Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Louw-Nida Lexicon in BibleWorks7 and Logos

As I've been using both BibleWorks7 and Logos, I've been thinking about the ways I utilize various tools in both. I just finished a rather lengthy review of how the Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains is implemented in both programs. You can view it either as a MSWord DOC or as a web page. I post this in part to help those who might be trying to choose between either program, though in this case, neither has an overwhelming advantage over the other. I also post it as a way to encourage the developers of the programs to consider ways to improve future versions.
[UPDATED in light of comment by Vincent Setterholm]
Here's my bottom line:

PROS

BOTH BW7 and Logos

  • Far easier to navigate than hardcopy volumes
  • Interfaces essentially keep both volumes (the indices and the entries) open and available
  • Links to cited biblical texts and other lexicons
  • Ease of searching

BibleWorks7

  • Closely connected to the biblical verse being viewed, references to Greek words and entries specifically citing that word appear in Resource Summary
  • All references to a passage appear in Resource Summary
  • Program automatically adjusts for typing in Greek for simple searches

Logos

  • LN opens as a book within the program and helpfully reproduces the hardcopy’s layout including superscripts and footnotes
  • Can search and gather all references to any word throughout the lexicon
  • Has the English-Greek Index

CONS

BibleWorks7

  • LN opens in separate window not completely integrated with rest of program
  • Entries are a bit harder to read than in Logos
  • Footnotes have all been stripped

Logos

  • Need to switch keyboards to type in Greek

Posted by MGVHoffman at 4:15 PM

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 7, 2007 at 5:12 PM

    Actually, it is possible to have the index and the entries visible in Logos simultaneously. Just open two copies of the resource, and click the icon to make one copy the reference target and then open the other copy to the index volume. Then clicking on any LN number in either index will navigate to the entry in the reference target copy.

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  2. MGVHoffmanAugust 7, 2007 at 6:33 PM

    Thanks, Vincent. I should have thought of that. You will see that I have updated everything to reflect that possibility in Logos.

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  3. AnonymousOctober 2, 2007 at 2:53 PM

    I should also add that Logos has a project currently running that dis-ambiguates LN numbers for each word of the Greek NT.

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  4. MGVHoffmanOctober 2, 2007 at 3:47 PM

    Thanks for the update, Mike. I love the word "dis-ambiguates" (though I'm not quite sure what that will mean for LN in Logos), but I applaud it if that means bringing greater clarity to how we see the words and domains working together in LN. Logos has done a good job here.

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  5. AnonymousJanuary 19, 2008 at 1:07 PM

    I think he's referring to the Lexham Greek/English Interlinear GNT - where they've provided context sensitive glosses and links to the pertaining L&N number - which means you'll be able to search the GNT to find all specific instances of a domain or subdomain.

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  6. MGVHoffmanJanuary 19, 2008 at 1:49 PM

    UPDATE: 2008.01.19: Mike is correct. Rick Brannan has posted a video on the Logos blog showing more on how the Lexham Greek-English Interlinear NT will work. By "disambiguating," they are referring to how links point to the specific sub/domain entries rather than simply to the index entry for the word where there may be quite a few entries.

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