LaTeX stuff

So, what is LaTeX? LaTeX is both a programing language and a software package for implementing the language, with the main purpose of typesetting documents for publication. The end result of a LaTeX compilation is to produce a pdf of some sort. What makes LaTeX special is that it completely separates the content from the presentation of the content, and this frees the author from worrying about formatting issues. (In contrast, Microsoft Word forces you to control the layout as you write). This makes preparing academic papers/theses much simpler, letting you focus on the content instead of the layout. For a more complete description, you should see the wikipedia page. LaTeX can be downloaded here. 

These templates were contributed by Dan Stark, but I don't know who wrote them originally.

•  LaTeX rice thesis class file - This must be included in your working directory.
  
•    Template - This is a rough template I wrote that makes use of the thesis class file. It also shows some basic things you can do with Latex, such as equations and inserting images.
•   Example Output - If compiled correctly, the above template produces this pdf.
•   Lyx layout and Dan Stark's truncated Thesis - If you're using Lyx to edit your Latex files, you can use this to help get you started. According to Dan: "It should be able to work exactly as is for anyone that has the rice_thesis.cls and rice_thesis.layout files installed for LyX.  Those not using a Mac may have to switch all the slashes for the directory information around though (i.e.: /Users/name/Desktop/ to C:\Documents and Settings\)." 
  
•  Bibtex style format. - This formats your citations. Place the command \bibliographystyle{msc_sty} just before the \bibliography{referencesfile} command, usually at the end of of your thesis. (Style taken from the Georgia Tech's LaTeX website.)

There is quite a learning curve for LaTeX, and I hear the best approach is to just google the issues as they come up. That's pretty much how we found the following resources:

• Math Guide - This explains the basics of equation editing.
  
• Poster template - This can in theory be used to make gigantic posters, but it won't work on a mac, apparently due to font issues.
  
• Tutorial for the Beamer class - This is used for making presentations a la powerpoint. This way you'll never need to worry about compatibility issues when you're using someone else's laptop to present. Just load up the pdf as a slide show and you're ready to go.
• I highly recommend checking out Bibsonomy.org. You can use it to keep track of all the publications you find online. One click with their bookmarks and it can generate Bibtex entries automatically, by scraping the current webpage for keywords. Sweet!
• Google Scholar is also a very useful tool. Be sure to set your Scholar Preferences to "Show links to import citations into Bibtex"

Please let me know if you have any suggestions about improving this page. Any feedback is more than welcome.