This will be an evolving document which is intended to let you know my expectations for your lab notebook. The underlying motivation for this aspect of the class is to be sure that you understand the expectations for lab notebooks at whatever institution you transfer to as you complete your degree. Because the vast majority of our students will transfer on to OSU their expectations will form the basis of our practice here.
From an engineering perspective a lab notebook is both a record of your work and a legal document. In both cases it needs to allow others to clearly and completely understand what your data was, what conclusions you drew from the data, when you did the work, and any other relevant features of the work you were doing. Consider this example of lab notebook policy at MIT's Mechanical Engineering Department. Similar issues exist in other disciplines as you can see from this chemistry notebook site. I can no longer find notebook guidelines at any site at OSU but I want to add this site from BioSciences at Rice University . Truthfully all of these are very consistent with what used to be on the OSU website. While there are begining to be electronic lab notebooks in some industries many science and development labs use paper lab notebooks in just this way. This is a practical and important skill so don't whinge!:)
Laboratory Notebook Practice for COCC:
- While the custom is to use bound notebooks as laboratory notebooks we
will accept any form of notebook to which pages cannot be easily added or
taken out. Part of the point is to get used to maintaining clarity as you
go along. Spiral notebooks would be an easy choice while 3 ring binders
seem to miss the point. Recognize that if we were doing this for real we
would use notebooks where every page creates a carbon copy as you fill it
out. I have used these at various points in my work life. Your "notebook" will be written in pen!
- For each lab or project list the name of the project, the course number,
the date, and the names of group members on the first page. It would be
best to start each major entry at the top of a fresh page.
- Unless you are using really nice paper in your notebook most of us find
that using the back side of each page makes it hard to read the front. For
this reason you should use only the front side in general. While this may
not be consistent with current environmental ethics in the long run it avoids
waste which is also an environmental value.
- Date each page in some consistent location like the top right corner.
- In a serious lab setting you would want to note exactly which equipment
you used so that if it later turned out there was a calibration problem
or some other unexpected behavior you could return to the "instrument
of the crime". For our purposes be sure to note the equipment you used
and it's manufacturer so you can come back to the same equipment if needed.
- Record any data with appropriate levels of precision. Be aware that this
is the issue of significant figures coming up again and if you are taking
important data you need to be careful and honest about the precision and
accuracy of your data.
- Do not erase data from your notebook or remove pages. Cross out mistakes
neatly by lining through them or better yet, bracket the erroneous work
and make a note. Then go on to redo the work or retake the data. Making
mistakes is not a problem in the academic world or the "real"
world as long as you acknowledge it and move on.
- Along the lines of catching mistakes it is wise to take a good look at
your data and maybe even do a rough sketch to see if it all fits together
the way you expect. Ideally this sketch is in your notebook. If some data
seems suspect then go back and retake it making any clarifying notes in
your notebook. Even if it comes out the same be sure to note that you remeasured
it and why.
- In the end most of our labs will suggest various plots to verify relationships
which have been asserted in class. Any plots that are created should include
a short note indicating what is being demonstrated by the plot and any
inconsistencies that are evident. If you choose to plot and print the data using software then the plot must be taped into the notebook and signed across the edge to validate. Curve fitting, linear or otherwise,
should be shown nearby and added to the plot.
- A short paragraph summarizing the results of the exercise will complete each lab. I will grade your lab notebook directly. No separate lab write up is required. Realize that this implies that your notebook work will be well organized and intelligable as it "comes off the press"! I am considering a grading option that involves others finding relevant information in your lab notebook in a timed setting. Consider this a likely scenario:)
Here is the link to the Notebook Checklist to be attached at the end of each lab in your notebook
