In this chapter we document the procedures and methods employed in the shipboard laboratories on the drillship R/V JOIDES Resolution during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 355. This information applies to the shipboard work described in the Expedition Reports section of the Expedition 355 Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program volume. This introductory section provides an overview of operations, curatorial conventions, depth scale terminology, and general core handling and analyses.