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Lab Notebooks

Lab Notebooks. “It’s a notebook, not a neat book” R. Cueto. IMSD, October 3, 2010. Main Reference: Writing the Laboratory Notebook, Howard M. Kanare American Chemical Society Washington, D.C. 1985 ISBN: 0841209332 ~$27 at Amazon or B&N (~$15 used). Bad record-keeping costs.

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Lab Notebooks

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  1. Lab Notebooks “It’s a notebook, not a neat book” R. Cueto IMSD, October 3, 2010

  2. Main Reference: Writing the Laboratory Notebook, Howard M. Kanare American Chemical Society Washington, D.C. 1985 ISBN: 0841209332 ~$27 at Amazon or B&N (~$15 used)

  3. Bad record-keeping costs LeMonnier, French astronomer who gets no credit for the first sightings of the planet Uranus. His notes were so bad that he thought it was a comet. Discovery of Uranus is instead awarded to Herschel. Gordon Gould had many ideas related to the production and use of lasers. He foresaw that they could cut steel or ignite fusion reactions. His notes were witnessed by a candy store notary instead of a colleague. He had undocumented meetings with the “maser people.” Years and years of legal proceedings were required to get him some of the credit he deserved.

  4. Types of Documentation • Notebook: Factual details of experiments, including thought experiments, ideas, inventions, etc. • Field Book: Special notebook version for note taking on the field (sample collection, environmental studies, etc) • Logbook: for example, a list of measurements made on the NMR, FTIR, GPC, TEM, Balance, etc. • Diary (Journal): What you were feeling, a personal record, opinions; stuff that is less factual than the notebook. Depending on the situation, this might be appropriate to place in the notebook but be careful to delineate fact from opinion.

  5. Computer Records • This is a whole industry now: LIMS , Laboratory notebooks. • Example: balances or pH meters that are hooked into a database. • A few misguided souls have almost stopped keeping written records. • We operate on the assumption that you are not misguided, so DO keep a decent lab notebook. • Back up your data! • Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) requires that you PROTECT THE RAW DATA. If you need to edit something, save a COPY of the raw data.

  6. The Right Stuff • Notebooks have to last 23 years after patent issue. Patents take time to get, so figure 30 years longevity. • Paper has to be very good (much paper today is junk by the standards of a hundred years ago). • Notebook should be bound. • No spiral notebooks! No loose-leaf! • Page layout easy to graph, date, sign, etc. • Table of contents!

  7. What to write with? • No pencils.* Erasures are a definite no-no! *There are some exceptions—e.g. field notebooks where you know it will get wet and may not have a ready supply of pens. • No aqueous-based pens (e.g., most felt-tips). • Best bet for general use: black, ballpoint pen. • No white-out!! Just strike through, explain and initial errors. • “It’s a notebook, not a neat book.”—R. Cueto

  8. First things first.. • Write your name on the outside and inside cover of your Notebook • Put your mailing address, phone number, and e-mail on front or on inside cover. • Also give the name of your mentor, and his/her full mailing/contact information • Put a general project name (or course name) on the exterior of the notebook.

  9. First things first..2 • If your notebook is not already equipped with page numbers, add them (in top right- and left-hand corners). • Reserve the first 2-4 pages for a Table of Contents (which you will fill in as time passes). • If you wish you might add a Preface page • Date each entry in table of contents • Never, under any circumstance, should you remove a page

  10. A proper notebook page • Written as the work is performed • Dated and signed by author • Each section has a clear, descriptive heading • The writing is legible and grammatically correct • Active voice in first person: • “I added the two ingredients…” • Read by witness and signed/dated

  11. A proper notebook page..2 • Do Not write over. Cross, and write above, below or on the side. • Do Not use whiteout! • If a page is skipped, draw a large “X” across it • Try to write legibly even if you have bad handwriting

  12. Sticky situations • It is better to glue or tape that original paper snippet into the lab book than it is to copy the result. • Glue: acid-free white glue is best. (Elmer’s?) • Rubber cement is not recommended (but used to be) • Tape: Archival mending tape is recommended. • There are various qualities of tape (3M?).

  13. Legal Matters • You do NOT own the notebook. • You may ask for a copy. • The lab director can and should inspect books periodically.

  14. Employer Checklist • Black or Blue, ballpoint pen used? • Legible handwriting? • Table of contents up-to-date? • Entries signed/dated (October 13, 2002 better than 10/13/02) • Clear headings saying what this page is about? • Written in first person?

  15. Employer Checklist…2 • Complete sentences? • Could the work be followed by another scientist? (avoids jargon?) • Is the researcher correctly “thinking in the notebook”—i.e., ideas and plans and observations integrated and written down. • Are entries witnessed appropriately? • Is the notebook stored safely when not in use?

  16. What goes in the notebook? • Plans • Realities (deviations from the plan) • Observations • Sketches and photographs • “Links” to the notebooks of others in your group • “Links” to instrument logbooks and data on disks • Ideas: a notebook is a repository of creativity

  17. What goes in the notebook?...2 • E-mails from collaborators (tape or paste them in) • Plot-as-you-go graphs: do it! • Summaries of papers you have read • Hints and tips you may get from science friends • Concerns and personal data….but be careful to delineate fact from fiction/opinion. Also, remember that personal info could become embarrassingly public! For that, use a diary.

  18. Labeling Samples Good: rc.3.27b This means RC’s notebook #3, page 27, sample b. Bad if used alone: PEG solution 0.1% The label should POINT to the detailed notebook description.

  19. Great Days in Science: Discovery of first Computer Bug. What else would you do but glue it into your notebook?Grace Hooper, HarvardSept. 9, 1945 Smithsonian, National Museum of American History http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object.cfm?key=35&objkey=30

  20. First transistor amplifier, AT&T Bell Labs (Walter H. Brattain)Dec. 24, 1947 Bell Labs Web site http://www.porticus.org/bell/belllabs_transistor.html

  21. From Linus Pauling Research Notebooks June 1976: Vitamin C, the common cold and the flu http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/specialcollections/rnb/31/31-269.html

  22. From Linus Pauling Research Notebooks May 28, 1953 Discovery of the protein alpha-helix (Measurement of 10cm=1ÅIIIB). Pauling won his first Nobel prize for the work described here, the first real insight into the 3D structure of proteins. http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/specialcollections/rnb/28/28-011.html

  23. From Alexander Graham Bell's notebook March 10, 1876, describes the first successful experiment with the telephone. "Mr. Watson -- come here! http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/images/85b/at0085bp0040_0041.jpg

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