I am at the stage where I am proof-reading and making minor revisions to my phd thesis. I have also submitted my thesis to my supervisor for feedback and criticism. This means at least one more round of changes after receiving the thesis back from my supervisor, presumably with red ink all over it!
At this point I have become obsessed with backups. I would hate for my thesis to be lost due to hard disk failure, etc. Don’t laugh, it has happened twice to people in my research group.
I am thankful to have used latex for my thesis, as it saves the content in a text file. This saves you from worrying about corrupted binary files if you are foolish enough to write your thesis using MS Word. My thesis writing environment comprises of TexShop (sometimes TextMate) in conjunction with BibDesk (bibliography manager) on OS X. I also use OmniGraffle for drawing my diagrams. These are some of the most productive tools I’ve used for generating my thesis.
Another advantage for using latex is that you use any text editor to edit the content for years to come, and you can also use a version control system – such as CVS or Subversion – to track changes. Using a version control system is also useful for working on your thesis on different computers. This kind of acts as a distributed backup strategy, as I now have checked out working directories on three computers, and the main repository residing on a server is backed up on to tape. Furthermore, I use StrongSpace for additional rsync backups of my thesis and all supporting files.
Spending time and money on a bulletproof backup strategy for your thesis is highly recommended. Otherwise if your computer dies and you weren’t backing up, then you have pretty much wasted the last three or four years of your life doing a PhD.
