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Lab Notebooks (2020)

sambleckley.com

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Re: Lab Notebooks (2020)

#11

Post by robertlacok »

A huge downside of writing this down on paper is team collaboration. Imagine that instead this is kept in a tool like Notion which the entire team can access. At first this feels incredibly uncomfortable - your notes are there for everyone to see. However it’s a massive force multiplier because often the work is picked up by someone else later on, and instead of asking you they can self-serve. It’s pretty common that by the time they need it you would no longer be at the company.

I don’t have experience writing in a lab journal format, but for documents like growth experiments and how they worked, or RFCs, this is a godsend. It takes a lot of work to keep it tidy, but it’s worth it.

Re: Lab Notebooks (2020)

#12

Post by nolamark »

maCDzP wrote: post #10
nolamark wrote: post #7

Habit of lab notebook has stuck with me since college. Shoutout to reMarkable tablets and Neo Smartpens, for helping combine the analog process of handwriting with digital search. Likely a personal thing, just like to take hands off keyboard from time to time. Seen hints of research re benefits of handwriting, but never really dug into it.

Haven’t heard of Neo before but it looks amazing. Could you explain your process and likes/dislikes with the Neo/reMarkable?

Here is a first draft. I'll expand if I have more time and energy.

Rule #1. Every thing gets a date (And more an aspiration than reality a time.) I am truely an oddball and have my own date format 2023_12Dec_26Tue_1312. Rational, when used a a corresponding file name, it sorts naturally assuming you used 0 prefix on one digit numbers. Day of week, just another memory clue to try to recall specific thought experiment.

Rule #2. It is a process, not end product. Like the article mentions, no erasure. Point is re remember mistakes, not hide them.

Rule #3. Take you time to write neatly. It is for your future you, and you will thank yourself. May feel like a debt due to slowness, but really an investment for your future self.

Pros. reMarkable likes: feels like nice inkflow. Can get a fine line not quite comperable to a Pilot G-Tec-C 0.25 pen, but fine enought. I write small to increase information density per page. NeoSmart pen: doesn't just feel like ink flow, it is inflow

Cons. NeoSmart pen: notebooks are expensive. Cheapskate in me, writes less than I should. Remarkable tablet: Miss the real estate of two pages open in a labnote book. Also, miss the leafthrough feel of physical notebook. Can't as easily binary seach to find something like one can in paper notebook

Just saw Smart Plate at neosmartpen site, resisting urge for impulse purchase

Edit - update to expand

Additional cons or NeoSmartpen: Very limited number of pen widths.

Note: When I worked for a living, it was much more likely to be greenfield project, not a repetition of a existing workflow. Even on repetitive projects, debugging is a good match for a notebook. Now my projects are for learning, never finished product. As always, your mileage may vary.

Try to formalize your process and have repeatable actions done in repeatable ways. I have a collection of tokens. Before starting I write down a #GOAL, useful for climbing out of rabbit holes. Of course, the all important #ASSUMPTIONS. If the goal is not likely achievable in one session, write down a #PLAN. If need motivation to pursue a path, I write #BABYSTEPS for an action to start with. If I have a thought that would distract from present pursuit, I write a #STASH. If I do have a distraction I pursue, I note #DETOUR. End of day gets a few #LESSONSLEARNED and a #WRAPUP.

I have a target audience of one, me. Thru trial and error I know what I'll want to know in the future, usually from stuff I regreted not having written down. From time to time, recall, revise, and document "process" currently in use in notebooks. Date_Time are links to other notes in notebook, Date_Time_Notebook are references to other notebooks. Date_Time and Date_Time_Notebook are also typed as comments in associated computer files, be they source code or what serves as documentation.

To re-emphasize importance of Rule#1: Truth value of things changes with time. Time, usually, but not always, serves as a shortcut description of context, or at least provides enough hints to re-build the context

Re: Lab Notebooks (2020)

#13

Post by oslem »

robertlacok wrote: post #11

A huge downside of writing this down on paper is team collaboration. Imagine that instead this is kept in a tool like Notion which the entire team can access. At first this feels incredibly uncomfortable - your notes are there for everyone to see. However it’s a massive force multiplier because often the work is picked up by someone else later on, and instead of asking you they can self-serve. It’s pretty common that…

I agree that it’s useful for the rest of the team to have access to your notes, but I find that it’s far more useful to write my notes with a pen and paper rather than typing them out. It forces me to slow down and think through what I’m doing, in addition to aiding in memorizing the parts of my notes that I find important.

Re: Lab Notebooks (2020)

#14

Post by distortionfield »

I recommend the Leuchtturm 1917 Notebook for this kind of stuff. It comes with spine labels and a table of contents pages in the notebook already, and the paper is extremely high quality. They're the perfect daily-use notebook, IMO.

Re: Lab Notebooks (2020)

#15

Post by nolamark »

oslem wrote: post #13
robertlacok wrote: post #11

A huge downside of writing this down on paper is team collaboration. Imagine that instead this is kept in a tool like Notion which the entire team can access. At first this feels incredibly uncomfortable - your notes are there for everyone to see. However it’s a massive force multiplier because often the work is picked up by someone else later on, and instead of asking you they can self-serve. It’s pretty common that…

I agree that it’s useful for the rest of the team to have access to your notes, but I find that it’s far more useful to write my notes with a pen and paper rather than typing them out. It forces me to slow down and think through what I’m doing, in addition to aiding in memorizing the parts of my notes that I find important.

Discussion prompted me to find NeoSmartpen accessory, seems like it could help with the sharing.

https://shop.neosmartpen.com/collections/accessories/product...

an impulse purchase I am fighting not make, not actual experience with the tablet. Do use Neo Smartpens

Re: Lab Notebooks (2020)

#16

Post by pimlottc »

nolamark wrote: post #12
maCDzP wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haven’t heard of Neo before but it looks amazing. Could you explain your process and likes/dislikes with the Neo/reMarkable?

Here is a first draft. I'll expand if I have more time and energy. Rule #1. Every thing gets a date (And more an aspiration than reality a time.) I am truely an oddball and have my own date format 2023_12Dec_26Tue_1312. Rational, when used a a corresponding file name, it sorts naturally assuming you used 0 prefix on one digit numbers. Day of week, just another memory clue to try to recall specific thought experiment.…

> Rational, when used a a corresponding file name, it sorts naturally assuming you used 0 prefix on one digit numbers.

Minor bit, but I think you meant “rationale” here, as a noun. “Rational” as an adjective is a bit of a different meaning than you intended, I think.

Re: Lab Notebooks (2020)

#17

Post by bayindirh »

I do this for my personal software projects, research or otherwise. I have more stricter rules about paper and pen I use though.

A single fountain pen, filled with the same permanent, pigment or cellulose reactive ink, on a hardcover, ink-safe notebook.

However, the rest “at the speed of thought” rules are almost the same. Theorize, design and detail on paper, implement, document results, GOTO 10.

It’s a greet speed regulator, clarifier and keeps everything documented. As a bonus, you get “That weird guy” merit badge, which I don’t care.

Re: Lab Notebooks (2020)

#18

Post by shcheklein »

It reminds me an approach to data science and ML. It's way more common and essential for ML teams to log their attempts (experiments). There is a whole set of tools for this - experiments trackers. Primarily to even being able to compare and pick the best direction, but also to ensure reproducibility (in some areas it might be required).

ML/DS always seemed to me closer to science in its nature vs software engineering. Can be because of its nature as well - in a lot of cases it's a process of incremental improvements (vs - simplifying this a lot - let's say in SE we do a button that just works or not).

Re: Lab Notebooks (2020)

#19

Post by nolamark »

pimlottc wrote: post #16
nolamark wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is a first draft. I'll expand if I have more time and energy. Rule #1. Every thing gets a date (And more an aspiration than reality a time.) I am truely an oddball and have my own date format 2023_12Dec_26Tue_1312. Rational, when used a a corresponding file name, it sorts naturally assuming you used 0 prefix on one digit numbers. Day of week, just another memory clue to try to recall specific thought experiment.…

> Rational, when used a a corresponding file name, it sorts naturally assuming you used 0 prefix on one digit numbers. Minor bit, but I think you meant “rationale” here, as a noun. “Rational” as an adjective is a bit of a different meaning than you intended, I think.

you are correct. (Note from grade school report card: Mark missed 39 of the 81 spelling words this month).

But it does point to another issue with handwritten notes. Sloppy spelling and dislexia (sic)

Re: Lab Notebooks (2020)

#20

Post by cratermoon »

I know of two places to buy genuine engineering lab notebooks, for anyone interested.

1. Scientific Notebook Company https://snco.com/>

2. BookFactory https://www.bookfactory.com/>

Of the two, I slightly prefer BookFactory's offerings. Note that there are many, many variants. Unless you are employed somewhere that mandates a particular type – and if you do, they are likely available from your office supply closet – pick one you like. Do go with the bound hardcover style, though. They're much more durable than spiral or softbound.

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