Key to Unknown : In Chemistry, it is often the practice in educational establishments to give students unknown substances (unknown by them, that is!) to analyse. If you keep such a set of substances for use each year, it is important that you keep a record of the identity of each substance! It is also important that you keep this record in a safe place and that you remember where you put it. Well, we have covered a number of records in this section and we acknowledge that it is quite possible that you might keep a record that we have not considered. Before we leave records, however, there are just a few general points to be made. Where to keep your records deserves some thought.

For records to be of any use in an emergency, they need to survive. Therefore, you should try to keep them in a relatively safe place.

For information useful for the day-to-day work in the labs, don't neglect the notice-board as a useful place to keep records. Records such as timetables, lists of batches of students, student number, etc. can well be displayed on a notice board in the preparation room.

Finally, you should give some thought to the security of your records. If you handle any confidential information, this must be kept under lock and key, within the preparation room. This makes a lockable filing cabinet almost essential (although lockable desk drawers can be used).