Keeping a lab notebook

Keeping an updated lab notebook is required to get a “Satisfactory” grade for your research units. Try to make a dated entry into your OneNote lab notebook every day. Even if you have nothing, just type "nothing new to report" or “just checked on the flies – they’re doing well!” in the dated description. Record all info that you need to "perfectly" reconstruct data collection at any time in the future (years from now). At the end, include a very brief plain English summary of the day’s events. Again, the main goal is for you to be able to look at your look at your notebook entry / data several years from now (which is probably around when we will be trying to publish this experiment) and know everything you need to know about the data because the associated notebook entry is complete.

What should go into your notebook:

For each entry, specify date, day, purpose and reference an experiment name. If you just wrote, "Recorded weights" for a particular date, you wouldn’t have a record of which experiment you recorded or what specific data you were collecting.
Detailed notes on all discussions, thoughts, etc. on experimental goals. Start making dated entries immediately, before the experiment(s) are started. Cut/paste emails, websites, PDFs, photos, etc. It should feel like you're scrapbookin' it.
Detailed experimental protocols that could be easily followed by someone else. Give each experiment a name so that you can refer to it quickly in subsequent entries. All experimental protocols should be accompanied with clearly-worded hypotheses and goals and indicate exactly what measurements are going to be taken and how.
Full details for all experimental organisms (source, genetic background, delivery conditions, catalog #, etc).
Provide full justification of all experimental details (species used, temperature, reagents, etc.). Justification might be in the form of simple logic (stated in your own words) or references to other published research (with citations included).
Photographs that document key experimental details. Make quick drawings of experiment set-ups, location of experiment in laboratory, etc. These sketches do not have to be works of art. Take a pic and put it in the notebook.
Equipment details (brand, model number, sensitivity). In some circumstances it is important to record serial number, just in case there was something unique about the item you used. For incubation chambers, always record bulb type / wattage / brand.
Reagent/media/chemical/drug/etc. details, including vendor (name, website, emails) and product information (brand, product number, chemical structure, purity grade, lot number, date of mixing/production, expiration date, etc.). Whenever water is used, specify deionized, distilled, tap, cold, hot, sterile, etc.
Laboratory and incubation chamber conditions such as temperature (in Celsius, ideally), humidity, barometric pressure, light levels, light/day cycle (hours of each, and when night starts), etc.
Annotate all calculations so that all numbers, concentrations, units, etc. are fully explained and would be interpretable by another researcher.
Either use military time or append AM/PM to all your time notations.
Information about your experimental parameters - what you were wearing (white lab coat etc), where you were standing, etc.
Any anomalous events / observations (loud noises, caretakers coming into room, equipment issues, animals acting oddly, looking sick, falling off equipment, etc.).
All mistakes, problems with procedures, and lapses in data collection so that you can fully explain “odd” results at the end of the experiment.
Names / contact information of collaborators and people providing assistance with data collection, techniques, statistical advice, equipment loans, stipend support, supplies funds. Write this information down immediately so that you remember to include it in your future acknowledgements sections when you publish your research. Keep notes about phone conversations and e-mail interactions.
If other people are asked to care for your organisms, ask that person to keep a detailed log of what they did.
IDs (coded) for each subject.
Time at which each procedure / test / trial started and ended.
File names of any associated data files and where the file is stored (backup on laboratory computer in “Backup folder”, personal laptop, etc.). Give your file an informative name (e.g., “Heat_exp1_2018-12-25.xlsx”) rather than “experiment1.xlsx” and make sure to properly backup any such files.