Includes bibliographical references and index.

The reasons for notekeeping : an overview -- The hardware of notekeeping : books, pens, and paper -- Legal and ethical aspects : ownership, rights, and obligations -- Management of notekeeping : practices for issuance, use, and storage of notebooks -- Organizing and writing the notebook : be flexible -- Examples of notebook entries -- Patents and invention protection -- The electronic notebook -- Appendix A : Some suggestions for teaching laboratory notekeeping -- Appendix B : Photographs from the historical notebooks of famous scientists. Describes in general how scientists can use handwritten research notebooks as a tool to record their research in progress, and in particular the legal protocols for industrial scientists to handwrite their research in progress so they can establish priority of invention in case a patent suit arises.