Some have asked me to share the responses to my request re: notebooks --
1. Every lab I know uses plain old mead notebooks, but for the field
Write-In-The-Rain books are great.
2. Forestry Suppliers (http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/) has a pretty
good selection of field notebooks. I prefer the Transit Field Book, but
they have many different sizes and types of ruling. Ben Meadows
(http://www.benmeadows.com/) has a similar selection, but tends to be more
expensive for what I buy. In the lab we tend to use bound composition
books.
3. I use "Rite in the Rain" all weather Field notebooks. Model no. 350N
4. Write in the rain books are amazing if a little expensive. if your
field books are going to be exposed to a lot of water then you'll definitely
appreciate the waterproof paper and sturdy cover.
5. I prefer the Rite in the Rain brand spiral notebooks for general note
keeping in the field and the printable punch-out Rite in the Rain pages for
data sheets in the field. As for the lab I just use the same spiral bound
field notebooks for ease of using one type of book, that and I work with
aquatic systems which always end up on the note book.
---- http://www.riteintherain.com/ Spiral notebooks: Item No. 313-MX or Item
No. 313
----Printable punch-out sheets: Item No. LL8511
6. Field notebooks -- Rite in the Rain all-weather horizontal line No
390 hardcover small notebooks, datasheets on Rite in the Rain copier paper
in wet conditions. Lab notebooks -- Mead or other brand, hardcover
composition books, college ruled 24.7 X19 cm
7. We use basic composition notebooks for lab notebooks in our lab. I
like them because their wide lines have room for even the worst hand writing
to write comfortably, and are only 80 pages. Fewer pages mean they aren't
used so much that they fall apart. Some people use fancy ones
(http://www.fishersci.com/wps/portal/PRODUCTDETAIL?prodcutdetail='prod'&productId=632475&catalogId=29104&matchedCatNo=119032||119033||0181419&pos=1&catCode=RE_SC&endecaSearchQuery=%23store%3DScientific%23N%3D0%23rpp%3D15&fromCat=yes&keepSessionSearchOutPut=true&fromSearch=Y&searchKey=notebooks||labs||laboratory||note%20book||notebook||lab&highlightProductsItemsFlag=Y)
but I'm not really sure why they're so great. Also, as a lefty I prefer not
having a hard spine or spiral bound. For field notebooks, you can't go
wrong with basic write in the rains.
8. You will probably hear this from a hundred people, but for the field,
Write in the Rain notebooks are great (available from Forestry Suppliers,
and probably others). Just be sure to write in pencil, or your notes could
fade or run. For the lab, it depends on what kind of data you collect, but I
think it is less critical. I also insist on pencil in lab notebooks, since
water and chemicals have a way of splashing onto the pages.
9. The last couple of field jobs I've been on we've used Rite in the
Rain notebooks, with bound numbered pages. The field-flex maxi bound books
[1] are nice as are all of the numbered 4 3/4" x 7 1/2" sized books [2].
The smaller books are much easier to just stuff in a pack or shove in a
pocket. As an aside, I'm also using rite in the rain as a personal "lab
notebook" for cooking and beer and wine making.
--9a. While I've not used them I also think that the wiki style approach
to a lab notebook (where appropriate, as corroborating signatures seem to be
a murky area when it comes to digital data) is exceptional. Tiddlywiki and
MediaWiki come to mind as nice starting platforms. Wikis offer an audit
trail, search, export to pdf, and simple collaboration tools, they're also
much easier to backup than a hard copy lab notebook. See the OpenWetWare lab
notebooks [3] for an idea of the setup (eg rotifer alien genes [4]).
---[1]
http://www.riteintherain.com/ItemForm.aspx?item=374-MX&Category=5657d1ba-1d46-402a-bc2e-8c52428d1cc1
---[2]
http://www.riteintherain.com/ItemForm.aspx?item=550&Category=6fd10376-a439-4797-95f0-349a58e602ea
---[3] http://openwetware.org/wiki/Lab_Notebook
---[4]
http://openwetware.org/wiki/User:Alexander_S_Mikheyev/Notebook/rotifer_alien_genes
10. I've used Rite in the Rain notebooks for field research
(http://www.riteintherain.com/). Just make sure you write with pencil
because ink will sometimes run.
11. I am a big fan of "Rite in the Rain" bound books. I use all weather
field books (no. 350) as most of my research is aquatic in nature and things
get wet.
12. RITE IN THE RAIN is the only way to go for field notebooks. They are
awesome and come in tons of configurations depending on your needs. I like
to use them in the lab too since I get everything soaking wet and muddy.
http://www.riteintherain.com/
13. For field notebooks, rite in the rain works best. A must for any
winter work in the PNW. Only downside is you need to write in pencil if you
don't buy their special pen. Regular pens do not write well on the waxed
paper.
14. I strongly prefer the rite-in-the-rain products. Not only do they
help if you get moisture/humidity out in the field, they are also great in
the lab in case of moisture or dirt exposure there too. Here is the link to
the size I like, but they come in all manner of sizes, binding types, and
page prints. I like this one because it has numbered pages, both lined
andgrid pages, and a spiral binding. I prefer spiral because it can be
folded all the way around when writing in the field. I like this size
because it
fits well in a day pack without taking up too much space.
http://www.riteintherain.com/ItemForm.aspx?item=353&Category=5131a442-e0fb-4d63-9fb5-91bd1a174b61
--Lou
