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Memory Alpha
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A log, starlog, or log entry was a recording, sometimes written but usually verbal, entered into a starship computer record for posterity. An attachment to a previous log entry was known as a supplemental log. These logs typically consisted of further developments on a mission that was already underway. (Star Trek: The Original Series; Star Trek: The Animated Series; Star Trek: The Next Generation; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; Star Trek: Voyager; Star Trek: Enterprise)

Many officers aboard Federation starships recorded official logs, denoted by their rank or position, such as the captain's log or medical officer's log. Recording a ship's log had been a nautical tradition on Earth for hundreds of years. (ENT: "Broken Bow"; TNG: "Hide And Q")

This method of recording information had been employed by the United Earth Starfleet, (ENT: "Hatchery") Federation Starfleet, (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before") the Bajoran Militia, (DS9: "Emissary") the Klingon Defense Force, (ENT: "Sleeping Dogs") and starships of the Romulan Star Empire. (TNG: "Sins of The Father") It was also used by the Starnes Exploration Party. (TOS: "And the Children Shall Lead")

Log entries could also be of a personal nature, rather than an official duty-related record of events subject to standard review.

On board the USS Enterprise, Captain Kirk once became annoyed while trying to record his log after the ship's computer system had been given a rather affectionate female personality on Cygnet XIV. (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday")

On board the USS Enterprise-D, Lieutenant Commander Data often sent his personal log entries to Commander Bruce Maddox as a way to assist Maddox with his experiments in cybernetics. (TNG: "Data's Day")

In 2369, Ensign Aquino made a log entry about a sort of plasma flow irregularity the night he disappeared and was subsequently killed. (DS9: "In the Hands of the Prophets")

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