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Handout sheets should be permanently mounted in your notebook using contact paper, forming a protective, transparent cover, and ensuring that you will not lose them.

MATERIALS:

Use clear, transparent contact paper which has a smooth surface (no embossed pattern). Otherwise, the specimen will be obscured. The most suitable brand was "Adhere", but appears to be no longer available. "Con-Tact" Clear and "Kwik Kover II" are readily available and are suitable. You may wish to try a different brand. Use these criteria for evaluation: clarity of detail of mounted specimen, ability to reposition an incorrectly placed specimen, ability of the contact paper to be written upon with ink (especially your TOMBO Pen, or india ink), cost, tendency of adhesive to creep out beyond edge of the contact paper, resistance to yellowing.

PROTOCOL:

1. Date and title the page in your notebook (date = day protocol is mounted). Add any written notes relating to the handout first since writing on contact paper is difficult.
2. Cut away all excess paper on printed handout.
3. Placed trimmed handout on top of unrolled contact paper, cut contact paper so that at least 1/2 inch margin projects beyond the specimen. The final dimensions should be smaller than the size of the notebook page. (Some prefer to cut rolls of contact paper in half which then approximates the desired page height.)
4. Strip off the backing from the contact paper without creasing the contact paper. (Start it by slightly tearing backing paper.) Lie it on the table sticky side up.
5. CRITICAL STEP: Hold trimmed specimen above contact paper so that the printed side is down, and margins are even. Bow the sheet and lower center down onto adhesive. Roll down specimen evenly onto contact paper, avoiding bubbles, creases, wrinkles, etc. Press out from the middle out to adhere to adhesive. Do not attempt to pull printed material off contact paper, the ink will stick to the adhesive (what a mess).
6. Trim any excess margin from around the specimen, but try to preserve the 1/2 inch margin.
7. Position contact-papered specimen into place in notebook, as close as possible to the bottom of the page, leaving space at the top for title, date & cross references. Make sure the sticky edges do not project beyond the edge of the page. Press from the middle out to adhere edges.
8. Cross reference at the top of the page where to find your related class notes, illustrations, or related protocols may be found. On each of those pages, cross reference to the newly-mounted protocol.
9. You may wish to make a pocket at the back cover to carry scraps of contact paper, but save space for your sequentially mounted grade slips.