Mark Barnes has posted an excellent review comparing OliveTree BibleReader and Logos for the iPhone/iPod Touch. This is one of the most exciting areas right now for Bible software, and I’m sure it will be even more so when the new iPad is launched. It’s definitely worth a read.

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.

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.

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!

Comment

After the successful SBL Bible Software Shootout session, there seems to be a renewed interest in demoing Bible software and comparing how different packages face real-life, daily study and research challenges. This is most welcome, and I have already tried to address a very practical test case earlier this week.

Mark L. Ward posted a pop quiz he set for users of BibleWorks. Nothing terribly difficult, just the kinds of searches many people have to use while studying the Bible. There is a little bit for everyone: English searches, Greek searches (both GNT and LXX), Strong’s searches, Lexicon lookups, graphical analysis of search results… Well, you get the idea.

Sean Boisen has taken up the challenge and showed how to answer the quiz with Logos 4. He actually works for Logos, but makes it very clear that he’s “not trying to start (or fuel) any “my software can beat your software”-type competitions, or take pot shots at other products.” There is nothing of that sort in his post, just step-by-step instructions on how he did the test and the results he got (make sure you read the comments too!).

I took a few minutes (very few, actually) to read Mark’s original quiz, fired up Accordance (since I was on my iMac) and completed the quiz in no time. I then read Sean’s explanations and compared his results with mine (not quite the same as his in some cases). All in all it was an interesting exercise, and it would be great to see how other people go about it performing these tasks with their Bible software. I did not have the opportunity to check the results with BibleWorks, but it would be good if Mark or somebody else would give us their results. I may do it myself, but not today.