Scientists depend on Lab Notebooks

I'm not very sure if i need to cite my document since it is my own document, but I have done so anyway.

Grossman, Heather. Student Notebook: Chem 212. Norfolk, VA: Dartmouth College, 2008. Print.

The keystone document in scientific writing is the Lab Notebook. It is the most stringently composed document; however, it is the most common and only hand written text within scientific writing. Being able to keep a high quality Lab Notebook is the most important skill to have within the Sciences, all other skills are easier to teach.

A Lab Notebook serves many purposes. Most would assume that a Lab Notebook is used for the purpose of recording the completed tasks alone. This is highly inaccurate. A Lab Notebook creates: a record of work done, raw data, data analysis, and evidence of personal work in a project. The most important role of a Lab Notebook though is ethical. Without a Lab Notebook that follows the standard protocol, you are unable to validate publication or to prove intellectual property.

The text of a Lab Notebook is intended for a very limited audience. In a traditional Lab Notebook the contents are intended only for the author, principle investigator, and collaborators. As a result, most notes are written in a standard language specific for the principle investigator's team. Sometimes issues may arise and a secondary audience is involved: the peers of the principle investigator. While falling across the text on accident will never happen (research  Lab Notebooks are kept under lock and key), these peers are anonymously and randomly chosen to review Lab Notebooks in ethical disputes. The Lab Notebook cited for this purpose is not an "authentic" Lab Notebook in that it does not include information specific to a personal project. It was constructed to learn proper protocol as part of a course curriculum.

Lab Notebooks are highly organized. The first page of text is a table of contents to diagram out each project discussed within the entire text. Every project outline must be written in a specific order: purpose/objective, pertinent background information, protocol, relevant calculations/statistics, Observations, Notes/Conclusions. All contents of the Lab Notebook must be hand printed in blue or black ink, dated, and signed. If there is a mistake the correction must be made by drawing a single line through the words or numbers. No pages may be removed from the book. Any failure to comply with the rules gives grounds for an integrity trial.

Overall the Lab Notebook is written in a very casual way. While a specific language and group of acronyms is used, there is no pressure for correct spelling, grammar, or even sentences. Most Lab Notebooks are compilations of phrases, diagrams, and doodles that convey the needed knowledge efficiently. The Lab Notebook is the most beautiful component of scientific writing because of its fusion between rigidity and creativity.

Fig 1: This is an image of my personal Lab Notebook. This is an "authentic" Lab Notebook in that it is top secret, and a lot more expensively constructed than the ones that are used to teach with. Sorry I can't let you peek inside :-) 

 Fig 2: This is an image from one of my learning Lab Notebooks. You can see all of the formatting creations I mentioned on this one page. There is a signature at the bottom that cannot be seen. This page shows copious liberal interpretations of the English language as well as the informal nature and appearance of this writing.