| General
Guidelines |
As
outlined in the syllabus, a lab notebook must be used in this
course and it will be evaluated periodically. Lab notebooks are
part of all research and development work, and developing good
method in the use of the notebook can be very valuable. The following
are some general guidelines, and the sections that follow are
required elements of the notebook (items that the T.A.s
will evaluate during the semester).
-
The notebook should be used to record the work done before,
during and after a laboratory study. Don't rely on your memory.
-
It is common to write on loose sheets of paper; transfer these
notes/drawings/etc. to the notebook as soon as possible. Try
to write directly in the notebook as much as possible. The
TAs will look for this work.
- Use
a notebook that has stiff covers and sewn pages; do not use
a loose-leaf notebook/binder or soft-cover notebooks.
Example
-
The notebook work should be legible. Filling pages with scratch
work should be avoided as much as possible, but it is expected
that this will be part of any notebook.
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| Notebook
Organization 15% |
A
table of contents is required. Reserve about 5 pages at
the beginning of the notebook: use one as a title page, and the
other four for a running contents summary. Number the pages as
you use them and record in the table of contents. Put your
name and TA's name on the title page.
Use
section headings within a lab to indicate specific work
done. |
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|
Lab
Abstracts and Lab Conclusions 20% |
An
abstract is required for every lab. Reserve one page at
the beginning of each lab. However, do not write the abstract
until after the lab work is completed. The abstract
should contain your concise interpretation of what was done, why
it was done, and what was found out.
At
the end of the lab, write a few lines communicating the main
impact of the lab. It is alright if this echoes some of
the contents of the abstract. |
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| Description
of Laboratory Work 30% |
Every
member of a lab team should make a record of the activity (in
this course, everyone will be evaluated this way by notebook content).
List the equipment used and draw a schematic of any experimental
setups. Make a brief record of procedures used.
Try
to think about what information would help someone (or you)
to reproduce any of the results using the notebook as a guide.
Refer to any other references used.
Be
resourceful: there is nothing wrong with copying figures from
the lab handbook or from the web and pasting them in the lab
notebook. However, cite your references! |
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| Data,
Figures, Graphs, etc. 20%
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It
is common to collect data and to record it directly in a spreadsheet
or other form. Print these tables/graphs/etc. and paste or tape
into the notebook. Having a draft of the data in the notebook
can help when thinking about the work that was done and makes
the notebook more complete. The
figures/graphs should be as neat as required to communicate
with the notebook reader. |
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| Overall
Appearance 15% |
The
notebook should be kept with the frame of mind that someone
will read it and possibly use it to repeat your work.
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