In the lab, you will be responsible for keeping track of a lab notebook. The lab notebook is critical because it is where you will keep all your lab results and work, and you will find yourself referring to your lab notebook constantly when it comes time to make a poster for a conference, revisit an experiment or discuss your research in the journal club--just to name a few examples. In the lab, you will be provided with a composition book for your notes.
Given this, it is vital to make sure that all the information you write in your lab notebook is as complete as possible. Trust me, you will thank yourself later when it comes to revisiting your experiments because you will have the protocol and measurements for your experiment down, or maybe you made a mistake beforehand and could see what you did wrong last time. Write and keep the information in one notebook, and date the information in case you need to recall when you did an experiment.
For your lab results (gels and protocols), tape them to your notebook to ensure that they do not get lost. To be on the safe side, scan your results to your computer and keep them in a separate file.
Given this, it is vital to make sure that all the information you write in your lab notebook is as complete as possible. Trust me, you will thank yourself later when it comes to revisiting your experiments because you will have the protocol and measurements for your experiment down, or maybe you made a mistake beforehand and could see what you did wrong last time. Write and keep the information in one notebook, and date the information in case you need to recall when you did an experiment.
For your lab results (gels and protocols), tape them to your notebook to ensure that they do not get lost. To be on the safe side, scan your results to your computer and keep them in a separate file.
Electronic Lab Notebook Keeping
Given that this fall research will be online, you will likely keep your notes electronically, although you may of course use a physical lab notebook for your records if you prefer. For electronic lab notebook keeping, you can use anything such as a Google Doc or a Microsoft Word document. If you prefer a more advanced lab software, check out Benchling (although this is totally optional, of course!). It is an electronic lab software that is free to use with your ufl.edu account, and in it you can write down new notes, put in your project files such as your results, and it can even hold files of plasmids that you are working with!
If you are interested in the software, feel free to contact one of us about it and we can help you set it up! But, here are some videos that could help you get started:
Benchling Introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8zKosaLFUw
Benchling Video Tutorials: https://benchling.com/tutorials/
Another Benchling Guide: https://www.benchling.com/2016/07/19/notebook-guide/