LOGBOOK RULES:

One of the most difficult things to learn, yet one of the most important for future success in physics research, is mastering the "art" of maintaining a proper log book. You should keep a detailed log of all your activities in the lab.

1. Use a bound notebook, not loose sheets of paper to record your thoughts, observations and calculations.  Computation notebooks like the Ampad Gold Fibre model 22-156 (available at Staples or online is my favourite), but you could also use the Roaring Spring model 77-648 from the IU bookstore or the TOPS 35-126.  The Ampad model seems to have the best binding these days, as well as the lowest price. Do not get the type with extra pages for carbon copies. Extra material, such as computer printout, photographs, etc., may be pasted or taped into the book.

2. Make sure your logbook has numbered pages.

3. Skip the first page or two to use for a Table of Contents.

4. Start a new page for each experiment, but otherwise do not leave blank pages. If you have work to add from a previous experiment, just indicate this with a brief note ("Continued on page 57").

5. Date every page, and record the time of the day for each important entry.

6. Always write directly into your log; NEVER work on loose scraps of paper, and then copy things into the book. Even `mistakes' often turn out to be important!

7. For the same reason, do not use pencil. If you discover that something was wrong, "X" it out so that it is clearly marked as being in error, but is still legible. Never use White-out, paste over, or (worst of all) remove pages! When “X’ing” something out work to make sure that the “mistake” is still legible, it may turn out to be important; you may want to read it again!

LOGBOOK GUIDELINES:

Determining what to write in the notebook is largely a matter of personal taste, but the general guideline is that it must be sufficiently detailed and legible to allow you, or someone else, to use it in order to reproduce your results sometime in the (potentially distant) future.  A few general additional suggestions to make it more useful for you are:

1. When you start a measurement, state briefly what its goal is -- just a few key phrases to remind yourself exactly what you will be trying to do. This provides insight into your thinking.

2. As you go along, jot down enough information to indicate what you are doing at that moment. Remember to note the times. The time between observations may be a crucial element in tracking down the origin of drifts or other changes in the apparatus that are not immediately obvious.

3. Provide diagrams (sketches, electronic schematics) of the apparatus, with complete information on settings of controls and other relevant instrumental data.  This may include a copy of the diagram in the lab write-up, but generally that alone does not contain sufficient detail.

4. All measurements should be recorded immediately and directly. Any necessary arithmetic (to convert your numbers to other units, to average two numbers, etc.) should be done in a second step, and also recorded. Remember to record the units for dimensioned quantities, and always estimate the uncertainties in any measured quantity.

5. Any time your measurements result in a list of numbers (e.g., determining how a quantity y depends on the setting of x), you should immediately convert this information into a graph. This will not only often provide some `intuition' about their correlation, but will usually allow you to spot quickly any departure from a smooth dependence, which might indicate a problem with the equipment or an error in that single measurement.

6. As soon as you finish collecting the data, present some preliminary conclusions: what worked, what didn't, and what else will need to be done to complete the analysis. Again, the goal here is to use the notebook to document your thought process as well as your data.

7. Be sure to follow the guidelines for  utilizing a computer with your logbook

Grading Rubric

Lab books will be graded periodically on a 20 point scale with the above guidelines in mind. I will try to use the following rubric (if experience shows that this rubric falls short in some way, and I will inform you of any changes).

1. (2 points) Description of goals. Have you done an adequate job of identifying your goals for the experiment and each section (i.e. provided enough information for the reader to understand your thinking behind the experiment and the procedures).

2. (4 points) Experimental apparatus and procedures. Have you provided sufficient detail in your description of the experiment to allow another person to reproduce your results? Especially, have you included important details that are not contained within the writeup?

3. (1 point) Date and time. Have you recorded the dates and times for your work appropriately?

4. (3 points) Overall organization, clarity, legibility. Is the book organized, neat and legible enough for another person to clearly understand what has been done, the results obtained and the significance of those results?

5. (4 points) Recording of data and observations. Does the notebook present the data and observations adequately and demonstrate that you have performed some analysis on the fly to catch any mistakes early? Are graphs adequately labeled and legible?

6. (4 points) Data analysis. Have the data been analysed adequately and accurately (including appropriate consideration of both random and systematic uncertainties)?

7. (2 points) Summary, conclusions, extensions. Does each lab finish with an adequate summary of the results with a conclusion and suggestions for follow-on experiments?