Over Section IV. Tools, Trends, and Best Practices for Modern Researchers
LaTeX for Beginners Workshop
Sarah Over, Engineering Librarian, University of Maryland, sover@umd.edu
NUTRITION INFORMATION NUMBER SERVED INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENT
The use of LaTeX has expanded outside of This recipe can be done with a single lead in- ? 1 lead instructor
STEM fields as more disciplines become structor, but additional chefs are necessary if ? 1 or more projected screens
involved with large statistical analyses and serving more than 25?30 attendees. An ideal ? 1 instructor computer with access to
big data. Due to this, many researchers have number served is generally closer to 15?20 ? LaTeX desktop distribution
become interested in utilizing LaTeX to for one chef, allowing the chef to answer spe- ? Overleaf
produce clean, professional documents for cific questions from attendees and help find ? 30 laptops with access to LaTeX
many journals and graduate theses. Unfortu- coding errors during the workshop. ? 1 instruction/seminar room with tables 
nately, learning LaTeX can be a hurdle since and chairs for up to 30 attendees
in practice this software is a cross between COOKING TIME
coding and writing. Workshops can help ? Prep time will vary by the chef?s familiar- Increase numbers for a larger number served 
bridge this gap to teach beginners how ity with LaTeX. For a current LaTeX user as needed.
LaTeX works, get them started on their first teaching their first beginners workshop, 
journal article, and provide resources for expect 3?4 hours to develop an exam- PREPARATION
help as they learn. ple article in LaTeX. ? Develop sample LaTeX article templates 
? 60-minute workshops are recommend- to use in instruction for Overleaf and/
This recipe describes how to teach an intro- ed with 30 minutes allowed after for or a desktop distribution (TeXShop, 
ductory LaTeX workshop for a tech-savvy follow-up questions by participants. MiKTeX, TeX Live, etc.). Template sugges-
librarian. In addition, ideas for additional tions include
workshops are presented for chefs to follow DIETARY GUIDELINES ? A few sentences to a few paragraphs 
as they expand their workshop offerings. This recipe is primarily focused on prepara- in at least two different sections
tion for scholarly communications in STEM ? Figure(s) and table(s), each with cap-
LEARNING OUTCOMES
? fields, reducing the barriers to writing that 
tion and label
Workshop attendees will understand the ? Equations in text and in their own may occur when required to use LaTeX for 
basics of LaTeX, including how to use it environmenttheses, dissertations, journal articles, and 
in an online editor and/or a distribution ? A few references in a common style more. Academic librarians may also find their 
installed on a computer. (APA, IEEE, etc) included as in-text 
? knowledge grow rapidly regarding citations Attendees will also be introduced to citations and a bibliographyin LaTeX and be better equipped to answer 
the basics of reference management for ? Plan hands-on activities that can be patron questions. Finally, this recipe also sup-
their publications in LaTeX. done by someone with no prior knowl-
? ports the ACRL Framework under Information Attendees will know where to find infor- edge of LaTeX. Have workshop attend-Has Value via generation of their own publi-
mation when they need help, including ees start with a built-in template for cations with citations.
free online resources. the software used and then working 
through adding
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Section IV. Tools, Trends, and Best Practices for Modern Researchers Over
? Basic text, such as a sentence or two A sample instructional outline is provided ? Advantages: clear and professional 
(?This is my first sentence in \LaTeX.?) here with suggested times for each portion documents, great for tables, etc.
? A figure from an image already on assuming attendees are primarily graduate ? Disadvantages: learning curve, de-
their computer or found online students with very little (if any) LaTeX experi- bugging, etc.
? A citation found via a Google Scholar ence: 5. How LaTeX works. Code a command and 
or other database search 1. Introduction/welcome. Introduce your the system reads it based on the environ-
Note: Citations can be problematic in La- library branch/part and make attendees ment specified. (5 minutes)
TeX due to the ease at which errors can be feel welcomed. (1 minute) ? Example: Live coding of a sentence 
induced in cross-referencing, so be sure to 2. Poll audience (show of hands or similar) with equation ($E = mc^2$) noting 
allow for extra time to test different cita- to help get a sense of their needs/back- math environment specified and 
tion styles. (See Chef?s Notes for informa- ground. (1 minute) then more complex version (see 
tion about citation managers and LaTeX.) ? How many of you have used LaTeX figure 1).
? 6. Hands-on: Creating an article. (30 min-Develop or locate relevant handouts before?
? How many of you are planning to use utes)(physical or electronic) for workshop at-
tendees. Some suggestions for handout it for an upcoming writing project?
? Get attendees started in their editor 
contents include 3. Outline workshop for attendees. (1 
of choice (online or distribution):
minute) ? Overleaf/online editor: help at-? Tips for getting started
? Free resources and/or library resourc- ? What is LaTeX?
tendees sign-in/create accounts.
es related to LaTeX (examples can be ? How LaTeX works.
? Distribution: have attendees open 
found in the Additional Resources ? Creating your first article.
the one on their computer.
section) ? Final tips and information.
? Open article template: direct attend-
? Contact information of the chef 4. What is LaTeX? (5 minutes)
ees on how to start a template they 
teaching the workshop ? Typesetting system/document prepa-
can edit.
? Overleaf: new example project
? Keyboard shortcuts ration system
? Combination of coding and writing ? Distribution: new from station-
Note: Although Overleaf has handouts, that works by environments ary (or similar depending on their 
their online interface/software changes software)
periodically, so be sure to check for the 
latest versions.
COOKING METHOD
Begin the workshop by introducing LaTeX, 
then explain how it works, followed by dem-
onstrations and hands-on activities, finishing 
with additional resources and tips. The chef 
is encouraged to develop a lesson plan that 
is appropriate for those served by this recipe 
based on their expected audience. Figure 1. LaTeX example equation notation and result
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Over Section IV. Tools, Trends, and Best Practices for Modern Researchers
? Once all have an article template (Post workshop option: Q&A time with at- compared to EndNote and Mendeley. Zotero 
open, walk them through adding and tendees as needed for 30 minutes) also has an add-on called Better BibTeX that 
recompiling after each addition (and can set citation keys/labels based on the 
answering debugging questions as CHEF?S NOTES user?s preference.needed):
Basic text, such as a sentence or There are different ways to customize how ? 
two. (?This is my first sentence in \ this workshop is presented, so it is up to the 
Last, there are options to expand from the 
chef to decide on what options work best base workshop given in this recipe to other LaTeX.?) Typing this directly in the 
for their expected attendees. First, the chef topics while following a similar hands-on text file, and allowing them to see 
how the document changes. can ask attendees to bring their own laptops 
focused workshop. Other reuse and modifica-
? A figure from an image already on to participate, and those that do not have 
tion options include topics such as citations 
and references and/or theses and disserta-
their computer or found online. one can use a library laptop or partner up 
Copy and paste from an existing with another attendee. Also, although this 
tions. These modified recipes have also 
chef has found that most attendees prefer cooked up well with graduate students at the figure template text and allow 
them to edit the text to use their Overleaf for learning and using LaTeX, some 
University of Maryland. For a citations and 
image instead (can also show scale attendees prefer desktop distributions. The references workshop, the main focus can be 
command here). chef should be prepared to answer questions on importing/exporting multiple references 
? A citation found via a Google about both online and desktop versions and from the library?s most common databases to 
Scholar or other database search. can even demonstrate how both function by each of the major citation managers (End-
Go to database and run a search making basic edits in both while explaining Note, Mendeley, Zotero) and then into BibTeX 
on a topic of their choice and how LaTeX works. Finally, if the chef finds that format, producing a .bib file. Then, attendees 
demonstrate how to find and add more than 30 attendees is preferable for their can cite multiple references in the text from 
the BibTeX formatted citation to organization, an additional chef is recom- their .bib file, producing a bibliography, and/
the .bib file (or end of the sample mended to accommodate the larger size. This or converting between different common 
document). allows for one chef to present while the other citation styles (APA, IEEE, Chicago, etc.) and 
7.  Tips. (2 minutes) is available to wander/answer questions. citation packages (cite, natbib, biblatex). For 
? Use commenting (% symbol) as you a theses and dissertations workshop (or more 
generate your documents. The chef should also be aware of some generally large projects), focus can be on 
? Be careful when copying and pasting aspects of citations in LaTeX that can cause working with the report or book document 
from word processors as special char- complications when teaching. For example, class in LaTeX. Attendees can work with a ba-
acters and stylized fonts may induce 
errors or be ignored. different citation styles can require different 
sic LaTeX template or the organization?s tem-
citation packages as not all will work with plate for theses and/or dissertations to create ? Consider the multiple options for different elements of larger scholarly outputs, 
reviewing/tracking changes when the default BibTeX compiler. Additionally, 
working on larger projects. different citation managers export to Bib-
such as an additional chapter and/or multiple 
8. When you need help (demo places to TeX format differently with some translating 
reference files (.bib). The workshop can also 
special characters correctly (such as ? to {\?a}) include having attendees think about file or-go for information/help): CTAN, StackEx-
change, books, and more. (5 minutes) and others not. This chef has found Zotero to 
ganization in the context of LaTeX even down 
? Contact with questions be the most consistent in exporting to BibTeX 
to the level of how they name their chapters 
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Section IV. Tools, Trends, and Best Practices for Modern Researchers Over
and figures. These are just some options for lookup in the index such as ?More ? Handout: https://www.lib.umd.
the chef to consider and there are many more Math into LaTeX?) edu/binaries/content/assets/pub-
possible; just make sure to tailor to your orga- ? Links to workshop materials at the lic/rc/latexcitetips_2020.pdf
nization?s needs. University of Maryland Libraries ? BibTeX example files: https://www.
within the Research Commons are lib.umd.edu/binaries/content/as-
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES included below. An overview of sets/public/rc/bibtex_example.zip
? LaTeX learning resources: each workshop can also be found at ? BibLaTeX/biber example files: 
? The LaTeX Project. Main software https://www.lib.umd.edu/rc/com- https://www.lib.umd.edu/binaries/
information. latex-project.org mon-quandaries content/assets/public/rc/biber_ex-
? CTAN. Packages information lookup ? LaTeX for Beginners Workshop ample.zip
and download. ctan.org ? Handout: https://www.lib.umd. ? Theses & Dissertations Workshop
? Tex StackExchange. Q&A for LaTeX edu/binaries/content/assets/pub- ? Handout: https://www.lib.umd.
users. tex.stackexchange.com lic/rc/latexgettingstarted.pdf edu/binaries/content/assets/pub-
? Overleaf. Overview of many LaTeX ? Example files: https://www.lib. lic/rc/latexresources_tips_2020.pdf
topics. overleaf.com/learn umd.edu/binaries/content/assets/ ? University of Maryland LaTeX tem-
? Books: check the library?s catalog public/rc/latexworkshopexam- plate: https://ireap.umd.edu/sites/
for LaTeX (especially check for books ple2019.zip default/files/documents/theses/
with syntax/command and concept ? LaTeX Reference Management and LatexThesisFiles_2020.zip
Citations Workshop
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