• Math into LaTeX: An Introduction to LaTeX and MAS-LaTeX (http://tex.loria.fr/general/mil.html). The author has provided a PDF of the first section of the book which is probably sufficient for most. The complete book can be orderd from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/More-Math-Into-LaTeX-4th/dp/0387322892/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258503347&sr=8-1
• The Not So Short Introduction to LaTeX (http://tobi.oetiker.ch/lshort/lshort.pdf)
• If you have to use APA formatting, see http://www.ilsp.gr/homepages/protopapas/apacls.html

Sweave allows for the embedding of R code directly in your LaTeX documents. The best resource is the Sweave User Manual (http://www.stat.uni-muenchen.de/~leisch/Sweave/Sweave-manual.pdf). In short, simply place the following in your LaTeX file:

<<myrcode1>>=
2 + 2
@

There is a Sweave function in R. Issuing the Sweave(file.choose()) command will first prompt for the file (by convention use Rnw file extension), execute all the R code and generate a tex file. This file can then be run through your typical LaTeX processor or editor. Once you go through the Sweave manual, I recommend printing page 13 which lists all the options that can be issued to Sweave.

To create presentations, the Beamer class is what is generally used. The LaTeX beamer class homepage has several exmaples (http://latex-beamer.sourceforge.net/). The Beamer manual is included on Dropbox or when you download the classes (I do believe Beamer is built into both TeXnicCenter and TeXShop).

Laslty, I have included a few of my own files on Dropbox for a recent paper and presentation I’ve done. I used Sweave for the paper (see Bryer.LocatingStudents.Paper.Rnw). I also included the generated LaTeX file (Bryer.LocatingStudents.Paper.tex) as well as the final PDF version. For the presenation, I used Beamer but since I was working from the paper, I simply cut and paste sections from the generated tex file to Bryer.LocationStudents.Presentation.tex. Note the first two lines of this file:

%\documentclass[handout]{beamer}
\documentclass{beamer}

The percent character is a comment line in LaTeX so in order to create the handout version I simply commented out the second line instead of the first. Both versions are included on Dropbox for your review.

Innovate: Next-Generation Bibliographic Manager : An Interview with Trevor Owens:

James Morrison’s interview with Trevor Owens explores Zotero, a free, open-source bibliographic tool that works as a Firefox plug-in. Previous bibliographic software, such as EndNote or Refworks, worked either online or offline to collect references and citations. Zotero leverages the power of the browser to allow users to work either online or offline and integrates citations with other research materials in a way that promises to reshape the way research is done. Zotero 2.0, due out in early 2008, will expand the potential of Zotero by providing server-side functions that allow for the sharing of bibliographies and accompanying annotations.

Zotero, which is a Firefox plugin, makes the process of adding references to you library incredibly easy. When viewing a page (e.g. from EBSCO or Amazon.com) you simply click an icon in the address bar and magically all of the data is imported into you personal library. You can even attach (or take a snapshot) of web pages and/or PDF files when available. Once a reference is in your library you can attach tags (think keywords), notes, or any other file (e.g. PDF, Word document, csv, etc). With all your references collected into a single repository it becomes very easy to find that article from a few years ago.

But collecting and organizing your references is only the beginning. Zotero and Endnote both include a Microsoft Word plugin (Zotero also has a plugin for OpenOffice) that will assist in adding citations from your library (Endnote calls this Cite While You Write, or CWYW). When you reach a point where you need to insert a citation, you click a button on the provided toolbar. This will then take you to your library where you can search and find the desired reference(s). Click insert and your citation is placed at the cursor. Both programs provide a wide variety of styles including APA, Chicago, and MLA not to mention many different journal specific formats.

When using citations you’re inevitably going to need a references page. Endnote will do this automatically once you insert your first citation. Zotero will also automatically manage your reference page but you first have to insert it where you would like (it’s just one click on Zotero toolbar).

My workflow until now has involved collecting references with Zotero, exporting my library in RIS format (using RIS instead of Endnote, which Zotero supports, will preserve notes), and then importing the exported library to Endnote. This is because the beta version of Zotero did not format citations exactly write. However, with the official 1.0 version of Zotero out, it’s Word plugin is just as good as Endnote’s. At this point I would recommend that everyone get started with Zotero (it is free after all!) especially given that you can easily move your library from Zotero to Endnote later if necessary. That said, many universities and institutions have invested in Endnote. Plus Endnote allows for separate libraries which, when collaborating with colleagues, can be useful when sharing. Zotero provides one library but does have collections within the library. Which every your choice, Zotero is the clear winner for collecting your references.

For completion sake, I’ve included the list of all the bibliographic software, along with their prices (as of this writing), that may worth looking into. Some of these have been designed for specific disciplines so it may be worth looking into if you have specific needs that Zotero or Endnote does not satisify.