Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Training / Qualification; Confusion
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural MEL / CDL
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
MEL; Human Factors
After we arrived; Maintenance was called to deal with two unrelated mechanical issues.  While they were reviewing the paperwork they noticed that MEL 22-12-02 needed a write-up stating that the IAPS check for the first flight of the day had been accomplished per Maintenance Control.  According to our understanding of the MEL; the check for the IAPS messages should be done on the first flight of the day; but I didn't realize that an entry in the logbook needed to be made since there were no operational procedures.  None of the IAPS messages showed up during the test. One was the max that could be shown.  If a logbook entry should have been made; then we took the airplane on a flight without the IAPS MEL 22-12-02 check being documented and signed off. There are other MEL's that require pre-flight checks that don't have to be documented; just done.  According to the Maintenance Technician I should have had it documented. Aircraft considered unairworthy since the IAPS check was not documented. In the future I will contact Maintenance Control to clarify whether or not a sign off is required.  I must not assume that the procedure like this was documented properly.  I will contact Maintenance Control if I have any questions. I think the MEL should have stated more clearly that a documented check in logbook was required. I will also review our information in the FOM to verify my responsibility concerning MEL's like this one.
CRJ-200 Captain reports being informed after the fact that the checks required by MEL 22-12-02 needed to be documented in the logbook.