Automated Data Integration from Heterogeneous Sources including electronic lab notebooks using LinkAhead

Many scientific projects rely on a multitude of different software systems for data storage and data exchange.Keeping data findable and accessible can be challenging, especially if data has to be shared between differentsites, working groups and institutes. The open source software LinkAhead provides a powerful framework formanaging complex data integrated from heterogeneous data sources.LinkAhead is built in a way that datamodels can be extended and adapted to future requirements by the researchers at any time. Its extendablecrawler framework can be adapted to automatically import data and meta data from different repositories andELN systems, like elabFTW or PANGAEA. LinkAhead also provides a graphical web-interface, as well as an APIfor automated queries.The software can be fine-tuned to different scientific disciplines and is already usedproductively at multiple Helmholtz institutes, including GEOMAR, AWI and KIT.