Description of research data in laboratory notebooks: Challenges and opportunities.

In scientific research, laboratory (lab) notebooks have traditionally been used to record experiments and their results. Lab notebooks also act as an important record of the generation, processing and analysis of data over the research data lifecycle. As research data becomes increasingly digitized and voluminous, it becomes harder to record and describe research data, especially in paper lab notebooks (PLNs). This paper addresses the challenges of recording contemporary research data in lab notebooks and discusses the requirements in lab notebooks for describing research data. Two basic requirements of lab notebooks are the completeness of the data description and the ability to link the experiment records with their corresponding research datasets. Descriptions of research data should also document the provenance of the research data so that the original data can be retrieved. Guidelines for consistent file naming and systematic directory structures for saved research data can support efficient research data retrieval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]