29 replies to this topic

[Evan Hershman]

Any chance will we see the Anchor Bible commentaries and/or the various reference volumes published in the Anchor Bible Reference Library appearing for Accordance? It would be incredibly useful to have such texts available for Accordance... I was leafing through Raymond E. Brown's commentary on the Gospel of John the other day and thinking how useful it would be to instantly be able to see the texts he cross-references without having to flip back and forth between pages searching for a given passage.

[Helen Brown]

We would love to acquire these, but have the usual issues with getting licensing and etexts from the current publishers. We have been trying for years.

[AdamR]

The real shame is that the AB commentaries are now being printed as paperbacks while still retaining their high retail price. I bought Fitzmyer's commentaries on Luke and Acts, but ended up returning them because the binding didn't look like it would make it through the constant use I would put them through. As someone who still buys books AND Accordance modules, it'd be great to have these in Accordance, if only to use the books less and have them last longer than they might otherwise. Bummer that they're not available for licensing.

[Michael J. Bolesta]

I too would love to see Anchor Yale Bible and Reference Works (in addition to the ABD).

[Steve Lo Vullo]

Same here.

[Kevin Soars]

Likewise,thanks.

[Fr. Rich]

Me too.

[klein]

One year later:
me too

[DWFrancis]

They are great resources, the dictionary is excellent, i do have the others in different software, I fear some companies likely look on Bible programs unlike how they look at book stores, and do not always see the need to have their items available in different programs, they should view different software like stores, and i am sure they would't want to limit themselves to one store.

-Dan

[jeremyduncan]

I'd love to see this commentary as well. I just bought Sasson's Jonah volume which is great content.

[Michael J. Bolesta]

I have requested this in the past and hope progress is being made...

[RobM]

Me too

[Timothy Jenney]

I buy a lot of my fiction books on Kindle. I see that Amazon now has a button for those books not yet available electronically. It lets the publisher know every time a user requests a specific book on the Kindle platform. Sure wish we could figure out a way to do that in Accordance. Meanwhile, consider contacting these publishers and letting them know of your interest.

 

I know I've been waiting years for some books to appear in Accordance. I know it's not the company's fault either. Publishers are swamped these days—and still scrambling trying to figure out how to make money in this new digital world.

[AbramKJ]

Fortress Press has a bunch of books that sell with a CD-ROM in the back so you can load it onto your computer. Granted, it's a different Bible software than the one that hosts these forums, but that is a great way to go.

 

Speaking of Amazon, they just announced AutoRip, where if you buy a CD, you automatically (and immediately) get a free mp3 download of the same album. I'd love to see something similar with biblical texts and commentaries... buy hard copy of NA28, get free download in Accordance (or even for a nominal add-on fee of $10-$15 or something).

 

Yes, I know this is impossible and idealistic.  I also know Accordance and others need to be paid for their work that they do above and beyond what happens with a print edition... and for this to happen, I'm aware that too many companies would have to coordinate too many things.

 

But from a user standpoint, it sure would be nice...
 

[luoar]

I have mixed feelings about this series. Some of the commentaries are brilliant, others are mediocre  and still others, though good at the time when they were first printed are now dated. A seismic shift is occurring in biblical studies and I think that in a few years this will not be regarded as favourably as it now is. I am sure it will not age as well as ICC, which in my view, on the whole, remains a better set.

 

rari

[AbramKJ]

I found this article along the lines of the above ("bundling" print and digital) helpful.

 

...alhough ebooks and Bible software modules are two different things, since presumably the given publisher would own/produce the former but not the latter.

 

All the same, we can dream, right? Accordance, if you could pull off a way to partner with publishers so that a print edition comes (even if at extra cost) with a download code of the same module in Accordance, that would be sweet. The Fortress Press arrangement I mentioned above is with Logos, but it's probably not more than 20 books, and it's the only publisher I know of that does that to date.

 

I'd definitely pay an additional $20 to get an NA28 print edition that also included an unlock code in Accordance.

[Rick Bennett]

I found this article along the lines of the above ("bundling" print and digital) helpful.

 

...alhough ebooks and Bible software modules are two different things, since presumably the given publisher would own/produce the former but not the latter.

 

All the same, we can dream, right? Accordance, if you could pull off a way to partner with publishers so that a print edition comes (even if at extra cost) with a download code of the same module in Accordance, that would be sweet. The Fortress Press arrangement I mentioned above is with Logos, but it's probably not more than 20 books, and it's the only publisher I know of that does that to date.

 

I'd definitely pay an additional $20 to get an NA28 print edition that also included an unlock code in Accordance.

 

The biggest issue with this is that Accordance is not a free reader, and we are not going to make that shift. So, bundling an Accordance module with a printed book would require that the person already have Accordance. Not to mention the added cost of physical media, which is unnecessary these days.

[AbramKJ]

Thanks for the reply, Rick--good point about Accordance not being a free reader.  I was going to say that Kindle is not either (if Amazon ever went the "bundling" route), but there actually are free Kindle readers (apps, cloud, etc.), so maybe that makes bundling more doable than a Bible software bundle with a print edition would be.

 

As far as adding physical media, I would think no actual CD would be needed, so costs could be saved there--just a sealed unlock code in an envelope at the back of the book could work (the Strengthsfinder books by Gallup, for example, have this for an accompanying assessment)... or it could be a ridealong card in a shrink-wrapped edition of the book.

 

But I'm sure the larger issue here is what is worth the time and effort and money of the company (or any other company considering bundling in this way).  While there are surely other Accordance users who would go for the print+digital combo, perhaps that's not enough to make it make sense to pursue that strategy--especially given the potentially new negotiations/conversations with publishing companies that would be required.

[DWFrancis]

The biggest issue with this is that Accordance is not a free reader, and we are not going to make that shift. So, bundling an Accordance module with a printed book would require that the person already have Accordance. Not to mention the added cost of physical media, which is unnecessary these days.

 

What might work is the offer of a free module for accordance, i.e.: contact the publisher providing proof of purchase and they provide a code to enter into accordance check out engine. In fact the publisher could make the offer good for any Bible software that has their work giving them true choice.

 

-Dan

[Michael J. Bolesta]

We would love to acquire these, but have the usual issues with getting licensing and etexts from the current publishers. We have been trying for years.

 

This was Helen's comment concerning the Yale Anchor Bible commentary series in 2011. It would be great to see them, especially classic volumes by Raymond Brown and Joseph Fitzmyer.

 

Hopefully there has been progress (but do not expect official announcement till there is something to release). Just continuing to hope...