I think this article will answer your astute question and a lot more. From these articles it is good to remove the battery.
Proper Laptop Battery Care http://www.laptop-battery.org/batterytips.html
I will try to answer any question that is posted, but I like your question in particular. It asks what can I do to prevent a problem, rather than the usual, "Ihave a problem".
Continue good preventive maintenance, return here with any questions and you will get many years of trouble free service for your computer and the great OS that you have chosen.