My review of WORDsearch 9 is now online. Great program for pastors and teachers, but needs some work in the area of searching. Nevertheless, it offers excellent resources and a nicely integrated working environment.  Good option for those who teach the Scriptures on a regular basis.

As you all probably know by now, Apple announced a new gadget yesterday morning. The much hyped “tablet” goes by the name of iPad, and, as is usually the case with Apple products, it has left very few people indifferent. Quite a feat when you consider that it will not be released until late March or early April.

I followed Steve Jobs’ presentation and then managed to watch the whole event earlier this morning. I have also read a number of comments for and against this new media device, written by people who actually got to see and try one. But my real concern right now doesn’t have to do with what the iPad can or cannot do, or what it has and what it lacks. Rather, I’m interested to know what impact it will have on Bible software, if any.

I use the word “know” because that is one of the key aspects, in my opinion. As a recent iPod Touch user I do not have to imagine what studying the Bible on the iPad will feel like; I have a fairly precise idea. Many of us, iPhone and iTouch users, have been blessed with some excellent Bible software (reviews will be forthcoming, God willing) for this platform (iPhone OS). We know how amazing it is to use such devices, how good these Bible apps are, and how awesome they would become … if they just had some more room.

It seems to me that the new iPad is much more than a “glorified” iPhone, and while I regret the fact that it will not be able to do multitasking (just yet!), I’m sure that it will be able to offer an ever better user experience in the field of Biblical studies.

Those who already have Bible apps for the iPhone have a clear advantage, but they better realize that “porting” their products to the iPad is not good enough. Not for Mac users, anyway. More is needed and, what’s best, more is possible.

I think Apple has shown the way with their iWork suite for the iPad. As I see it, and of course I could be wrong, the company who manages to release a Bible software program a la Apple will be the first one to cross the fine line that separates good from outstanding. So, please developers use the new SDK and surprise us with something truly amazing!

So, what do you think? Do you see iPad’s potential having any impact on Bible study software?

One of the highlights of 2009 was my trip to Israel. It was such a great experience that I sure hope I can go back soon. Meanwhile, I keep looking at the many pictures I took. I can’t tell you how excited I am when I review those places and reread my personal travel journal.

I have always enjoyed photos, and since I had recently come back from Israel I thought it would be a good idea to review The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection. This 2-DVD set, containing more than 4,000 carefully chosen pictures of biblical lands from the 1900s, is available from Life in the Holy Land and was produced by Todd Bolen, who runs BibePlaces.com. It really is a superb arsenal of teaching aids that should come in handy to anyone studying or teaching the Bible.

I have come to appreciate Todd’s contributions in this area, and can say that his work is of a consistently high standard. Do check out Todd’s excellent posts on this blog, many of which have recently dealt with different aspects of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection.

I haven’t had much time to blog lately, one of the reasons being that OakTree Software asked me to write a guest post on the recently released Biblioteca Hispana de Accordance for the Accordance Blog. Here is the blog article.

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Últimamente no he tenido mucho tiempo para escribir en el blog. Una de las razones es que OakTree Software me pidió que escribiera un artículo sobre la Biblioteca Hispana de Accordance para el Accordance Blog. Aquí está el artículo.

Logos Bible Software has a large collection of videos introducing the new features of the recently released Logos 4 software. More tutorials and videos are also available at Logos Bible Software YouTube channel.

Alongside the official screencasts, here are two more sources that I consider to be extremely helpful:

Mark Barnes, from the ephesians 4:14 blog, has posted some excellent and very informative videos which I highly recommend. They can be found on his blog, but you may prefer to check out his Vimeo page.

John Fidel, who runs the Bible Software Newsletter and Comments blog, has also contributed some great tutorials with lots of practical tips and ideas. Again, they are available on his blog or, if you like, check them out on YouTube.

Bible Software Review is all about sharing, so I thought it would be good to try to make things easier for those of you who make use of different social networks. From now on you will find a number of icons at the bottom of each post. These will allow you to share the information you find here in some of the most commonly used online social networks. There are also buttons to email the link to the post and print or save as PDF the post itself.

On the right hand side column, under Social Network, you’ll find a new button that will take you to my Twitter page. There I share news that not always make it to the blog, as well as some personal thoughts here and there. It’s a good way to keep updated on the latest developments in the Bible software scene and interact with other users and developers.

I hope you find these little enhancements useful. As always, I’m open to your suggestions and very much value your feedback. Thanks!

The proof of the cake is in the eating, right? Right. Similarly, Bible software is certainly at its best when one can actually see its many practical applications. Here are some samples you may want to look at.

Mike Heiser explains some of the kinds of searches that can be performed with Logos’ syntactical databases. A few of the examples are geared towards scholars, while others are suited for more general uses. There are also short videos on how the searches were carried out.

David Lang points to a practical use of the INFER command in Accordance. He includes a download link to Robert Marineau’s paper presented at the past ETS meeting held in New Orleans, LA.

Rick Bennet, talks about how to use Accordance to search for nomina sacra in early papyri, and Tommy Wasserman, over at the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog, shares his own experience in conducting searches like these.

Glenn Weaver, in one of his excellent Classroom Tips, shows how to search for Hebrew weak verbs with BibleWorks. You may recall that this was one of the challenges posed at the SBL Bible software shootout session.

This new release includes some fine enhancements that will significantly improve your user experience. Here are a few of them:

- Modernized, more functional user interface
- Additional search operators and options
- Filtering boxes available in many dialogs (including Search and TOC of resources)
- Improved highlighting, with more options and flexibility
- Better linking and syncing with grouping and target windows
- Flipping through customized lists of Bibles, commentaries, dictionaries, etc. with the carousel feature
- Ability to remove books from the Library or the hard drive.

For a full list of new features and video demos, check out this page.

Upgrade prices are available for former users of WORDsearch 5, 7 and 8, or you can head over to the current catalog and order one of the WORDsearch 9 libraries. All products are available for immediate download and there are Windows and Mac (running through WINE and X.11) versions.

OakTree Software has just released the Accordance Biblioteca Hispana CD-ROM, comprising the following texts:

Reina-Valera 1960 with Strong’s numbers
Greek Keys
Hebrew Keys
Reina-Valera 1995 – Edición de Estudio
Reina-Valera 1909
Dios Habla Hoy – Edición de Estudio
Traducción en Lenguaje Actual with notes
Parallel passages (Epistles, Gospels, Harmony, Old Testament, OT in NT, Synoptics)
Descubre la Biblia (2nd revised and enlarged edition in 3 volumes)

Unlockable resources: La Biblia de las Américas, Biblia Navarra with notes and Nueva Versión Internacional.

This CD-ROM includes the localized version of Accordance 8 in Spanish.

Introductory special price is $79 (until Dec. 31). Regular price for the standard package is just $89. Previous Compubiblia para Mac users can upgrade for $20 (requires version 8).

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Oaktree Software acaba de lanzar la Biblioteca Hispana de Accordance en CD-ROM, que contiene los siguientes textos:

Reina-Valera de 1960 con números de Strong
Greek Keys
Hebrew Keys
Reina-Valera de 1995 – Edición de Estudio
Reina-Valera de 1909
Dios Habla Hoy – Edición de Estudio
Traducción en Lenguaje Actual con notas
6 módulos de pasajes paralelos (Epístolas, Evangelios, Concordia, Antiguo Testamento, AT en NT, Sinópticos)
Descubre la Biblia (segunda edición completamente revisada en 3 volúmenes)

Biblias modernas que se pueden desbloquear: La Biblia de las Américas, Biblia Navarra con notas y Nueva Versión Internacional.

Este CD-ROM incluye la versión 8 de Accordance en español.

El precio especial de lanzamiento es de $79 (hasta el 31 de diciembre). El precio habitual del paquete estándar es de sólo $89, mientras que los usuarios de Compubiblia para Mac puede actualizarse a esta nueva versión por sólo $20 (requiere versión 8 de Accordance).

It seems to me that Karyn Traphagen has opened a can of worms, and I mean that in a positive sense. Her question is, Should Schools or Students Choose Bible Software?

In my view, every school and every student should be free to choose, provided the software package in question is suitable for academic purposes. Schools should teach students how to use the tools of the trade, not tell them what tool to use (when there are comparable tools available, that is). Yes, this means more work for instructors –who would necessarily have to be acquainted with more than one program–, but it would also mean that students can learn the big picture about computer-assisted study and enrich one another when actually trying to apply those general rules to their particular brand of advanced Bible software.

And in case you worry about the additional burden of requiring computer skills from your students, instead of focusing on more biblical and theological matters, keep in mind that in many European institutions you need to learn a second modern language to get a degree, and it is taken for granted that you will know that language (and pass the exam!) by the time you graduate, without actually taking any classes at that particular seminary or university. Similarly, computer skills should probably be taken for granted, at least in Western countries. Let  professors worry about their own computer skills and command of different Bible software packages. Students will do just fine.

I personally like having different choices, and therefore, in my view, the decision should be yours and only yours. But whatever decision you make, make sure it is an informed decision and don’t let others do the thinking for you!