Setting up your Firm Library is one of the first steps to getting the most out of Material Hub. A well-built Library means your team can find, reuse, and build on vetted products across every project — without starting from scratch each time.
There are two ways to set up your Library:
Self-Implementation: You build your Library at your own pace using the resources and guidance Acelab provides. This article walks you through that process.
Implementation Support: A dedicated Acelab team supports your onboarding and handles Library setup for you.
Not sure which applies to you? To find out whether your firm qualifies for Implementation Support, check out this article.
Before You Begin
You must be a company Admin to set up and manage the Firm Library. If you're not sure what role you have, check with whoever created your firm's Acelab account.
Your Firm Library is created automatically when your company account is set up — you don't need to create it manually.
All team members added to your company have access to the Firm Library. You don't need to invite them separately to the Library.
If you have an existing product list in a spreadsheet, you can skip ahead to the Refer to your company's existing material section and use the Import from File feature to add products in bulk instead of manually.
Setting up your Firm Library
When you create an Acelab account, a Firm Library is automatically created. The Firm Library can be accessed through the left-hand navigation panel, or through the Firm Library CTA in the Home page.
Navigate to your Project information page to add any relevant documents and invite team members.
Inviting Team Members
If you went through the steps to set up your company in Acelab, you might have already invited collaborators. All team members added to your company have access to the Library, so they will be listed in the Collaborators section.
If you have not yet invited collaborators, click the Add Collaborator CTA.
📍 Keep in mind that adding a collaborator to your library means that you are adding a collaborator to your company. For detailed instructions on how to add a collaborator to your company, check out this article.
Adding Products to your Library
The process of adding products to your library is essentially the same process as adding products to a Project. All products added to a project - and to the Library - are organized in the Schedules.
1. Refer to your company's existing/historical material
Check past submittals or any material schedule files your company has completed, and use it as a guide. If you have a spreadsheet available, you can import products in bulk using our Import from File feature.
📍 Keep in mind that Import from File only supports .csv format at this time. For detailed instructions on how to import your .csv file and for a sample .csv, check out this article.
2. Find Products in Material Hub
Search for the product in our database. If we have the product, you will be able to add it to the Library and all the publicly available information about the product will be automatically included.
💡 If the product you're looking for is not yet available in our database, you'll be able to add Custom Company Products. Jump to this section for further instructions.
There are several ways to find products in Material Hub:
Search by Manufacturer
If you know the manufacturer or brand of the product that you are looking for, you can use the search bar, or access our Manufacturers directory.
Manufacturer Search via Search Bar
At the top search bar, start typing in the manufacturer's name and select the Manufacturers button. This ensures that we are only matching to the manufacturer's name rather than products that potentially have the same wording or description.
Once found, you can click the Manufacturer's name. This will take you to their Brand page. Jump to this section for finding products in the Brand page.
The Manufacturers Directory
Access the Manufacturers Directory by clicking on Manufacturers in the left-side menu
The Manufacturers Directory is sorted alphabetically. You can scroll through the pages or use the Divisions filters to the left to narrow down to a particular Masterformat section.
Once you find your manufacturer or brand, click on their name.
This will take you to the Manufacturer's Brand page.
The Manufacturer's Brand Page
Scroll through the Brand page to learn more about this manufacturer, or use the top page navigation to jump to the product section.
In the Product section, hover over the Product Card to see the Save CTA. When clicked, you can choose to save that product to the Firm Library by clicking Add.
If you want to learn more about the product itself before saving, you can click on the card and open the Product Details Page.
The Product Details Page
Click on the product to open the product’s page
Click the Save&Compare button in the lower right corner
Add Products directly in Firm Library's Schedule
All products that have been added live in Schedules. In Schedules, you have several different options to add products. Check out the articles via the links below for specific instructions on each option.
Available under the Add Products CTA, you'll find:
Explore Products: Search the entire Material Hub database without leaving your Firm Library
Add Custom Products: Add your own products when you can't find what you are looking for in the Material Hub database
When you add a custom product to your Firm Library, note that you are adding a Company Product - meaning, that custom product will be available to all of your colleagues!
Request Recommendation: Reach out to Acelab's team of Product Experts to get their recommendation
In the same Schedules navigation row, you'll find:
Import: Import your .csv file to add products in bulk.
3. Customize Your Library
The Schedules navigation row contains various features and functionalities that can help you customize your Library.
Fields: Add Fields to your Schedule. There are several different types of fields. Click each link below to learn more.
To learn more about each field type, check out these articles.⚠️ Note: Project Fields will only appear in the Library. Company Fields are created in the Library but can be added to any project. Default Fields can be added to the Library and Projects and will contain data from Acelab's database.
Filters: create a shortlist of your products using filters.
⚠️ Note: Filters is not available in the All Products View. To use Filters, you will need to create new view(s).
Sort: create a display order of your products
Hide: Hide certain fields without removing them entirely
Height: Adjust the row height of your Schedule
What next?
You've created your library, started to add products and customize it.
This means you are ready to add products from your library to projects!
To keep your Library updated, we recommend adding/removing products as you/your team acquires new product knowledge.
📚 Keep Learning 📚
Next: Creating a New Project