I think the first question to ask is who wants to use it? I imagine that you brought up the issue because you have had a request or a use case for LaTeX. Knowing who the audience is would help figuring out where support should come from.
Steve McDonald
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Francis
> Kayiwa
> Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2023 12:14 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [External] Re: [CODE4LIB] What manner of creature is LaTeX?
>
> Heya,
>
> I was recently introduced to https://typst.app/ which IMO fills that niche of
> enough LaTeX to get most of what you need.
>
> Sincerely,
> Francis
>
> On Tue, Jul 18, 2023, at 11:32 AM, Dan Johnson wrote:
> > Dear List,
> >
> > How do you all deal with LaTeX? The LaTeX Project describes it as a
> > "high-quality typesetting system," but it *looks* similar to a few
> > different software paradigms, and this makes it hard to figure out who
> > on a university campus should be supporting it.
> >
> > For example, one could make the case that it's an advanced, low-level
> > form of word processing, which should therefore be supported with
> > training and problem solving by central IT, who cover Microsoft Word and
> Google Docs.
> > But it's much more than WYSIWYG word processing, and support for IT
> > would be a very heavy lift.
> >
> > So maybe instead you think of it as a markup system. In that case,
> > perhaps it's the library's digital scholarship center that should be
> > providing support. Yet, it's not really used for the purposes of
> > scholarly annotation and digital presentation of primary sources that TEI is.
> >
> > Since it's used for creating beautifully-looking articles and books,
> > perhaps it's a scholarly communication tool, and hence the schol comm
> > division of the library should support it. But the biggest use case
> > may be dissertation formatting, in which case perhaps a university's
> > graduate school or office of research should take charge (especially
> > if they provide a dissertation template).
> >
> > But then, the software is especially good at formatting mathematical
> > notations, and indeed, the vast majority of dissertations submitted
> > with LaTeX formatting come from the school of science, so perhaps it
> > is scientific computing software. In that case, maybe the college of
> > science's departmental IT units should bear the brunt of support.
> >
> > The final option, it seems to me, is to call it "just one of those
> > very helpful things," like regex, that you won't see in any formal or
> > informal learning environment, and so you have to figure it out on
> > your own to be in the know.
> >
> > How do you all parcel this out?
> >
> > Best,
> > Dan
> >
> > --
> > *Daniel Johnson, Ph.D.*
> > *Interim Co-Director, Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship *
> > *English; Digital Humanities**; and Film, Television, and Theatre *
> > *Librarian*
> >
> > *University of Notre Dame*
> > 250C Hesburgh Library
> > Notre Dame, IN 46556
> > o: 574-631-3457
> > e: [log in to unmask]
>
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