How to read the used volume from a burette? I conducted an acid-base titration with vinegar and sodium hydroxide today, where sodium hydroxide was used as the titrant (solution in the burette). I collected the data for the initial and final burette reading to work out the volume of sodium hydroxide used. Is the volume used just the final burette reading, as the measurements are counted backwards?
It depends ;-)

The scale on a burette typically is ascending from top to bottom. With other words: zero is close to where you fill your $\ce{NaOH}$ solution in, the largest value is close to the valve. The total amount added (to your vinegar) is the difference between the final and the initial reading.

But if your burette was initially filled up to the zero mark, this would just mean to subtract zero from the final reading (which is just the final reading).