Text-based Collaboration in Scientific Projects

Writing, improving, collaborating and sharing raw text is an important part of many scientists' daily routine. However, keeping track of different versions amended at home and at work isn't easy and can cause loss of important changes. Particularly, if collaboration is spread out over multiple locations, a better solution is required.

A promising approach, lent from the field of software engineering, is the use of version control systems (VCS). This talk introduces both theory and practice of VCSs and is organized in two parts. The first explains the basic concepts and ideas relevant to version control systems. After a short break, the practical usage will be demonstrated (it is recommended to bring a laptop computer in order to try out the examples during the second part).