Guidelines for Keeping a Lab Notebook

Guidelines for Keeping a Lab Notebook A lab notebook is the primary permanent record of your research and experiments. Note that if you are taking an AP Placement lab course, you need to present a suitable lab notebook in order to get AP credit at most colleges and universities. Here is a list of guidelines that explains how to keep a lab notebook. Notebook Must Be Permanently Bound It should not be loose-leaf or in a 3-ring binder. Never tear a page out of the lab notebook. If you make a mistake, you can cross it out, but you should not remove sheets or parts of sheets from your book. When you cross out an error, it should still be legible. You should be  explaining the reason for the strikethrough and you should initial and date it. To that point, it is not acceptable to take notes in pencil or erasable ink. Keep Everything Legible and Organized Organization is key to a good lab book. Print your name, contact info, the date and other pertinent information on the cover of the lab book.  Some lab books require you to enter some of this information on every page of the book. If your book is not pre-numbered, number every page. Usually, numbers are located in the upper outer corner and both the front and back of each page is numbered. Your labor instructor may have a rule regarding numbering. If so, follow their instructions. Its also a good idea to reserve the first couple of pages for a Table of Contents. To keep everything organized and simplified, start a fresh page for each experiment. Be Precise in Your Record Keeping This is a record of the lab work you have done during the semester or year, so it needs to be thorough. For each experiment, record the date(s) and list lab partners, if applicable. Record all information real-time. Dont wait to fill in the information. It may be tempting to record data elsewhere and then transcribe it into your lab notebook, usually because it would make the notebook neater, but its important to record it immediately. Include charts, photos, graphs and similar information in your lab notebook. Usually, youll tape these in or include a pocket for a data chip. If you must keep some data in a separate book or other location, note the location in your lab book and cross-reference it with the relevant lab book page numbers wherever the data is stored. Dont leave gaps or white space in the lab book. If you have a big open space, cross it out. The purpose of this is so no one can go back in and add false details at a later date.

How to Resolve Awkward Identifying Descriptions

How to Resolve Awkward Identifying Descriptions How to Resolve Awkward Identifying Descriptions How to Resolve Awkward Identifying Descriptions By Mark Nichol Writers often fail to note that a phrase they have constructed to describe a person, place, or thing- one that involves two parallel components, or one component subordinate to another, in sequence- can result in unwieldy strings of nouns functioning as adjectives leading up to a key noun. In each of the following sentences, following a discussion of the problem, such a train of stacked adjectives is uncoupled and rearranged for improved readability in one or more revisions. 1. â€Å"Our idea and concept was to build a small place to entertain our friends and to have some foodies and chef friends around to create new and imaginative dishes,† co-owner chef Stefan Stiller said in a statement. The conjunction and should separate two disparate identifying words or phrases associated with a person’s name: â€Å"‘Our idea and concept was to build a small place to entertain our friends and to have some foodies and chef friends around to create new and imaginative dishes,’ co-owner and chef Stefan Stiller said in a statement.† (A solidus, or slash, could be inserted to separate the terms, but this symbol should be avoided in formal writing.) An alternative is to use the person’s name to divide the identifying terms: â€Å"‘Our idea and concept was to build a small place to entertain our friends and to have some foodies and chef friends around to create new and imaginative dishes,’ co-owner Stefan Stiller, a chef, said in a statement,† However, it would be more appropriate to identify the speaker first as a chef and then as a co-owner. 2. FBI Criminal Investigation Division Deputy Assistant Director John Smith emphasized the potential for both the industry and regulators to benefit by improving collaboration. When a name is preceded by a cumbersome job title, and especially if that is preceded by a reference to the entity by which the person is employed, the information is easier to read if it follows the name and the train of terms is relaxed by beginning with the job title, followed by â€Å"of the† and the entity’s name: â€Å"John Smith, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Division, emphasized the potential for both the industry and regulators to benefit by improving collaboration.† (Note that the job title is not capitalized when it does not precede the person’s name.) 3. The Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists Fifteenth Annual Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crime Conference begins on April 1. The same approach is appropriate when the name of a component of an entity or an event presented by an entity is combined with the name of the entity: â€Å"The fifteenth annual Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crime Conference of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists begins on April 1.† (Note that a reference to how many of these events have been held at regular intervals, such as â€Å"fifteenth annual,† is seldom part of an event’s official designation and therefore is usually not capitalized.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Words for Facial ExpressionsUsed To vs. Use ToWriting a Thank You Note