Moving from Hardcopy to Digital
I first shared with you my excitement after getting the Kindle after Father’s Day of 2008. For someone who loves books, lots of them, it was a huge step. Leading up to that I had been weaning my library down (from about 3-4 thousand books down to a few hundred–about a 6 year process which picked up intensity in the last year or so).
Why did I do that?
Ego & Identity: My books were sort of like an ego boost and homage to my graduate school degrees, as if my books made me smart. And my identity started getting wrapped up in them. They had become too important. They were taking over my life basically.
Logos
I have been excited about Logos for years it seems like, ever since they started making announcements and I was hearing rumors about it for the Mac. You see, I had been using another software tool for years, but I quite couldn’t make the leap to use it appropriately or sufficiently to help me make that leap. But more recently, more and more of my friends started using Logos and I thought it was about time. I sent out a Twitter to @logos during the Innovation3 Gathering about the product and Ryan Burns contacted me within an hour or so to help me with any questions I had. Talk about great customer service.
Transitioning to Digital
I know this is a hard leap for many of us. We love our books, and I don’t know if anyone loves their books more than seminary students. It’s the pride and joy of our education in many ways, and a tangible reminder of the knowledge we obtained during the time in school. But after a while one just has a lot of books on the shelves. Sometimes I wonder how many books are on someone’s shelves that will never be picked up again, either to be read or referred to? Lots, but they stay there as a sort of decoration and symbol of intellectual knowledge.
Now here me out…I’m not saying there is anything wrong with books or having lots of them. But from a pure practical standpoint, I began to wonder how effective all those books on my shelves were to my ministry? How often are we locked away in our office preparing sermons all week with commentaries open, Greek Synopis open, etc.? Probably not too often. If you are like me, and many of you are, your sermon preparation consists of multiple trips to coffee shops, some uninterrupted time in the office, disjointed time at home, especially if there are children around. So at the end of the day, I really didn’t have all the right tools that I needed in one place, to do my sermon prep.
The one constant was…you guessed it…my computer. That goes everywhere with me so it only began to make sense that my tools for ministry also needed to be contained on my computer. That would make life easier.
Common Sense
At the end of the day, it just made a lot of common sense to simplify my life, and the tools for ministry. I still have lots of books, but if I don’t refer to them very often, then they are gone. I had one professor tell me that if he didn’t use a book in a 3 month time period then he got rid of that book. I’m not saying that’s the right way, but it makes sense that if I’m not using books, then they are just taking up space.
So when I prepare sermons, small groups, or do research, I usually have a few books with me of relevance but I do a lot of my Greek/Hebrew work, work from multiple translations, research history, etc…all from my Scholar’s Library from Logos.
Let me break it down for you:
- Cost: I know that the initial investment into Logos may seem expensive, but I started thinking about how quickly buying books, especially commentaries and language tools got…and it went way past the price quickly. Logos says, “Scholar’s Library is a value-priced collection of texts and tools for serious Bible study using Greek, Hebrew, and English resources. It is the best value in Bible software today with more than 330 Bibles and Bible Reference titles worth over $6,100.00 in equivalent print editions!” And I’m not buying all the bookshelves to store them.
- Space: Everything is on my computer. I can literally go to the coffee shop with my computer and maybe 1-2 other books if necessary and prepare my whole sermon.
- Portability: Sort of like the space issue…but it’s amazing to take everything with me, wherever I go.
- Practicality: I just was honest with myself and asked some hard questions about my books. I had paid a lot for money of them, but it was time to wean them down, and to acquire tools that fit with my mobile lifestyle. I would be more likely to use the tools that are in my computer that I use everyday, than go to my bookshelves and pull numerous books off, to put in my backpack, and take them to the coffee shop.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to post some more on my use of Logos as I get more comfortable with the software, and I will introduce you to some people using it effectively in their ministries, as well as talk about some of the cool features that I enjoy the most.
Do you use a Bible/Theology software program?
Would you consider using one? Why or why not?
What are your thoughts on Logos?
Good post Rhett, You’re always pushing us along with your fancy ideas here! I love accordance, and haven’t tried Logos but I agree that it’s nice to have that stuff with you. One thing for me would be the amount of work and cost involved in a) selling all my books at 1/4 of the cost that I bought them for and b) then re-buying the ones I really use in electronic format.
But I agree with cutting down on clutter, and the personal “badge” that I must know something because I have all these books.
Have you used Accordance? I wonder how Logos stacks up to it?
Also – I like the three month rule. Right now I think I’m using a 1 (or 2) year rule but I am still in the middle of a doctorate.
Nice post. I totally agree with you. I felt like you were describing my own situation, in a sense. Been there-done-that with seminary, and have the beautiful and huge book shelf to show for it. I really like to read, and I do feel like my books are a badge of honor in a sense. I could get rid of a ton. But i feel like they’re my children! So it’s so hard to do. I also have the feeling like, “but what if I need to refer to one of my preaching books or counseling or prophecy books!” Ahhh….quite the conundrum, i guess. But one day I hope to do a big cleaning. I use accordance. If I ever get a stash of money, I’d love to jump into logos, though.
Wess,
Hey, thanks for the post. I actually used Accordance for about 7 years. Really good product, But I had been wanting to move over to Logos for several years. I just found the user interface more intuitive for me, and for what I was working on, and just liked how the product worked. And Wess, yeah, I would thinking hanging onto a lot of book until you finish your Ph.D. and get going is pretty smart.
Rodlie,
Haaa….funny! They are like children in a sense. There is always that one book that you have never cracked open, but you are like, “What if I need this?” And it’s on something so rare, like the Hebrew usage for a rare word, that I don’t even know…or something like that.
rhett
Like others who have commented already, I can very much relate to what you are talking about. I love my books as well, and often wonder if too much of my identity is wrapped up in them. Too my shame, I have caught myself wishing that I had my Logos collection in print just so that I could admire it (ridiculous, I know). That being said, I’ve used Logos’ Scholar’s Library for a little over a year, and I absolutely love it. Between seminary and pastoring, I fire up Logos just about every day. The convenience, the search features, the ability to, as you said, go to a coffee shop with my computer and a book or two and be set for a day of study and writing is amazing. Logos and programs like it are amazing, and I’m a big fan.
I have been reluctant to engage with Kindle due to the fact that I like the physical page-turning experience of books. There’s something tangible about the “fragrance” of ink on paper and the tactile qualities of paper that engage not just my eyes but my touch. I also am a high-lighter and margin note jotter, which I can’t see doing on Kindle as well.
In my daily personal Bible study time I love having books around me – again the physical experience is part of my delight. However, when I’m on the computer and need to look up a scripture, I’ll run to Bible Gateway or youVersion. It’s quicker in some ways to cut and paste from the web site rather than input the words by hand.
I do see the practicalities of books that take up less space and that are more portable. Your points are well made and sensible. Since I hardly listen to CDs anymore in favor of my iPod, I suppose before long I will at least acquire Kindle and the iPhone app for it and take my reading with me in digital format.
Brian,
That’s so awesome! I thought the same thing…I need to get all these books in print so my physical library is even bigger and people think I’m that much smarter. I kept thinking, how can I communicate that when everything is on my hard drive
haaaaa. Thanks for sharing that.
Alvalyn (awesome name by the way),
I so hear you…I love the physicalness of having books in my hand, turning pages…so I agree, you lose that on Kindle. Though you can mark stuff and highlight and write notes on the kindle on whatever pages you are reading, it’s obviously not the same thing.
I have actually become quite picky with what I put onto Kindle and what I get hardcopy. If it’s a book I will underline like crazy and constantly refer to all the time, I will most likely buy it in hardcopy…even if I read it on Kindle first. But I have enjoyed reading novels on the Kindle.
rhett
“Books were an ego boost and homage to my degrees.”
Ha! What pathetic worms we are! I too came to this conclusion. All that needed to happen to prove my patheticness was to have someone from church step into my library. Pride swelled. If it was one of the pastor’s commenting on the quality, then I found myself more in love with the conversation than my Lord. How disgusting!
I started selling my library about 2 years ago. My goal: One bookshelf. Then I invested in Logos Bible Software. See: there is nothing wrong with having the right tools to prepare; there is everything wrong with wanting/craving the admiration of men.
Pragmatically, having my most of my tools available on my laptop or on my mobile device is absolutely wonderful. And no-one (but my wife) knows that I have them. Of course, underlying sins may still remain and need correction, but this was one stumbling block I didn’t need.