I was given a copy of the Logos Scholar's Library, the smallest of the three Scholar's packages (compare them all here), in order to use and review, but I have hesitated to do so because of mixed feelings. I love the idea of a digital library and the possibilities of doing detailed searches, but after working at a computer all day long I find it difficult to sit and read via a computer screen in the evenings. Even with all of the search capabilities available, I love to sit in my library surrounded by real books, pulling them from the shelves, piling them up on my desks, thumbing through them, underlining and marking them up. The physical actions of handling them, turning their pages, and bookmarking them helps me to retain more of what I study. I realize that you can do similar tasks on the computer, but I find that the process of digging allows for more time to think and process information. Of course, a lot of this has to do with me and my circumstances, so I want to resist denigrating the value of the Logos Bible Study software. It truly is remarkable, and those willing to spend the time using this software will greatly benefit from it!
I have not used Bibleworks or Accordance, so I appreciated Keith's comments without being able to relate them to my own experience. On the other hand, I really appreciated his evaluation of Logos because it highlights some of my own concerns. Here are his comments:
LOGOSI heartily concur with the issue of cost as a weakness. With the rapid growth of digital readers and free research software online, the idea of re-purchasing digital copies of books I already own is difficult to swallow. The idea of purchasing new digital books at prices higher than printed copies is likewise difficult to justify (even though there are extra features included in the digital copies). It's the penny-pincher in me (along with the limited budget).
Logos is strong in terms of the sheer number of resources it makes available. There are over 700 resources on the Scholar's Library Gold version that I reviewed. Logos is also the only program that currently has any kind of syntax search capability for the original languages. The Logos interface is one of the most intuitive of the three. It resembles a basic website interface. The amount and kind of resources is very helpful. To be able to do a search and see results in original language resources, commentaries, sermon illustration books, etc. is a strong point.
The main weakness of Logos is the cost. Even with the available discounts, the high price could be out of the reach of many pastors and seminary students who are trying to make ends meet. The other weakness of Logos is a byproduct of one of its strengths - namely the large number of resources. In the first place, most users will probably find a large number of these resources to be extraneous. Second, the large number of resources slows down searches - sometimes dramatically.
Most digital books are sold in packages which truly does allow for greater discounts, however, packages tend to be expensive. As opposed to purchasing books by the 10s of dollars, you have to consider purchasing packages by the 100s of dollars. The cumbersome nature of software packages along with the extraneous resources and slow search speeds is a disappointment. This is why I found the old Online Bible programs to be frustrating; they included a lot of resources that I never used, however their presence drastically slowed down the speed of the program.
Well, I probably should defer to the testimony of those who are far more experienced with these software packages than myself. I recommend to you the following reviews:
- Keith Mathison - BibleWorks
- Keith Mathison - Logos
- Keith Mathison - Accordance
- Andrew D. Naselli - Logos Scholar's Library Gold
- Andrew D. Naselli - PNTC, BECNT, and NIGTC (three NT commentary series)
- Andrew D. Naselli - Anchor Yale Bible commentary series (84 vols.)
I share the same sentiments regarding physical books. I simply love the experience that physical books provide.
ReplyDeleteI have the Logos Scholar's Gold edition, but I use it very infrequently. I was fortunate to be able to upgrade over the years to this edition at a much lower cost than purchasing it now. Otherwise, I wouldn't have it.
I'd like to incorporate it into my bible studies, but the learning curve is a bit steep IMO and after being on a computer all day I simply enjoy reading a physical book.
I've watched the instructional videos and they were helpful, but I'm sure that there is more I'm missing. I'd like to get in on one of the Logos camps one day. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteOne feature that I've used very often for building the book recommendation lists is The Remote Library Search Addin.
"The Remote Library Search Addin enables the Libronix Digital Library System to search the library catalogs of real libraries, such as the Library of Congress."
This is an excellent tool for acquiring bibliographical data.
I have also intentionally bought editions of a couple of books that included a CD with a digital copy for use with Libronix. That's a deal!
Hi Jason,
ReplyDeleteI have both Logos and Bibleworks. For Bible study, BW is the best, hands down. (IMO) Logos can do some of the things that BW does, but it is much slower. Word is that their upcoming version will address some speed issues, but we'll see.
I first got Logos through the Galaxie Software theological journals. I have since picked up a few other titles, including one of the Scholar's packages (Silver?). The program has some annoying quirks, but the thing I most use it for is searching the Theo. Journals by Bible reference. Especially BibSac, but some of the others are very useful also. Many interesting and helpful articles can be discovered this way. To accumulate the paper copies of the Journals, especially the older ones, would be impossible. To find things would be even worse, especially by specific Bible reference.
So... I am not so impressed with the actual Libronix packages, but I really do like having the journals.
I also use Tom Constables notes in Logos (purchased from Galaxie) and the Bible Knowledge Commentary. I use these as quick checks on a passage I might be working on, especially if I am not doing heavy duty exegesis with other resources. I have found both these sources to be helpful, although BKC is often skimpy in the NT. It is helpful to be able to sync open copies of commentaries so that if you change your passage in one, it changes in all of them.
I'll stop there. I don't mind Logos, but it does have its maddening quirks and it is too slow.
But I love and use Bibleworks all the time. Word studies, original language searching, complex searches, multi-version searches, cross references, its all there and well worth the investment for a serious Bible student.
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
Don, thanks for your comments here. I've heard great things about Biblworks and would love to see it sometime. Your point about access to Theological Journals is excellent. That is definitely something I would want to have access to, but wouldn't necessarily want to have hard copies.
ReplyDeleteWindows users for years have had both BibleWorks and Logos, with each having its own strengths.
ReplyDeleteNow that Logos has a Mac version, I could easily see the same dynamics. Here's how it could look in general terms:
Logos for Mac - a HUGE library of seminary resources. Great for research and even exegetical studies.
Accordance for Mac - A study Bible on steroids. Great for original language studies and exegesis.
Particularly as Logos for Mac is in its infancy, its going to be some time before it is mature and feature filled product. So particularly in the short term, these two products could work reallly well toether.