Writing the Laboratory Notebook

by Howard M. Kanare

Book Overview

Discusses the vital aspects of how to make a proper and permanent record of research work. Goes beyond the mechanical of simply filling in the notebook pages with details on the skills needed to create proper records of research, observations, and results. Helps to increase awareness of what is being done in the lab and to develop a flexible style of notekeeping that will serve a variety of research environments.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0841209332
• ISBN13: 9780841209336
• Release Date: May 1985
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Length: 150 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.9" x 9.9"

Customer Reviews

Great Lab Notebook guide

This book came in pristine condition and is just what I needed for class. It is a great manual and plan to continue to use it throughout the rest of my carrer. Thank you very much!!

Tradition can save the reality

This is one of the best titles from ACS. It may also be the only one detailing the laboratory notebooking to my best knowledge. It reveals that there is a lot more than "write down what you do" in this business. The current notebooking situation is not great in terms of graduates getting into industry. One thing to blame is the current academic systems' lack of education int this aspect. Much of the busniess was left to the advisor and/or graduate students. But... the good old tradition? Lost! A REAL and SERIOUS researcher in today's industrial world would benefit greatly from it. This is certaily clear to me in traditional chemical / pharmaceutical industry. The younger industry such as biotechnology has much to learn from the book too since quite a few simply neglect this critical issue. The legal departments ought to educate the employees and the management ought to enforce it. The reason simply is IP and patenting. The consequence simply is financial impact. The principles and spirit in the book work well in the past, today and almost certainly will into the future although there are some advancements such as internet and imaging technologies.

timeless guidance

Glad the book is still easily available. Great, timeless guidance and review text for lab folks of all levels.

Thorough Guide to Keeping an Industrial Laboratory Notebook

As a technical rewriter for an international patent office in Tokyo, Japan, I came across this book sitting on my desk. It provides a thorough guide to keeping an industrial laboratory notebook. Topics discussed included the following: * types of suitable acid-free ink and paper for laboratory notebooks * suitable methods for storage of laboratory notebooks * differences between academic notekeeping and industrial notekeeping * the importance of teaching notekeeping skills, starting with the sophomore year in college * the importance of witnesses and clearly dated and qualified notebook entries in the patent industry * good layout of the laboratory notebook, together with examples of the same * electronic counterparts to the laboratory notebook The writing was clear and easy to read and follow, and included numerous examples and photographs. Of particular note were the descriptions and examples of the critical importance of witnesses in laboratory notekeeping for patents. The author gave an example of how the testimony of a witness for a Dr. Kassel on May 6, 1938, was found to be "even stronger proof of conception than the inventor's own ... records" (p. 108). On a related note, the author discussed the importance of continuity (diligence) in securing patents by explaining that even if it could be shown in court that one inventor had initially conceived of an idea before another, the initial inventor could still lose the patent to the later inventor if the latter showed much greater diligence in pursuing the invention. This title shed much new light on aspects of industrial notekeeping. The only reason that I did not give this review five stars was that the chapter on the electronic notebook was outdated; it did not take into account the World Wide Web. This is understandable, considering that the title was published in 1985; nevertheless, there should be an updated edition, which does not seem to exist. However, the rest of the chapter, and the rest of the book, was sufficiently general in scope to continue to be of great use, even now. I would actually have given this book 4.5 stars if possible. Overall, the title proved useful and easy to read, and I finished reading the entire work in just a few days. Highly recommended. Benjamin L. Russell

Good summary of standard industrial practice

If you need to keep a lab notebook for your work you'll probably end up getting instructions like these. I picked up my copy used; I believe that the American Chemical Society has published a revised edition.I write a notebook for personal reasons, so some of the detail about getting pages notarized and witnessed seem a bit of overkill.