eln is an open source Electronic Lab Notebook with a focus on getting things done. Eln organizes your notes very much like a traditional paper notebook: Entries span one or several pages and can consist of a combination of text paragraphs and graphics canvases. eln can import images in various formats and contain links to web pages and articles on PubMed, both of which it can archive for you. eln stores each entry and each image in a separate file in a folder structure that will remain human-parsable long after nobody remembers eln (which will hopefully not be soon). By conscious design, eln limits your formatting options to encourage you to concentrate on note taking rather than beautification. eln automatically creates a table of contents for your notebook and protects you from the lure of surreptitiously editing notes typed on previous days. The author is an active research scientist and uses eln daily. Your suggestions for further improvements are invited.