Guidelines for Field Notebooks

The field notebook should have enough information that it could be handed to a colleague or supervisor (or you could pick it up yourself a year or two after doing an experiment) and that person would have all of the information needed to analyze your data or repeat your experiment.

Essential components include:

Name/Date
Each new entry should include your name and date on the top of the page. The names of the others in your field party (those associated with making measurements recorded in the book) also need to be recorded.
Diagram
Show the essential features of the experimental situation in a neat sketch (an elaborate artistic drawing is not necessary). Show the relationships of different parts of the apparatus, dimensions to be measured, distances covered, spacing between measurements, etc.
Location Map
Include a location map and description of experiment location with sufficient detail that the site could be reoccupied and the experiment repeated by you or someone else.
Identification of Apparatus
Identify each important piece of apparatus by the manufacturer's serial number and full instrument name and model number. This is particularly helpful for tracking down problems with faulty equipment.
Data
Data should be arranged in neat, tabular form with column headings showing the quantity to be recorded and the units. All measurements should be recorded directly on the data page in ink. Ideally each measurement should have some associated identification. For gravity readings, this might take the form of an instrument ID and the measurement number from this year's class (e.g., CUB-009); a magnetic reading, if part of a profile, might be the profile number and the reading within the profile, say P5-14. A refraction profile might combine the profile and shot position and shot number. Record the numbers you see on the instrument; multiplying by factors and corrections should be recorded separately. If you record the wrong number, draw a single line through the entry and make the correct entry above, below, or to one side. Blotting out mistakes is generally a bad idea because sometimes the nature of the mistake turns up other problems much later in processing. It is good practice to record data to the nearest tenth of the smallest scale division. This practice introduces a random error of about two or three-tenths of the smallest division. When only the final digit in a measurement is doubtful, it is said to be written in the proper number of significant figures.

Photocopies of the field notebook will be used by everyone in class to interpret the observations.

Move on to Lab Report Guidelines

Please send mail if you encounter any problems or have suggestions.

GEOL 4714/5714 home | C. H. Jones | CIRES | Dept. of Geological Sciences | Univ. of Colorado at Boulder

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