There and Back Again - From Accordance to Logos to Accordance

[M. Lumpkin]

“There and Back Again...From Accordance to Logos back to Accordance”

 

For ten years I used Logos Bible Software as my primary research tool while a PC user. About four years ago I made “The Switch” from PC to Mac for good. I was all in, no holds barred, which meant I had to make a change of Bible software. The options were fairly limited and the choice was clear...Accordance.

 

Over the next few years Accordance never failed, not once. While I faced some frustration in a lack of library options, the program worked. All the time it worked! I worked on sermon after sermon and began my doctoral work utilizing the wonderful syntax and exegetical functions of Accordance.

 

Then something strange occurred. I got wind of the Logos for Mac talk and was interested, even wooed. Suddenly I began to miss all of my Library options. You know, all those books that you love to see in your library list but just never seem to get around to using...those books. So, I plopped my Accordance collection on eBay, recovered some of the investment, legally transferred all the licenses and began wondering what I’d done.

 

To stave off buyer’s/seller’s remorse, I quickly purchased Logos Scholar’s Gold - the BIG Daddy of them all! Again, holding nothing back I dove back in. At first, I used it on the PC side via VMware. The PC side of things ran well. I got tired of the chunk of my computer the PC side was taking up (things were feeling “clunky” and very un-Mac like) and alpha / beta versions of Logos for Mac were being released...so, I nixed the PC side and began using the Logos for Mac.

 

There were some serious issues with the Mac version, but I was forgiving, I had a TON of books and the full release was coming soon. Well, in the Fall of 2008 the day arrived and in the mail was my $69 Mac engine - full official version. Downloaded it all. While forgiving of the awkward install process I waited for what felt like hours and there it was, all my “stuff” on Logos for Mac, official.

 

There was some glitchy stuff here and there, but I knew that some update was coming soon. Well, then I began to encounter serious problems. I was in the middle of an intense part of research for my doctorate, running a fairly involved exegetical sequence, I had to run a search. Nervous that all of my “windows” might be disrupted I tried to save the workspace and nothing happened. Wait! That was an issue in the Beta, surely that’s fixed. Well, I had to keep going. Sure enough, all of the time I spent developing the exegetical work was lost when, with no workspace saved, the program quit unexpectedly. I’ll leave out my feelings at this point...still being sanctified! I will tell you my first thought... “Accordance never did this!”

 

The problem, however, was that it happened time and time again. Then exegetical searches froze and syntax was just not working like it did with Logos on PC, which, to Libronix credit, they admit on their website.

 

Finally, I called customer service and found out that there was a particular book in my vast library that caused all the crashing. The nice gentleman (genuinely) told me that it was a known issue and they were working on it. Now, this is where I sound like a snooty Mac-phile... “If you know there is a problem that is global, why not help your users by issuing an email or maybe even a fix?” Instead, I was left with the frustration of again and again having crashes and having to discover their fixes on my own.

 

Well, I know that Logos is early in this and they do have a vast library and their academic discount is a bit better, we all know this. But this is also what we know... Accordance WORKS! What I was reminded of was that there are much bigger differences between Logos and Accordance than merely format. I decided that even if all the glitches were worked out with Logos for Mac that I still would choose Accordance all over again because I was reminded of two very important principles with my studies and the Accordance format... 1) Good research must work and, 2) it must be based on an exegetical premise. That should be our starting point as preachers and teachers and it was the starting point for Accordance, and they have not forgotten that.

 

So, there I was and now I am back again. I want to be careful to say that Logos was very considerate in my dealings with them. They are not the evil empire, but they are different. I don’t know where you are in this process, but before you are wooed by big libraries, strongly consider what you want in your “library.” Do you want volumes of nice books on your shelves or books and pages spread out over your desk opened to works relevant to the task at hand?

 

In Process,

Mike Lumpkin

Senior Pastor

University Baptist Church

Fayetteville, Arkansas

[Rich Shields]

Greetings, Mike. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

As a Mac user since 1990 (System 6!), I never did buy Logos or Accordance. In fact, prior to ever owning a computer I completed Mdiv and STM work the old fashioned way (hard bound books). So I waited (financial considerations as well) and waited and waited. I had been waiting for Logos to offer something for OS X (after years of requesting by email), thinking it would be the best option. Well, after further investigation, I finally purchased Accordance a couple months ago. I am so glad I did! As you indicate, it works! And that is so important. In my current position I don