Printed and Digital copies of Books

[Dan Masshardt]

I just ordered Accordance for the first time and if everything goes the way I think it will, I will be ordering more modules as well.

 

My question is about things that I already have print copies of. For instance, I want to buy the IVP collection to have accessible on my laptop. I already own about half of those IVP dictionaries -Bible Background Commentaries etc.

 

So, do any of you have these things in Accordance and in print and still use the print copies often enough to make it worthwhile to keep them or should I sell the sell to buy more Accordance modules / books, etc?

[Timothy Jenney]

Hi, Dan, and welcome to the group!

 

I think you'll find users who do both. I have one friend who just sold his various WBC commentaries to upgrade to the WBC on Accordance. I know I eventually ran out of room in my house for hard copies, so I got rid of as many as I could—and determined to buy very little that wasn't electronic. [When we moved to Florida, I had 26 boxes of books!!!]

 

Others have kept their hard copies for things like page numbers (which may or may not be included in the Accordance module; it depends upon the publisher). I suppose there are even people who just like having them on their shelves as decorations! ;-)

 

I know I rarely use the hard copies of books I also have in Accordance. With my laptop, I can take my electronic library anywhere! Starbucks, a Mac laptop and Accordance make for great Bible studies!

[RobM]

I don't have both the print and electronic copies, just the electronic. Let me tell ya, it is fantastic having these modules on my computer. For paper's I've been able to do a 'Search All' in all the IVP dictionaries, ABD, TJL, and various commentaries and immediately find several sources. The ability to find exactly what you want in 5-10 seconds (for the Search All, less when searching individual modules), makes print copies seem cumbersome. Granted, the print copies have somewhat better browsability, at least for leisurely flipping pages, but that's only if you have the time to waste. One other problem with only having the electronic copies is that there are no page numbers in many of the IVP resources (though not all: "New Dictionary of Theology" and all the "Pocket Dictionaries" have pages). So if you are given page numbers to read from one of them with not knowledge of the topic you're supposed to read, you would first have to look in a print volume to find out which entry you need to read. Another problem might be if you need to include a page number while citing it in a paper. In this case however you can look in one of the standard formatting handbooks (e.g., SBL, Turabian, etc) for how to cite sources without page numbers. In a recent paper I did, in Turabian format I simply had the dictionary entry, dictionary name, followed by "n.p." for no page number. Since it is a dictionary article, anyone checking your sources could easily get to the quote within 2-3 pages based simply on the entry from which you quoted (there have also been several other threads in this forum where people have talked about citing Accordance modules with no page numbers that you could check out). This applies also to the commentaries. For your quote, indicate which passage was being discussed from where you got your quote and anyone can easily track it down.

 

I hope this helps in weighing the advantages and disadvantages.

 

-Robert

[Sean R.]

I'm just out of college, new to pastoral ministry, and after a couple years of pastoring will be attending a seminary. As I'm not able to invest very much into building up a library, I'm not able to purchase both print and electronic copies of various books—I can only afford one (actually, most often I can't even afford to purchase one copy). I've decided to always purchase electronic copies of study resources if they are available as Accordance modules (dictionaries, lexicons, grammars, texts, commentaries, etc.). The usefulness of any work is greatly enhanced when it is an Accordance module. If the book I want is not a study resource (i.e., not a reference work), I'll generally purchase it in print (usually second hand to save money).

 

If I had print copies of books I also owned as Accordance modules, I'd sell the print copies to raise money to purchase more Accordance modules.

[davesalyer]

I bought BDAG in paper before buying it for Accordance. At first I thought it would be good to have both, but after a year of Greek studies I didn't crack the paper version once. It's so much easier to search on Accordance and I always have it with me. So I sold BDAG and haven't regretted it. Did the same with Keil and Delitzsch. I have some Word commentaries I haven't sold yet because I plan on reading through those for longer sittings when I preach from those books and for long reading I find paper more useful. For lexicons, encyclopedias and things where you usually just read one or two brief articles at a time I can't imagine using the paper version as much as the Accordance module.

[Jonathan Hicks]

I agree wholeheartedly with Dave's last comment. I had some of the IVP dictionaries myself and I have sold them to get more money for other Accordance modules. I don't like reading books on the computer, but reference works (dictionaries, lexicons, grammars, etc.) are way more useful as Accordance modules.

 

I think one of the best new features in 8.1 (or was it with 8.0?) is when you amplify from a Greek word to BDAG or HALOT it now includes the verse you are amplifying from in the search. Therefore, it automatically highlights the verse reference in the entry if present. Brilliant!