1. “It’s a notebook, not a neat book” R. Cueto
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
ISBN:
~$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 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

13. 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?).

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

15. 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?

16. 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?

17. 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

18. What goes in the notebook?...2
s 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.

19. 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.

20. Great Days in Science: Discovery of first Computer Bug
Great Days in Science: Discovery of first Computer Bug. What else would you do but glue it into your notebook? Grace Hooper, Harvard Sept. 9, 1945
Smithsonian, National Museum of American History

21. First transistor amplifier, AT&T Bell Labs (Walter H. Brattain) Dec
Bell Labs Web site

22. From Linus Pauling Research Notebooks June 1976: Vitamin C, the common cold and the flu

23. 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.

24. From Alexander Graham Bell's notebook
March 10, 1876, describes the first successful experiment with the telephone.
"Mr. Watson -- come here!