What do your lab books look like?

[Tris20]

We get ours graded at uni but not once have they haven't given us any real instruction on how to present it etc. Needless to say mine is a total mess. I'd really like to improve mine but don't know where to start or what a good lab book actually looks like. I've attached a few pages from the last lab we did. Anyone care to have a look at it and give any tips on better practises? Additionally, if anyone could post up a picture of some of their own lab books it would be really helpful so I can see (visual learner) what the layout should be like and how you correctly document what your doing.

Obviously please don't post anything that would get you in trouble...

Thanks in advance.

[AlfBaz]

Is that an example of what you are handing in to be graded?

[c4757p]

This gives me flashbacks to when I used to grade math homework

Dude, the biggest problem here is just the complete lack of neatness. Slow down, write like you actually know the language, and organize things on the page a bit better. If you have to draw a divider between sections you're cramming it too tight. A little whitespace never hurt anybody!

Poor handwriting is only a badge of honor for doctors.

[GreyWoolfe]

This is not a very good lab paper.  There are inexpensive templates from Rapidesign and Template Design that will make your circuit diagrams neat and easy to understand.  You are using grid paper and lined paper but your work is all over the page.  In my opinion, neatness is paramount.  Something I have picked up from reading on the Blog, is I draw my schematic in black and label component values in blue.  I also make notes with the schematic in blue.  The color contrasts make it easier to follow what is on the paper.  Spelling and grammar is all important.  My personal opinion is that your paper looks more like 5th grade work instead of university work.  Remember, you are not doing these labs for you.  You are doing them for someone else to grade them.  If you presented documentation to your boss, in the real world, like that, I can almost guarantee you would be doing a rewrite.  I would also bet your boss would have some words with you about it.  When we do any kind of technical document, whether it is for the end user, or the knowledge base, it is peer reviewed by email, including our manager and typically goes through several rewrites to make the documents as professional as possible.  The rewrites are not because the work is bad, but to make sure that nothing pertinent is missed and that it is easy to follow, especially if it is for non technical end users.  It is always about the little details.  If you remember that, the big details will take care of themselves as they are made up of a bunch of little details.  I made a scan of a small project by a fellow EEVBlogger, W2AEW that I wrote down for myself to go in the to do pile.  No one will see this but me, but I still tried to make it as easily read as possible.  If I was going to show it to someone else, I would make a point to do it neater.  If other people are going to see your work, never settle on the first draft.  Go over it carefully and do at least 1 rewrite.  As a side note, yes, I love DaveCad Pro

[tanstaafl]

Agree with AcHmed99, none of my professors would have accepted hand written lab papers ( some of them didn't even accept ones written in word ). All of mine were written in LaTeX which I can't recommend enough.

[Bored@Work]

We get ours graded at uni but not once have they haven't given us any real instruction on how to present it etc. Needless to say mine is a total mess. I'd really like to improve mine but don't know where to start or what a good lab book actually looks like.

Googleing the terms lab notebook format and lab notebook guidelines brings up a number of detailed guidelines from reputable universities. While many of the examples are for people working in research you can still get an idea how really good lab notebooks are supposed to look like.

[T3sl4co1l]

Lab books?  What's that?...

Here's an example from half a year ago.  I'm a professional?



(Vector math... I was programming, not electronics-ing... for shame )

Tim

[T3sl4co1l]

Almost threw it out?  There's still free space to scratch away on there! 

[Tris20]

Glad I asked now! Yes, this is getting handed it, However they've said specifically that they expect them to be messy and it's more about checking the calculations etc and how it has progressed. I'd like to point out that this is handed in as part of a team project and it should be pretty obvious if they cross-check who actually did the calculations and who didn't attend the lab and copied from said person...  They've actually specifically said that a neat lab book will be treated with suspicion. Additionally the neatness is mostly expected in the mid term and final reports.

That said, I've always been messy. Every time I tidy up I actually have difficulty understanding what I've written because I usually recognise the specific shape of the mess as opposed to what was actually written. However, I realise that no-one else can read these shapes and it's about time I started using legible diagrams and writing neatly as it won't be long before this really beings to matter.

We've also had no formats or guidelines for these :/

"The basic flow would be like this say.
1.   Title page lab number, date, course number and Prof name and of course your name.
2.   Intro state objectives, how you plan to accomplish them etc..Usually a paragraph or so.
3.   Then all your work diagrams, scope captures, simulations etc..
4.   Summaries your findings why you did what you did what you learned, what you may have done differently if you were to do it again. Usually a paragraph or so.
5.   List your sources i.e. datasheets, web pages, thesis, application notes or book etc... Then list the tools you used. "

This is actually far more like what we're expected to do for our report.

[NiHaoMike]

Here's a schematic from one, after some cleanup done digitally:

I generally only use paper notes for schematics. Text is done digitally.