It's nearly spring break, that time of the year when the list of things you want to accomplish is long — you will catch up on the literature, take on writing a bit of your dissertation or an account of an important research project, and find time to travel or relax.

BibTeX, like many citation tools, is a way to save time and avoid that last-minute hunt for citation information that takes the time of many academic researchers. It is designed to be used with the LaTeX typesetting system (and variants like XeTeX and LuaLaTeX). The best way to use it, though, is to bundle it into what you do upstream while locating articles and books and sifting through the information in your research area.

This workshop aims to do just that — give you a solid intro to citation tools in LaTeX so you can integrate them into your searching, reading, and writing.

It covers the basics of citing sources in TeX, along with packages such as natbib that add functionality that you may be missing in basic BibTeX. A basic understanding of (La)TeX is expected. Participants should bring their own laptops.

We will cover:

• BibTeX and natbib.
• What a .bib file is and how it is structured and used by your software.
• The basics of bibliographic style files.
• Two up-and-coming tools, biblatex and biber.
• How to get .bib file entries without having to type in Google Scholar, library databases, and in reference/PDF article management software.

The CSSSI Seminar Room is on the lower level of the CSSSI. CSSSI is relatively easy to reach during the Science Hill construction. The Kline Biology Tower door that leads you into the CSSSI is the one closest to the beautiful glass windows. Just use your ID card to swipe in and take the stairs down into the 24/7 space. Once in CSSSI, go to the staircase near the restrooms. The seminar room is at the bottom of the stairs.