Guidelines on Laboratory Notebooks
Dr. Faith Morrison
12 January 2014
Laboratory notebooks are a permanent record of what went on in the
laboratory. They have three important purposes.
Purposes
of the laboratory notebook:
1. accurately record data and observations for you to use in
preparing your calculations and report. It is impossible to
remember everything that goes on in the lab day after day. That's
why we write down a record.
2. provide a time-stamp of what was done when in case a safety or
other inquiry is conducted. The laboratory notebook is sequential
(that's why it's bound) so that the order that steps were performed can
be determined from the lab notebook record.
3. provide a time-stamp of what was done in case of filing a
patent record of invention. The sequence and timing of
discoveries can be determined from the laboratory notebook
record. This can have important legal implications.
Lab notebooks will be assessed at the beginning of the Monday lecture
weekly.
Prelab assignments must be completed in your laboratory notebooks;
these will be checked at the beginning of the Monday lecture, weekly.
The goal of the laboratory notebook is to be a repository of all the
information about the laboratory work you are performing.
The
laboratory notebook contains:
1. Safety information. This should be easy to find and use
to keep the laboratory safe.
2. Your prelab calculations and preparations
3. Everything you write down in the lab. Examples
include: rough sketches, instructions from TA/instructor, data,
temperatures, observations.
4. Calibration curves that you determine that you will need in
future labs. Print a graph of the calibration curve with the
equation shown and tape it securely into the lab notebook.
5. Notes of discussions with your lab partners.
6. Observations related to the experiments you are
conducting. If you find yourself asking "I wonder if I should
note this down?" the answer is yes, note it down. Examples
include: whistling sounds, difficulty in turning a valve, room
temperature, time of day, strange colors, strange odors, questions for
the TA/instructor, suggestions for improvements, difficulties you
experience.
7. Final plots of your data (optional, but very helpful).
The CM3215 lab sessions
build
upon one another. You will need the results from early lab in
later labs. It will be very convenient to have the plots in your
laboratory notebook.
8. Anything pertaining to the lab that you wish to put into the
notebook.
In terms
of style, for laboratory notebook:
1. Everything is written in blue or black pen (pencil marks can
smudge and become unreadable; red, green, purple ink fade with time).
2. Every entry or at least every page is dated and initialled by
the person making the entry.
3. Writing is neat.
4. Nothing is erased: neatly cross out things (with a
straight-edge ruler if possible) you wish to correct and neatly write
the corrections nearby or indicate the page where the correction
appears. One diagonal line is sufficient to cross out an entire
page.
5. Papers may be affixed to the pages of your lab notebook
(computer printouts for tables, for example) but you must completely
outline them with cellophane tape so that all edges are taped
down. Do not use staples. Do not allow pages to flap.
6. Pages are numbered.
7. There is a complete table of contents in the front (leave
space on pages 1 and 2)
8. Make sure the text of your entries are clear, not obscure. For
example,
do not just write "21oC" but rather write "room temperature at 9:15am
=21oC"
Please think of the laboratory notebook assignment in this class as a
process. We are working
together to teach you how to keep a laboratory notebook. When we grade
your notebook, we are looking to see that you are picking up on the
instructions we are giving you. We are not requiring that you have a
pristine laboratory notebook at all times. Therefore, if something is
wrong in your notebook, cross out the page and re-do it on the next
available page. Indicate on the first page the page number where the
re-do may be found. Never remove pages from your bound laboratory
notebook.
More
information on lab notebooks
1. your name must be on it.
2. to prepare for a given week's lab, you must produce a safety section
identifying the typical hazards.
3. to prepare for a given week's lab, reasonable data tables must be
prepared in the lab notebook, with expected units indicated.
4. any questions assigned in the lab instructions (these are on the
cm3215 web page) must be included.
5. look up any physical property data you will need (heat
capacity, densities, etc.) and record it and the reference in your lab
notebook.
6. Print off the unit conversion sheet from the class website and
affix it to the back of your laboratory notebook:
www.chem.mtu.edu/%7Efmorriso/cm310/convert.pdf
