Bible Software and Study
Thinking on the topic a bit earlier this week about electronic Bibles and how they can be better used, I started to take a critical look at the playing field in terms fo Bible software and what it is trying to do versus what it is actually doing.
For the most part I saw software that looked to fill a gap of being able to study using an electronic device, whether that was a laptop, desktop, or PDA, and give you an experience akin to what you would find if you were using a library and its tomes of books and resources. In this respect, there is not too much of a failure on the side of Bible software companies. There is certainely plenty of software out there, and an expansive library of resources for most of them.
Where some programs are stronger is in this area. Programs such as Laridian's MyBible and Logos have some excellent resources. But there always seems to be a hole in either how to use that information in other programs, or even how to annotate for your best needs within the respective program that you are using.
That leads me to the thought where Bible programs do not do well much at all (unless you have the time and disciple to create a workflow and stick with it): namely being great readers for study. Sure, you can open a Word document or memo pad item along side it, but collecting versus under a user-defined subject area, or making the results of a search available outside of the Bible program is something that is not seen.
A common issue that I tend to also have is in that nice highlighting feature. In an idea world, I'd open to a verse, and devide that I'd want to highlight it. I get a menu that highlights it and allows me to choose additonal verses to highlight. I would then be asked if I want to categorize/tag that highlight under a new or exisiting category. And then I'd add my notes. If there are already notes to that verse, I can add to them, or create a new note (multiple notes per verse). Then when talking in a Bible study or for a sermon, I'd share that list of highlighted Scriptures and notes that would be shareable across various Bible readers and devices. Hence, I am not only utilizing the resource nature of the electronic Bible, but also making available in small snippets enough of the commentary to encourage someone else for the long haul.
If I am a student the tagging feature is even better as I could then define doctrinal and theological issues in lieu of the verses and then export those in some sort of XML/text doc to share with others or for a study aide.
As you can see, I am thinking of the set that its not so much that paper isn't useful, but that the electronic Bible needs to be more than just a rehash of what we do with paper. It has to follow our mind's way of putting together concepts, and be versatile enough to share that - same as we would in voice or via a note across the assembly.
Its possible, the question is when will it happen (IMO).
posted via Mo:Blog
Thinking on the topic a bit earlier this week about electronic Bibles and how they can be better used, I started to take a critical look at the playing field in terms fo Bible software and what it is trying to do versus what it is actually doing.
For the most part I saw software that looked to fill a gap of being able to study using an electronic device, whether that was a laptop, desktop, or PDA, and give you an experience akin to what you would find if you were using a library and its tomes of books and resources. In this respect, there is not too much of a failure on the side of Bible software companies. There is certainely plenty of software out there, and an expansive library of resources for most of them.
Where some programs are stronger is in this area. Programs such as Laridian's MyBible and Logos have some excellent resources. But there always seems to be a hole in either how to use that information in other programs, or even how to annotate for your best needs within the respective program that you are using.
That leads me to the thought where Bible programs do not do well much at all (unless you have the time and disciple to create a workflow and stick with it): namely being great readers for study. Sure, you can open a Word document or memo pad item along side it, but collecting versus under a user-defined subject area, or making the results of a search available outside of the Bible program is something that is not seen.
A common issue that I tend to also have is in that nice highlighting feature. In an idea world, I'd open to a verse, and devide that I'd want to highlight it. I get a menu that highlights it and allows me to choose additonal verses to highlight. I would then be asked if I want to categorize/tag that highlight under a new or exisiting category. And then I'd add my notes. If there are already notes to that verse, I can add to them, or create a new note (multiple notes per verse). Then when talking in a Bible study or for a sermon, I'd share that list of highlighted Scriptures and notes that would be shareable across various Bible readers and devices. Hence, I am not only utilizing the resource nature of the electronic Bible, but also making available in small snippets enough of the commentary to encourage someone else for the long haul.
If I am a student the tagging feature is even better as I could then define doctrinal and theological issues in lieu of the verses and then export those in some sort of XML/text doc to share with others or for a study aide.
As you can see, I am thinking of the set that its not so much that paper isn't useful, but that the electronic Bible needs to be more than just a rehash of what we do with paper. It has to follow our mind's way of putting together concepts, and be versatile enough to share that - same as we would in voice or via a note across the assembly.
Its possible, the question is when will it happen (IMO).
posted via Mo:Blog
posted by Antoine @ 3/23/2007 09:40:00 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
All I can say is AMEN!!!!!!!!!!
Seems like the two things that I do the most with my bible are the two weekest points in ALL bible readers.
What good is the Word if I cannot interact with it? And that's what it's all about, isn't it?
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