About recording data and recording in the lab journal

All photo files must be renamed by experiment number and kept in subfolders of your project folder on the T drive. Every file must have a corresponding data entry. In order to make this manageable for groups that take large numbers of photos, data may be entered either into the Word template or into a spreadsheet that you generate. If you do the latter, be sure to include all information that is on the Word template. Save these files with a name corresponding to the experiment name and save into the same subfolder as the photo files. It’s no longer necessary to print these pages and tape them into your lab journals. However, this doesn’t relieve you of the responsibility to use your journal for recording. Here’s what you should be writing everyday:

1. Date of entry

2. Specific description on what you do that day. If you make changes in set up, describe those. Clearly describe the set up for any experiment including equipment used, sketches, and diagrams showing circuits or the way you connect the electronics. You only have to do this once for each set up; after that you may simple record changes to an existing set up. If you use a set up that you previously described in your journal, include a note saying that you were using the set up of [give date of entry for which set up is described].

3. If you elect to save data records on the T: drive, include the following in your lab journal:

• the experiment identifier corresponding to the folder on the T drive

• a note that all files have been renamed and uploaded to the T drive