1.    Notebooks are to be bound (a spiral binding will do) with pages numbered. The numbers may be printed or added by hand. Number all pages sequentially before using the book. Reserve the first few page for a "Table of Contents", to be filled out as the laboratory assignments are completed.

2.    At the top of each page record the date and the title of the experiment.

3.    If you have a partner for the experiment, be sure to record his or her name.

4.    Record the time of day beside each notebook entry.  There must be at least one time entry  on each page of the notebook.

5.    All data entries are to be made in ink.  Errors should be noted by crossing through the  mistake with a single line. Calculations or graphs may be made in pencil if desired.  All computations done in the laboratory are to be entered in the notebook.

6.    If you write anything down in the laboratory, put it in the laboratory notebook. You should write nothing, no matter how unimportant it seems, on loose sheets of paper.

7.    If you must write something on a loose piece of paper, glue or tape it into your notebook.

8.    Paste, tape, or staple all computer outputs, program listing, oscilloscope photographs, or other similar information obtained during the experiment directly into the notebook with an adequate description. Partners may photocopy original date for inclusion in the lab notebook. Any loose material turned in with the notebook will be discarded.

9.    Experimental procedures actually used should be described.  Do not copy instructions from the laboratory manual. Use your own words to describe what you are doing. These descriptions may be brief but they must be complete.

10.  Diagrams are to be made of each setup, including names and model numbers of all measuring instruments. The philosophy that someone else in the lab should be able, with the aid of your notebook, to set up exactly the same apparatus and duplicate your experiment.

11.  Each data reading recorded must also indicate the estimate of the uncertainty of  the  measurement.  For a series of readings taken in the same manner under similar conditions, one uncertainty estimate may suffice. Data should be entered in tabular form. Graphs should be made right in the notebook preferably on the same page with the data.

12.  Record all raw data.  All calculations, no matter how simple, should be shown.  Do not make the mistake, for example, of multiplying mentally by some scale factor and recording only the result of this calculation as raw data.

13.  Never write any observation in your notebook that you did not personally make.

14.  Be sure to record the scales on which instruments are set. Include units in the results of all calculations, either of expected values or of data.

15.  Conclusions reached while performing the experiment should be described and noted as such.  Show clearly the expected and measured values, even if they disagree.

16.  After completing the experiment but before submitting your notebook, be sure to complete the table of contents in the front of the notebook.

17.  In case a quantity exceeds the limits of measurability of an instrument, place a quantitative limit on the value (e.g. "the ripple is less than 5 mV", or "the resistance is greater than 10 MW")