Department of Physics and Computer Science

Lab Notebook Summaries

In many courses with labs, you are required to keep a notebook, where you can make notes, record data, etc. Often you'll be required to make a summary of one lab's entries. A summary should be short, (one or two pages max), and focusing on a few key points from that lab.
A point in a summary should be

• Important; if you missed it, it would be hard or impossible to do the lab
• Original; this lab should be the first time you've seen it; there's no point in repeating the same points in several labs
• Specific; it should be detailed enough to be used on its own, not requiring reference to some other document
• General; it applies to more than just this lab and should be kept in mind for any similar lab

Sample Summary Entries

Suppose the labs in PC/CP220 used a lab notebook with summaries.

Bad Summary Entry

Here's an example of a bad choice for an entry:

This is bad because it won't be any use later on.

Good Summary Entry

Here's a much better entry for the same topic:

This one describes what you need to remember all the time.

Bad Summary Entry

Here's an example of a bad choice for a different entry:

As before, it's no use as a reference for you.

Good Summary Entry

Here's a much better entry for the same topic:

In each case, the bad entries give no useful information for future reference, while the good entries make statements which would always be good to remember.