LIMS Institute

The LIMS Institute, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization incorporated in Pennsylvania. The Institute is staffed by volunteers who are dedicated to enhancing the science of laboratory information management.

The LIMS Institute was founded in 1988 as the financial umbrella for the International LIMS Conferences held in the United States. These Conferences began in 1987 and have always been user based in content. The Conferences offered a program built around actual user experiences and an exposition of current LIMS products. The Institute also occasionally offered The LIMS Summer School. In 2003 the focus of the Conferences was changed to Laboratory Informatics and the 2003 and 2004 Conferences were presented as a partnership with the Pittsburgh Conference. The Pittsburgh Conference partnership is still in place, presenting the Informatics Zone within the exposition of PITTCON 2005 and 2006.

LIMS and Laboratory Informatics

Laboratory informatics is broadly defined as the specialized application of information technology and automation to optimize and extend laboratory operations. It encompasses all aspects of data flow, from raw data acquired from laboratory instruments, to laboratory information processing, to enterprise-scale information sharing and knowledge management. It deals with fundamental issues common to all laboratories, including hardware connectivity, systems integration, validation and compliance, and application selection and implementation. It also focuses on specialized solutions for different types of laboratories: analytical, clinical, environmental, forensic, etc.

At the center of laboratory informatics is the laboratory information management system, or LIMS. Interfacing with laboratory instruments and personnel at the front end and databases at the back end, LIMS provide information management at the integrated laboratory level.