A laboratory notebook is a diary of a scientist’s research.  Commercial electronic lab notebooks facilitate information sharing among colleagues and are accessible in any room with a computer network.  These products are more targeted at industrial research and development companies than at academic institutions where research skills and laboratory record-keeping are taught.  We have accepted MS Word documents submitted as email attachments in lieu of printed lab reports for a number of years and are now seeking to replace the time-tested composition book / lab notebook with an electronic equivalent.  We will describe our experience with students sharing a pre-formatted GoogleDrive document as a lab notebook.  Advantages to an electronic notebook may seem obvious. In addition to helping to teach better lab record-keeping, electronic lab notebooks may stimulate student interest through the use of cell phone pictures to supplement lab data and verbal observations.  Structures of materials employed can be readily generated by commercial drawing software and easily incorporated into lab records.  Lab notebooks can be reviewed and graded more than once at the end of the semester because students always have their lab data from which their reports can be prepared.  There are, however, some pitfalls to be avoided.<br/>

Poor man's electronic lab notebook

254th National Meeting (2017)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.