their impact on the accessibility of the overall records set. XML has been chosen as the basis for CENSML as it is a well-respected and widely-used open standard; both crucial considerations for future-proofing the invaluable scientific data CENSML will store.

A version of Amphora’s Lotus Notes-based ELN solution already exports to CENSML; it will shortly be able to import it as well. Amphora have also released a web-based Open Source ELN which will serve as a reference implementation for CENSML (see http://www.opensourceeln.org).

About Amphora
Amphora Research Systems are leading suppliers of Electronic Lab Notebook systems, which support thousands of researchers world-wide; they are also active members of CENSA.

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