BookFactory

May 2, 2005 5:15 PM

BookFactory At BookFactory we understand the importance of documenting your work, research and inventions. Through innovation and technology we provide the highest quality books at economical prices without requiring large runs. We specialize in making custom Laboratory Notebooks, Engineering Notebooks, Journals, and Log Books with custom page designs, company logos, book numbers, and more, for less than you pay today.
posted by ColdChef (16 comments total)

Pity they don't seem to have notebooks of what we used to call E-2 paper back in engineering school. It's got a grid printed on the back side of the paper that you can see faintly from the front (the paper is quite thin).
posted by beth at 5:40 PM on May 2, 2005

As a notebook fetishist: Hooray!

For those who haven't integrated a good scientific notebook into their scholarly pursuits, see the excellent Notebook Wiki. A notebook can be a great way to organize your thoughts and build upon your past work. That Wiki is full of interesting philosophies on the use of notebooks.

As a Metafilter reader: Couldn't you have linked to some other Notebook sites, or talked about what use engineering notebooks are good for? This comes off as an advertisement.
posted by Laen at 5:50 PM on May 2, 2005

laen- your link no worky
posted by papakwanz at 5:55 PM on May 2, 2005

I'm experiencing Laen's ambivalence, as well. Part of me is fascinated at the idea of specialized notebooks (no idea why) and part of me is like "What the fuck? A single link post to the front page of a company web site?!"

Please provide more information about why you thought this was fpp-worthy, even in the middle of the thread, it's ok. But what's interesting in this post isn't what's provided.
posted by shmegegge at 6:25 PM on May 2, 2005

While I like the basic link, I'm more interested in Laen's (not working) link. I'd like to read more on that site. I haven't been able to find the site he's referring to (the only "Notebook Wiki" I've found was some sort of software coding site) so if anyone has a link that works or knows of a similar site...
posted by papakwanz at 6:28 PM on May 2, 2005

Laen wrote what I didn't want to be the first to say... as neat as the Bookfactory product is, it is not a true discussion item.
On a counter side of sorts; I can think of lots of domestic alternatives to import items I just don't think are worthy of posting about, such as Igloo and Coleman making nearly identical coolers, but Coleman coolers are made in Wichita, Kansas. Neat to know, but postworthy?
posted by buzzman at 7:12 PM on May 2, 2005

It's not always about discussion.

Sometimes you just find a badass site with cheap custom made scientific notebooks and your first thought is, "I know a whole bunch of people who go gaga over stationary, pens, journals and moleskine-type notebooks." And you want to share what you've found.

Padding the post with articles about the history of papyrus or the economic impact of office products on scientific research kinda seemed beside the point.

Incidentally, this is what MetaTalk is for.
posted by ColdChef at 7:27 PM on May 2, 2005

However, if you'd really like an extra bonus link, this is pretty cool.
posted by ColdChef at 7:34 PM on May 2, 2005

Looks like the Notebook Wiki went down in November, or at least the Wayback Machine stopped seeing it then. The closest connection that I could find is a page on the Mentat Wiki, which is interesting on it's own. Unfortunately, it covers more mental memory systems than organization or creative use of notebooks.

As for the E-2 paper, couldn't find it under that name, but it looks like they may also be called 'Engineering Computation Pads', like these: (Ampad page), or known as quadrille paper, which can be found at any office supply store.
posted by sysinfo at 7:36 PM on May 2, 2005

Notebooks = Good
This post = So so
posted by Outlawyr at 9:58 AM on May 3, 2005

$20 US for a notebook? that's not "Less than I pay today"...
posted by anthill at 10:20 AM on May 3, 2005

Hi everyone,
I'm Andrew Gilmore, President of BookFactory. I got word of this posting and just wanted to thank you for your feedback. Our company was founded by engineers and inventors who hold many patents. We try to provide custom notebooks of all kinds for protecting intellectual property and documenting regulatory compliance. That's why we focus on our section sewn, case bound books which are archival quality and tamper evident.

If you learn anything from this post, I would recommend visiting our Guidelines Page:
http://www.bookfactory.com/special_info/lab_notebook_guidelines.html

This gives you some useful information on documenting and protecting your intellectual property, no matter whose notebooks you use.
posted by gilmoreag at 12:16 PM on May 3, 2005 [1 favorite]

Wow, is that for real?

Imagine if President Bush came on MeFi and responded to all the political posts! That would rule.
posted by papakwanz at 12:31 PM on May 3, 2005 [1 favorite]

Sweet. Matt owes me $2.50.
posted by ColdChef at 1:20 PM on May 3, 2005

There is a little more meat on the matter at Josh Carter and Merlin Mann's blogs.
posted by piskycritter at 3:30 PM on May 3, 2005

In addition to BookFactory, I have some notes in my personal wiki about other sites for interesting notebooks. I was hoping to see some more links in this post, too (to add to my own list). BookFactory is on there and I've wanted to order one of theirs for a long time (once my current stash of various other notebooks is depleted).
posted by elvolio at 5:25 PM on May 3, 2005