From: "Stuart W. Shulman"
Subject: thesis format
My two (actually several) bits from afar:
1) the formatting requirements for a dissertation are exacting and can be frustrating (especially if you have written different parts of your thesis on different computers and word processors over the years, which implants conflicting codes into your text which WILL screw up your formatting)
2) the earlier in the writing process that you take a sample to the Grad School formatting person the better. Waiting until the end is virtual graduation suicide
3) my experience was that my assumptions about style and requirements proved to be almost entirely wrong
4) in the face of enormous amounts of work to get the dissertation into proper format, I hired a professional thesis editor, who, while relieving me of a considerable chunk of my salary, did a fantastic job copy editing and formatting (he has been doing it since 1978 for U of O grad students, and is close to both the grad school thesis editing Czar and Toby Deemer).
5) while I miss the money, the fact is, it is he, not I, who now bears all the responsibility for meeting the exacting standards of the grad school. In other words, the exit fee is worth it!
6) the amount of relief from worry over those kinds of details is worth the money because it allows you to concentrate on meeting the substantive standards of your chair, which can be enough work without any peripheral concerns
7) Assuming you don't write a 440 page thesis, your fee will be more reasonable than mine
8) finally.... I'm so glad to be done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mottos for the day: Plan way ahead, keep scrupulous citations, including information such as publication editors, page numbers, meeting place and dates for conference proceedings, etc. and generally organize your dissertation notes and photocopies in such a way that you can reference whatever you need later without having to search ever banker's box in you home. Remember also, when the end is in sight it may even seem that it was all worth while.