Shirley Zhao, Physical Sciences Librarian
Kresge Library, Dartmouth College
As a librarian at Dartmouth’s Kresge Library, I work with students in the sciences, including math, computer science, physics and astronomy. Many people who work in these fields use LaTeX to typeset documents, ranging from homework assignments to research papers to resumes. Back in December 2012, I wrote a post on the Kresge Physical Sciences Library blog challenging our readers to write their resumes and CVs using LaTeX. In the post, I detailed how to get started by providing simple instructions, a template, and a few quick tips. While I don’t know how many people took on the challenge, the post has received over 4,200 hits, making it the highest viewed post in the history of the blog.
In response to the popularity of the post, I developed a quarterly discussion of LaTeX-related issues, from basic to advanced. The first discussion focused on formatting CVs and resumes, while the most recent was on BibTeX. The biggest challenge of having a quarterly discussion is choosing the right time that fits in with most students’ schedules. We also have a research guide, which students can use as a resource; it has gotten over 600 hits in the last 18 months.
After a year of discussions and one-on-one consultations, I began marketing my expertise in LaTeX to faculty in math, computer science, physics and astronomy. At the start of each term, I send an email to the teaching faculty asking to collaborate on a class session that focuses on research skills. Usually, I receive replies along the lines of, “Thank you for the offer to help, but I won’t need any library resources.” After I began including a line about how I can support LaTeX, I was allowed five to ten minutes at the start of multiple classes to introduce myself as a resource and mention that I offer LaTeX support. The mathematics department recognized the demand and worked with me to offer a LaTeX mini-course in Spring 2014. The mini-course was a three-part series of workshops that covered installation and usage of the software.
Who knew that LaTeX would become my biggest door opener to successful outreach?
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