What You See Is What You Get Document Preparation Choices at the University of Tennessee by Jennifer W. Spirko UT Graduate School.

What You SeeWhat You See

Is What You GetIs What You GetDocument Preparation

Choices at the University of Tennessee

by Jennifer W. SpirkoUT Graduate School

Who are these people, and Who are these people, and what do they think they’re what do they think they’re

doing?doing?

ETDs at UT: A snapshotETDs at UT: A snapshotTotal Total ETDsETDs

using using MSWorMSWordd

using using LaTeXLaTeX

OtherOther

Spring ‘07Spring ‘07 150150 136136 99 66

Summer Summer ‘07‘07

160160 145145 99 66

Fall ‘07Fall ‘07 155155 134134 2020 11

ETDs at UT: a snapshotETDs at UT: a snapshot

465 ETDs submitted in 2007.465 ETDs submitted in 2007. Just over 89% of those were created using Just over 89% of those were created using

MSWord.MSWord.▫ ▫ n.b. MSWord is freely available on all campus computers, n.b. MSWord is freely available on all campus computers,

and extensive help resources are available. and extensive help resources are available.

Just over 8% of those were created using Just over 8% of those were created using LaTeX. LaTeX. ▫ ▫ n.b. The Office of Information Tech. does not provide n.b. The Office of Information Tech. does not provide LaTeX resources or support. LaTeX resources or support.

MethodologyMethodology QualitativeQualitative Brief “e-interviews” of three open-ended Brief “e-interviews” of three open-ended

questionsquestions Email contact with all students who Email contact with all students who

submitted ETDs in 2007*submitted ETDs in 2007*▫ ▫ Query, followed byQuery, followed by▫ ▫ Informed Consent Statement, followed Informed Consent Statement, followed byby▫ “▫ “e-interviews”e-interviews”

* (excluding those for whom we had no current contact * (excluding those for whom we had no current contact information)information)

ParticipantsParticipantsQueriesQueries ResponseResponse

ssConsentConsent InterviewInterview

ss

314*314* 125 yes125 yes

1 no1 no

189 n/a189 n/a

81**81** 5252

* Contact info unavailable for 151

** 2 paper IC statements illegible

e-Interview Questionse-Interview Questions What program did you use to prepare your thesis

or dissertation (e.g., MSWord / LaTeX?) Why did you choose that program?

e-Interview Questionse-Interview Questions What program did you use to prepare your thesis or dissertation (e.g.,

MSWord / LaTeX)? Why did you choose that program? How easy did you find preparing this document?

You might consider the process of creating the formatting (for example, margins, page numbering, headings), of laying out the design (for example, placement of figures and tables), of revision, and of converting to the final .pdf.

e-Interview Questionse-Interview Questions What program did you use to prepare your thesis or dissertation (e.g.,

MSWord / LaTeX)? Why did you choose that program? How easy did you find preparing this document? You might

consider the process of creating the formatting (for example, margins, page numbering, headings), of laying out the design (for example, placement of figures and tables), of revision, and of converting to the final .pdf.

How much help did you get with the program (e.g., MSWord / LaTeX)? What sort of help did you receive? (Examples might include: Workshops, seminars, informal tutoring from a friend, formal tutoring from an expert, online help/tech support, etc.)

ResponsesResponses

ResponsesResponses 52 responses52 responses

5 LaTeX users5 LaTeX users

47 MSWord users47 MSWord users W

Help receivedHelp received(These are all MSWord users.)(These are all MSWord users.)

2 students attended “seminars”2 students attended “seminars” 1 attended the OIT MSWord course1 attended the OIT MSWord course 5 spent a half-day – OR MORE – reading on-5 spent a half-day – OR MORE – reading on-

line help or using the MSWord manualsline help or using the MSWord manuals Most got help from a friend, a professor Most got help from a friend, a professor

and/or the graduate school thesis and/or the graduate school thesis consultantconsultant

One student got help in .pdf conversion One student got help in .pdf conversion from the staff at Kinko’s.from the staff at Kinko’s.

Help receivedHelp received3 students suggest UT offer a course in 3 students suggest UT offer a course in

MSWordMSWord

1 student suggested such a course be required1 student suggested such a course be required

What about LaTeX What about LaTeX users?users?

Published, online or professor-Published, online or professor-provided templatesprovided templates

LaTeX manualLaTeX manual Friends, professorsFriends, professors

Sample responsesSample responses“Not much [help] - informal help from a

friend at the most. Usually online tutorials, trial-and-error, looking at source code from other documents. Luckily, it's open source and very well documentated (sic) online. There's quite a learning curve, but it's well worth it. “ “

LaTeX userLaTeX user

Food Science & Food Science & Technology, PhDTechnology, PhD

Sample responsesSample responses“Most of my learning was from using sample

documents from my colleagues and documents you can find online. There are also plenty of tutorials on the internet, all of them free and very well documented. It was fairly easy for me because I am a CS major, but it might be a little bit more challenging for other majors. I do know, however, people from other Engineerings that have successfully used LaTeX for their documents and are much more happy with it than with MSWord.““LaTeX userLaTeX userComputer Science, PhDComputer Science, PhD

Sample responsesSample responses“I found the process very easy. However, I

didn't have any figures.““MSWord userMSWord userHistory, MAHistory, MA

Sample responsesSample responses“It is not easy to create the format of the

document. I worked at different places (school or home) and used different versions of MSWord. The document's format sometimes changed among different versions of MSWord. At first I also had some problems when I tried to convert .doc to .pdf.““

MSWord userMSWord userBiochemistry and Molecular Biochemistry and Molecular

Biology,Biology,PhDPhD

Sample responsesSample responses“Sometimes it was difficult. MSWord tended

to autoformat when I didn't want it to autoformat. Or if I needed to change one section, it changed them all. Also, I had graphs that contained a LOT of data, and MSWord didn't handle that much data well.““

MSWord userMSWord userChemistry, PhDChemistry, PhD

Sample responsesSample responses“For writing - very easy. For formatting - very

problematic.... It often made changes I didn't want to make and I had to go in manually to make changes. Then it would un-do the changes I had made! ... Converting to the pdf was easy. Overall - while I tried to write my dissertation in the proper UT dissertation format from the very beginning, I still had numerous formatting problems before I finally got the finished product.““

MSWord userMSWord userSociology, PhDSociology, PhD

ThemesThemes Choice vs. no choiceChoice vs. no choice Mentoring vs. formal helpMentoring vs. formal help Complexity vs. simplicity of formattingComplexity vs. simplicity of formatting

ThemesThemes Choice vs. no choiceChoice vs. no choiceMSWord users tended to see the software as a MSWord users tended to see the software as a

“default” option rather than an active choice: “It “default” option rather than an active choice: “It was what I was familiar with” or “It was freely was what I was familiar with” or “It was freely available on the computers I used.”available on the computers I used.”

LaTeX users were more likely to have the LaTeX users were more likely to have the perception of CHOOSING it over another option: perception of CHOOSING it over another option: “[It] is the standard in [my field]” or “My “[It] is the standard in [my field]” or “My professor recommended it” or “My department professor recommended it” or “My department has the documentation for us to use.”has the documentation for us to use.”

ThemesThemes Mentoring vs. formal helpMentoring vs. formal helpBoth MSWord and LaTeX usersBoth MSWord and LaTeX users

reported relying on a variety of typesreported relying on a variety of types

of instruction and assistance withof instruction and assistance with

the software. MSWord users tendedthe software. MSWord users tended

to go into greater detail, listing more resources,to go into greater detail, listing more resources,

and recommending further training and help be and recommending further training and help be mademade

available. But there was considerable overlap.available. But there was considerable overlap.

ThemesThemes Complexity vs. simplicity of formattingComplexity vs. simplicity of formattingOnly students in technical fields used Only students in technical fields used

LaTeX. MSWord users who were LaTeX. MSWord users who were

most satisfied with MSWord were most satisfied with MSWord were

those in less technical fields, andthose in less technical fields, and

this seems to correlate with the this seems to correlate with the

relative simplicity of their documentsrelative simplicity of their documents

in terms of equations, charts, and in terms of equations, charts, and

so forth.so forth.

LimitationsLimitations Number of participantsNumber of participants Acquaintance with researcherAcquaintance with researcher Possible future acquaintance of Possible future acquaintance of

master’s level studentsmaster’s level students Open-ended questions/self-Open-ended questions/self-

assessmentassessment Lack of detailLack of detail

LimitationsLimitations Number of participantsNumber of participants Acquaintance with researcherAcquaintance with researcher Possible future acquaintance of Possible future acquaintance of

master’s level studentsmaster’s level students Open-ended questions/self-Open-ended questions/self-

assessmentassessment Lack of detailLack of detail

LimitationsLimitations Number of participantsNumber of participants Acquaintance with researcherAcquaintance with researcher Possible future acquaintance of Possible future acquaintance of

master’s level studentsmaster’s level students Open-ended questions/self-Open-ended questions/self-

assessmentassessment Lack of detailLack of detail

LimitationsLimitations Number of participantsNumber of participants Acquaintance with researcherAcquaintance with researcher Possible future acquaintance of Possible future acquaintance of

master’s level studentsmaster’s level students Open-ended questions/self-Open-ended questions/self-

assessmentassessment Lack of detailLack of detail

LimitationsLimitations Number of participantsNumber of participants Acquaintance with researcherAcquaintance with researcher Possible future acquaintance of Possible future acquaintance of

master’s level studentsmaster’s level students Open-ended questions/self-Open-ended questions/self-

assessmentassessment Lack of detailLack of detail

Conclusions: Action Conclusions: Action PlanPlan

Larger, quantitative studyLarger, quantitative study More specific training/assistance for More specific training/assistance for

studentsstudents More information about alternatives More information about alternatives

to MSWordto MSWord This research made availableThis research made available

The dissertation or The dissertation or thesis is the finish thesis is the finish

line of the graduate line of the graduate study.study.

Ideally, the Ideally, the preparation of the preparation of the document should document should

not add not add substantially to the substantially to the

difficulty of the difficulty of the scholarship which scholarship which

the document the document represents.represents.

Questions?Questions?

Questions?Questions?