A lab notebook serves several functions. In industry it serves as a legal document to establish priority of invention in patent disputes. While we don't expect many patentable discoveries to come out of 242 Lab, you should develop good notebook habits in case you should go to work for a company that does have such expectations.
In scientific research, it provides a record that allows you to duplicate your work if you succeed at your endeavor (or if you achieve some unexpected but significant result). It's also useful in identifying what might have gone wrong if you achieve neither your desired result nor the discovery of a replacement for aniline.
In an educational environment, we have some additional goals. Since we don't have weekly lab reports, the lab notebook provides a mechanism for evaluating your performance.
With this background, let's see what your lab notebook should look like.
Each lab group will keep a single notebook. The lab notebook must be a bound book (i.e. sewn-in pages, not spiral or loose leaf) with consecutively numbered pages. If the pages are not numbered when you buy the notebook, number them (every page) before using it. Composition books having quadrille ruled sheets make good lab notebooks; they allow tables, graphs, and circuit diagrams to be laid out neatly. Notebooks with duplicate pages and carbon paper are impressive, but rather messy and not really necessary.
Reserve the first few pages for a table of contents. Each time you have a session with your notebook (pre-lab calculations, during lab, or post-lab summary) start a new page and make an entry in the table of contents. At the top of the first page of a session, write the date, lab number, title, and the names of the team members. Indicate which member is actually doing the writing.
Make all entries in ink. If you make a mistake, draw a single line through it, leaving it legible. Some of the greatest advances in modern technology began life as mistakes. Use all pages consecutively; leave no blank pages.
Your lab notebook will contain a record of each of the phases of your weekly lab cycle. Here are a few guidelines: