The Laboratory Notebook

says exactly what was done, and when;

makes clear who did it;

enables someone else to do the same thing at some future date;

is durable and verifiable.

can be beautiful, creative and valuable

A laboratory notebook:

Be hardback and bound

Be maintained using ink not pencil

Never contain erasures

Have numbered pages

Have a ‘Title Page’

Have a ‘Table of Contents’

A Laboratory Notebook Should:

Have spills and blots

Have errors neatly lined out

Have notes in the margins, ideas and thoughts

Have diagrams and drawings

Have inserts of actual data objects such as a photograph or a piece of filter paper

A Laboratory Notebook Might:

All Data Goes Into the Notebook,

Drawings Should Be Labeled

Photos may be glued or taped into a notebook

Enrico Fermi, laboratory notebook, 1941.

In the months before coming to Chicago in the spring of 1942, Fermi and his team of physicists at Columbia University worked on a preliminary design for an atomic pile. With Leo Szilard, Walter Zinn, Herbert Anderson, and other colleagues, Fermi devised a lattice structure of graphite and uranium oxide for an "exponential" pile and calculated the requirements for a self-sustaining chain reaction.

This is the historical page of a laboratory notebook where Luis Miramontes describes the invention and synthesis of the chemical that would become the first contraceptive pill.

This page out of a laboratory notebook shows a beautiful illustration.

Test tubes showing gas formation of solutions of serum and other substances

British Library Add. MS 56148, f.157 Copyright © The British Library Board

Filter paper, showing absorption of Brilliant Green antiseptic

British Library Add. MS 56148, f.17

Copyright © The British Library Board

Actual data recordings are affixed to these pages. Note the stamped page numbers.

Advanced Laboratory Notebook, Joseph N. LeConte, ca. 1890

A typical outline for a laboratory

An Introduction to Your Experiment

This includes the title of the experiment, a short statement of the problem or the task and the date. It is very important to record the complete date – day, month and year! It may be relevant in some procedures to even record the time. 

The Experimental Plan

You do not need to recopy an entire procedure from a book or handout – you can reference the book or handout. Record a simplified, bulleted, summary of the procedure. Include a list of materials used. It is also VERY IMPORTANT to include any safety data about materials used. 

Observations and Data

Observations and data lead to the acceptance or the rejection of a hypothesis and indicate possible future experiments. It is important to:

Record honestly

Record immediately

Do not use scraps of paper to record numbers and then recopy them – copy all data directly into the notebook

Never erase, never over-write – cross out with a single line any errors

Never use white out!!!!!!!! 

Graphs and Diagrams

Illustrations will greatly enhance your notebook. Label diagrams. Follow rules for excellent graphing technique when making graphs. 

Analysis of Results

Comment on what occurred, what has been demonstrated, what has been discovered or proved, and explain any data and observations in terms of any relevant theories. 

Discussion and Conclusions

Discuss problems, challenges, errors. Include suggestions for improving a procedure or reducing error in the experiments. Comment on the success or failure of the experiments.

The time you spend developing your laboratory notebook leads to successful formal laboratory reports. It is much easier to write about information and experiences if you have detailed notes that were taken while events unfolded.

Organization is important. While you do not need to be extremely neat you and others need to be able to read what you write. 

A Well Kept Laboratory Notebook Is Useful