PRIMER: THE LABORATORY NOTEBOOK
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A LAB NOTEBOOK?
Recordkeepingisanessentialpartofthescientificprocess.Thelaboratorynotebookisthe
primarymediumforkeepingtheserecords--facilitatingtherecordingofarangeofdifferentactivities,
crucialtodoingeffectivescience.Firstandforemost,itservesasarecordofpreciselywhatonedid
(bothsuccessfullyandunsuccessfully)duringthecourseofone’sexperiment.Furthermore,
informationinthenotebookisessentialtocorroboratinganythingthatultimatelyendsupbeing
published.Effectiverecordkeepingpracticeisaskillthatrequiressubstantialtimetocultivatetoa
pointwhereyourrecordswillbesuitableforaresearchlab,soit’simportanttostartdevelopingthis
skillearly.
WHAT TYPES OF INFORMATION ARE IMPORTANT TO RECORD?
Thereareavarietyofdifferenttypesofinformationthatresearcher’susealabnotebooktokeep
trackofduringdailylabactivities.Thisinformationgoesbeyondsimplyrecordingparametervaluesand
datapoints.Themajorityoftheinformationfallsunderoneofthefourfollowingcategories:
•
Objectiveinformation:Thisconsistsoftheparameters,settings,anddatathatresultfrom
measurement,alignment,oranyotherconcreteactionstakenbytheresearcher.Thistypeof
informationiswhatyoumaycommonlythinkofasbeingpresentinscientificrecords.Onemight
describetheobjectiveinformationfoundinthenotebookasthe“facts”oftheexperiment.
•
Subjectiveinformation:Thisusuallymanifestsastheresearcher’sinterpretationorevaluation
oftheeventsinlabandcommonlyaccompaniestheobjectiveinformationfromtheexperiment.
Justbecausethisinformationcontainstheopinionoftheresearcherdoesnotmeanthatitis
“unscientific”.Forexample,researchersspendagreatdealoftimetroubleshootingand
redesigningtheirexperimentalapparatusinanattempttoimprovetheirmeasurements–by
includingsubjectiveinterpretationofvariousmeasurements(e.g.“thesedatalookedunusual”
or“itseemslikethealignmentisbad”)theresearchercanbetterrecalltheirimpressionofprior
measurements,andthusarebetterabletoputtheseinthecontextoftheircurrent
understandingoftheexperiment.
Analysisinformation:Itiscommonforanalysistobeperformedonrawdatathroughoutthe
entireexperimentalprocess.Often,thisisdoneinordertodirectlycompareexperimental
resultstotheoreticalmodels/predictions.Examplesincludeshortcalculationsandplotswith
accompanyingfitstomodels.Theinformationfromthiskindofanalysisisoftenrecordedinthe
notebookalongsidetheexperimentaldetailsaboutthedata,whichaidsthereaderin
interpretingtheresults.
•
•
Planninginformation:Thisconsistsoffutureplansordirectionsfortheresearch.This
informationcanentailbothshortterm/incrementalplans(e.g.takingmoredata,similarto
previousmeasurementsbutwithslightlydifferentparameters)aswellaslongterm/substantial
plans(e.g.completeredesignsofexperimentalapparatus).Researchersareconstantlyreflecting
onandre-conceptualizingtheday-to-dayoutcomesoftheirexperiments;thereforeitcanbe
difficulttokeeptrackofnewideasandexperimentaldirectionsunlesstheyarewritten
alongsideotherpertinentexperimentalinformation.
WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER WHEN RECORDING INFORMATION?
•
Context:Understandingthecontextofalabnotebookentrymeansunderstandingthe“what”
andthe“why”ofeachexperimentaldecision–inotherwords,“whatwasitthatImeasuredand
whydidImeasureit?”Itmeansunderstandingeachentryinthebroaderpictureoftheentire
experiment.So,whenrecordinginformationinyournotebookconsiderifyouareableto
understandhowwhatyou’rewritingpertainstotheexperimentasawhole.Ifyouaresimply
writingdownthenumbersforeachparameterandlistingthedifferentdatathatyou’ve
recordedwithoutexplainingthereasoningbehindthemeasurements,itislikelyyouwillbe
unabletomakesenseofwhatyou’vewrittenlateron.
•
Audience:Youaretheprimaryaudienceofyournotebook,butauthenticresearchisdone
collaboratively,thereforethelabrecordsofanexperimentmustbeavailabletoallthe
researchersinvolved.Thismayincludepeersinthesameresearchgroup,one’sadvisor,or
researchersfromcollaboratingresearchgroups.Thus,whenwritinginyournotebooktryto
imaginehowyourwritingmaybeinterpretedbyothers.Keepinmindwhatthingsyouinferor
assume,withoutwritingdown,andaskyourselfwhetherornotothersmaybeabletomake
senseofthecontextofyourentrywithoutthisinformation.Inthecaseofyourlabclass,your
audiencewillalsolikelyincludeyourlabpartnerandyourinstructor.
•
Timescale:Youwillfindthatyoumayneedtoreferencevariouspiecesofinformationrecorded
inyournotebookinaweek,amonth,orinthecaseofauthenticresearchpotentiallymorethan
ayearfromwhenitwasrecorded.Oftheinformationyouwritedown,youwillneverknow
whatyouwillneedandwhenyouwillneedit,butthroughexperienceyouwillfindthatsomeof
theinformationmaybebeofmoreshorttermimportance(e.g.equipmentparametersthatwill
beupdatedinthesubsequentfewdays)whereasotherinformationyoumaykeepcomingback
tooverthecourseofweeksormonths(e.g.acommonlyreproducedalignmentprocedure).Itis
importanttobemindfulofthiswhenwritingeachentry–itisgoodpracticetoaskyourself
“WhenmightIneedthis?”wheneverwritingdownnewinformation.Thefartherinthefuture
thatmaybe,themoredetailyoushouldinclude.
•
Timeinvestment:Theprocessofkeepinglabrecordsisafinebalancebetweenwritingenough
detailsothatyourrecordswillbeusefulinthefutureanddoingsoinatimeefficientwaythat
doesnotslowtheprogressofyourexperiment.Recordkeepingisatimeintensivepartofthe
experimentalprocess–manyresearchersexpressthattheyfeeltheyshouldbetakingmore
timetowriteadditionalinformationinthelabrecordsthattheykeep.Veryfewofthemfeel
thattheyspendtoomuchtimeaddingdetailtotheserecords.Donotlookatrecordkeepingas
anafterthoughttotheactualexperimentalprocess,butratherasanintegralpartthatwill
requiresubstantialamountsofyourlabtimetogetright.
LAB NOTEBOOK EXAMPLES
Herewepresentsomeexamplesofnotebookrecordstakenfromaphysicsresearchlabhereat
CU.Thevariousentriesarerecordedbyseveraldifferentresearcherswhoareworkingcollaborativelyon
theproject.Youwillnoticethateachresearcherhasadifferentstyleandformattotheirentry,but
muchofthesameinformationandthoughtprocesscanbeseenineachentry.Theseexcerptsaremeant
asexamplesofauthenticscientificrecordkeepinganddonotrepresentadefinitiveillustrationforhow
youshouldmaintainyourrecords.
Annotations:
Providescontextbyreferencingthe
measurementsmadeintheprevious
day.Thishelpstomotivatethisday’s
work.
Comparesnewmeasurementto
previousmeasurementandprovides
interpretationofcomparison.
Providessubjectiveinterpretation
ofplottedresults.
Plotiswelllabeledwithaxes,units,
andlegend.
Clearlystatesallobjective
informationpertinenttothe
measurements.
Preliminaryanalysisofresults,
synthesizedinwelllabeledplotand
accompaniedbyevaluationoffitting.
Inthissecondexampleofaresearchnotebook,theentrycomesafteranumberofdaysof
attemptingtotroubleshootandunderstandaparticularpieceofequipment.Theresearcherhas
triedanumberofdifferentapproachestocharacterizethebehaviorofthepieceofequipmentover
thistimeperiod.This
entrywaswrittenatthe
conclusionofthis
process.
Specifiesfileswhereresults
ofmeasurementsand
analysiscanbelocated.
Describesinterpretationof
results.
Theresearcherthen
synthesizestheresultsof
thepreviousseveraldaysof
characterization.This
concisedescriptionmakes
thefullpictureclearerthan
ifonehadtoreadbackover
allpreviousentries.
Theresearcherthengoeson
todescribethefuture
directionfortheexperiment.
Thisconcisedescriptionshows
considerationforabroaderaudience.
Thoroughdescriptionofprocess
performedduringthedayandmakes
clearthecomparisonwithprevious
day’sresults.
Speculationaboutpotentialcauseof
observeddiscrepancy.
Thoroughlylabeledplotwithall
potentiallyrelevantinformation.
Explicitlystatestheintendedtestto
determinethecauseofthe
discrepancy.
Welllabeledplotwithinterpretation.
Theconcisesynthesisofalltests
performedallowsforother
researcherstoquicklyunderstandresults.
Researcherconnectsthecurrentday’s
workwithpreviousresultssothatreader
mayeasilyreferenceandunderstandthe
backgroundtothecurrentwork
(“synthesizeagain”)
Researchermakesitclearthatthey
obtainedanullresult.
Makesthoroughlistofhypothesesabout
thecauseofthenullresult.Thislistmay
servetomotivatesubsequentdays’
measurements.
Aftertestingalloftheirhypothesisthe
researcherthenprovidesmotivationfor
thedirectionofthesubsequentday’swork.