In the Steps of Paul and Revelation: Pictures

I had the great opportunity to co-lead a trip to Turkey and Greece last month. We covered most of the Paul and Revelation sites in western Turkey and Greece. We had beautiful weather, excellent guides, and wonderful food and lodging. In preparation for the trip, I got a nice entry-level DSLR camera (Pentax K-x) and spent a few months practicing with it. As compared to the mid-range digital point-and-shoot camera I had been using, I found that one can certainly take much better quality pics with a DSLR camera, but it is also much easier to take bad pics when the settings aren't correct. During our 2 weeks over there, I ended up taking about 2000 pics and deleted about 1/5 of them right away. Now I've been going through them, picking out the better ones, and doing some post-processing. 
I got plenty of pics illustrating the significant features of a site, but I was also trying to take some pics that did more to evoke the site rather than just display it.


I've been using Picasa for most of the quick editing and Adobe PhotoElements 9 for extra work. One of the nice things about Picasa is that I've been geotagging the pics, and it is possible to locate the shot within meters of where I actually shot it. With Picasa I then also upload selected pics to space on the free Picasa web album. I'll start posting various day's worth of pics.


This trip was a wonderful experience, but one result is that I would love to go further east and south in Turkey to places like Cappadocia, Tarsus, Syrian and Pisidian Antioch, Derbe, Lystra...

Moulton & Milligan: The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament

Larry Hurtado recently posted about the importance of Moulton & Milligan's The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament: Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-Literary Sources (M&M).  

Where can you obtain this excellent resource?

• It is available at Amazon for under $30. This is the 1995 Hendrickson edition which includes a Scripture Index.
• Mike Heiser on The Naked Bible noted its availability in Logos (for $40). It is linked to the Greek NT texts and is searchable in both Greek and English. An extra benefit is that the entries in BDAG which refer to M&M are linked.  
• M&M is also included for free in BibleWorks, and words are all linked between the lexicon and the Greek NT texts. It also is searchable in both Greek and English.
• (M&M does not appear to be available in Accordance?)
• The 1929 edition is available on Archive.org for free. If you get it from here, be sure to use either one of the PDF versions or the DjVu version since they are page scans and will display the Greek. (Sadly, the Kindle version does not display the Greek.) These versions are searchable in English only.

Now you know...

BibleWorks and WORDsearch

I don't see where there has been an announcement from BibleWorks, but WORDsearch has announced that it has "partnered" with BibleWorks to make several of the modules available as BW addins. (kennete had noted it on the BW Forum.) This is an unexpected but interesting development. BW has always focused primarily on the primary texts and translations. There a number of older dictionaries and encylopedias and addin modules already available for BW, and they have promised other developments down the line, but this is the first relationship of this kind for BW. Entries will show up cross-linked in the Resource tab of the Analysis window.
There are some decent resources available and WORDsearch is prominsing more. This link shows you which resources are available. The IVP Dictionaries are worthwhile additions. It looks like you only need to add an installer for the modules to work. Good deal for both companies and for us users...

Bible Software for Android

Long story... but end result is that I am now using a Droid X (Verizon). I hate paying the data charge, but this is turning out to be one great phone replacing its 7 year old predecessor phone. In fact, after a couple weeks, it has also replaced my long-beloved Dell Axim x51v. In addition to the basic stuff of calendar, contacts, and stuff (I'm all Google synced for email and calendar...), one of my first needs was to get some Bible software on the device. There are quite a few Bible apps available, but here are the results of my searching and experimenting.

OliveTree

http://www.olivetree.com/android/index.php

• Free BibleReader app with assortment of free Bibles: KJV, ASV, HCSB, JPS1917, NET (w/ limited notes)
• Most developed, most resources
• Study Bibles (e.g., ESV, HarperCollins, HCSB, NET w/ full notes: most in $10-30 range)
• Greek and Hebrew Bibles (SBLGNT for free; BHS, LXX, NA27 also available in morphological versions w/ lexicons: $30-75 range)
• Commentaries, dictionaries, devotionals, eBooks, maps, Strong's resources available
• Josephus and Philo (English) are free
• Android development lags behind iPhone/iPod Touch and earlier PalmOS and WinMobile, but they are busy expanding capabilities for Androi
• Many non-English Bibles available
• I have been a long time user of OliveTree, and I appreciate the ability to move my library from one platform to the next. (Palm > Axim > DroidX) I'm using versions I purchased previously like the NRSV and BHS, and the new SBL GNT is also on my DroidX. I have Philo and Josephus there too. The only problem is that I had purchased the Gramcord NT with its morphological analysis and dictionary, but this is not available on Android. They now offer a new morphologically tagged GNT (the Greek New Testament (NA27) with Mounce-Koivisto Morphology and UBS Dictionary), but it's still rather expensive, even with an upgrade path they offer. Given all the work OliveTree has done, their longevity in the business, and the wide collection of resources they offer, this one comes highly recommended.

 YouVersion

http://www.youversion.com/mobile/android

• Free
• Use with an online account to keep notes, maintain a Bible reading plan, share on other social media
• Good selection of translations, most of which are downloadable and able to be used offline (*online only): CEV, ESV, HCSB, KJV, Message, NET (apparently with full set of notes), NASB*, NIV84*, NIV2010*, NLT, TNIV2005*
• Search, bookmarks, notes, reading plans
• Easy navigation and ability to switch versions
• Many non-English Bibles available
• I have had an online account (free) with YouVersion, so this provides a nice transition. I highly recommend this Bible reader because it has the most extensive offering of free English versions (including the full NET).
  

CadreBible

http://cadrebible.com/index.php

• "Over 60 Bibles, Dictionaries, Commentaries and Books available for offline reading"
• Free versions include: ASV, KJV, NA26 GNT, Westcott-Hort NA26/UBS3 GNT, Scrivener GNT,
• NET (w/ limited notes), Tanach (public domain Hebrew), LXX, Vulgate,
• Search, bookmarks, notes, sharing, highlighting, reading plans
• Parallel view (translations and/or commentaries; e.g., I have Gen 1:1 on screen showing NET, LXX, Hebrew, Vulgate!)
• Can synchronize with Evernote
• Non-English Bibles available
• I am keeping this one on my DroidX because, as far as I have found, it's the only one to have a free LXX and Hebrew text. What's more, the Parallel view feature is extremely helpful to have Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and English versions of a verse all on screen together.

And-Bible

http://code.google.com/p/and-bible/

[Update from comment by Matthew]

• Free and open source using JSword engine and CrossWire resources
• Over 40 English versions of the bible including ESV, KJV and NET and in over 50 different languages
• Can use CrossWire Bible resources often not found elsewhere such as: Apostolic Polyglot Bible (which gives LXX and NT w/ links to Strong's), Lexham English Bible, English translations of Peshitta NT, a number of Greek NT and Hebrew OT texts
• Other resources such as Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
• This one holds promise because of its ability to use CrossWire resources, but it still has some work to do. Greek diacritics do not display, and Hebrew right-to-left is not yet supported. It is worth checking out as it becomes further developed.

OTHER APPS: I have looked at the following, but they appear to be more basic Bible readers.

Tecarta

http://www.tecarta.com/bible/android/index.htm

Free Talking KJV

Other version addons $1-5 each: NIV, KJV, NKJV, MSG, NLT, ESV...

Others for purchase

Search, bookmarks, notes, split screen mode, sharing

Daily Bible

http://joansoft.com/db.htm

Supports NIV, KJV, ESV...

Includes most basic features

Bible Study Pro = MegaBible

http://biblestudypro.com/Mobile/default.aspx

$1.99 to get started

CrossConnect Bible

http://crossconnectbible.blogspot.com/

Interesting open source project that claims to be able to integrate Sword modules! If anyone has been using this and successfully using Sword modules, I'd love to hear about it.

Logos is coming...

http://www.logos.com/mobile/android

In the meantime, I am happily using their Biblia.com to access my Logos library

BOTTOM LINE

I have installed and am keeping OliveTree's BibleReader, the YouVersion Bible, and CadreBible. As I note above, each offers something distinctive. Since I do also have web access on my DroidX, I also have Biblia.com, Biblos.com, NETBible Learning Environment, and the BibleWebApp all bookmarked. That is an incredible collection of Bible resources. The only thing I'm saving for is morphologically tagged editions of the BHS and NA27 from OliveTree.

Eventually I hope to post some additional descriptions of usability of these apps, but in the meantime, if you have better advice or suggestions please share them in the comments.

Reporting from SBL - Logos

 Hmmm.... I wrote this up a month ago but forgot to "publish" it...

Steve Runge at Logos

Stopped by the Logos display and got a chance to visit with Steve Runge. It's good to hear that his Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament is being well received. (The link is to the book at Amazon, but it is, of course, also available as a digital download at Logos.) I'm introducing bits of it in my intro Greek class, but I want to do more with it. I think it's helpful in making students aware of the nuances of the Greek text and why an author has chosen to express something this way instead of that.

I've been remiss about updating all that's going on with Logos lately. The updates to Logos 4 (I'm now using 4.1 SR-4 - UPDATE 12/22: They have now released 4.2) have fixed some niggling issues and have brought up full capability so that I finally am comfortable to delete my old Libronix/Logos 3 from my system. Logos 4 has turned out to be a very nice update. The speed and interface are much improved. I really like the Biblical Places tool and the quality resources associated with it. I think it's great that my Logos library is synced across the computers I use and even available via the web (and hence even at my fingertips when using my old Dell Axim x51v online). To have it available on mobile platforms is also a nice benefit. Of course, Logos is particularly happy to be shipping their Mac version.

Reporting from SBL - Accordance

Accordance Booth at SBL

Trying to find some time to catch up on stuff from SBL last week...

I had a good conversation with David Lang from Accordance at their booth here at SBL. (He's been busy working on and now happily finished with editing the Journal of Biblical Literature volumes to be accessible in Accordance.) I am still running Accordance 8 on a Windows machine using Basilisk, but the big news was the release of Accordance 9 (and now already a 9.1 release). In addition to updating the interface, the most appreciated improvement appears to be the Workspace Zones which "group, organize, and synchronize study texts and tools to maximize efficiency." Accordance has been very good at incorporating original language resources into their libraries (texts and images of codices, Samaritan Targum, DSS resources, etc.), and I am happy to see that they now have the collection of Carta publications available.

Accordance is now also at work at developing a syntactical database of the Greek NT. (Luke and John are available for now. Logos, working with OpenText.org, has already shown the benefit of this kind of database for analyzing the Greek text. Accordance appears to be using a somewhat simpler analysis [and this may well be a good thing...].)

Accordance also has announced an iPhone/iPad app which should be available soon that will allow access to all of one's modules. (Targuman has more to say about it here.)

Review of SBL GNT in the Gospels by Wieland Willker

Wieland Willker (WW), who is active on the BibleWorks forum, has published an 8-page PDF "Analysis of the SBL GNT in the Gospels." (I, along with many others, reported on the recently announced and released SBL GNT edited by Michael Holmes here.) 

You will want to read Willker's full analysis, but here are some highlights:

• "It is good to see this new critical text by Mike Holmes. There are too few today. My opinion is that creating a critical text is the crowning achievement of a textual critic's career."
• He applauds the lack of single bracketed readings. Decisions are made!
• With regard to the apparatus, WW states that it "is a stopgap, to produce something better than nothing. It is noting many minutiae, but is omitting many important variants. So the student is not informed on all important textual variants, but only on those that are covered by the base texts."
• WW notes that Holmes has "some fondness" for the Western text, but there are numerous non-Western readings chosen.
• Noting that most people are interested in comparing this SBL GNT with the NA27, WW claims that (after disregarding some insignificant variations) "there are 232 differences between SBL and NA in the Gospels. Of these, SBL follows WH about 48% of the time and the Byzantine text about 44%."
• "What one immediately recognizes is that Holmes is a lectio brevior man... This is the shortest GNT ever!"
• In my opinion, WW has carefully studied and analyzed the Greek NT, so I respect his evaluation when he says, "Overall I agree more often than not with Holmes' textual choices."
• "For the future I hope for another version to come out with a "real" apparatus, showing the manuscripts... I also hope that Mike Holmes is writing a commentary on his text."
• WW includes an Appendix indicating "Agreements between Holmes and Willker against NA."

Thanks to Wieland Willker for posting this analysis and sharing it online.

Reporting from SBL - SBL's Bible Odyssey

The SBL announced in their September newsletter:

This August SBL submitted to the National Endowment for the Humanities a grant to build a website for the general public, called Bible Odyssey (the previous working title was World of the Bible). In the past year SBL and an advisory team used an NEH planning grant to develop the site concept and a prototype design. (Stop by our table at the Annual meeting for a preview.)

The site will be a useful undergraduate classroom tool and will offer SBL members a chance to hone their public communication skills. We will hear from NEH about funding in April 2011. 

I got to see and have attached pics of a few pages of this still-very-much-a-prototype project. (It is not yet close to ready to go online, so these are pictures of the screens.)  If you look closely, you can see that it is organized by People, Places, Passages, Themes, Traditions, and Maps.


I am hoping the NEH funding comes through. The resource will be positioned as a high-quality site generated by reputable scholars that will be accessible to a popular audience. You can see that it is highly visual, but it does also maintain a text navigation system. I did encourage them to consider how it might function on mobile platforms where it seems more and more people are working online. I see it as a good resource to refer students and laypersons for quick reference.

Reporting from SBL - OliveTree

Visited with the folks at OliveTree whose BibleReader program resides on my Dell Axim and is the program I use to have the Greek and Hebrew texts in my hand. One thing I've appreciated is that, as I've migrated from an old Palm III back in the day to the Dell Axim running WinMobile 5, I have been able to transfer over the books I have purchased. Check out their support for the various mobile platforms including iPhone, iPad Touch, Blackberry, Android, WindowsMobile, Palm OS, and Symbian. They anticipate providing support for Windows Phone 7. BTW, they do also have the SBL Greek New Testament with apparatus available as a free download.

Reporting from SBL - Blogger and Online Publication Section

Rough notes from the SBL Blogger and Online Publication Section - 2010.11.22

 

Robert R. Cargill from UCLA presiding

 

James Davila, University of St. Andrews (Scotland): PaleoJudaica

What Just Happened: The rise of "biblioblogging" in the first decade of the 21st century"

His presentation is available online with links at his blog, PaleoJudaica. This is a really helpful summary and overview of "the rise and development of 'biblioblogging' or blogging devoted to the area of academic biblical studies." His conclusion:

Blogging has found a solid niche in academic biblical studies in the first decade of the twenty-first century. It has enriched the field in numerous ways and its expansion over the decade has been exponential, at least until recently... And all indicators are that biblioblogging will be with biblical studies for a long time to come.

Christian Brady at Penn State, well-known online as the blog author of Targuman and also the online editor for the Newsletter for Targumic and Cognate Studies

Online Biblical Studies: Past, Present, Promise, and Peril

Brady has also posted his presentation online at his blog. His main proposal: "I would like to propose the formation of an SBL sanctioned review committee." Why?

(1) It is a viable business model...
(2) Such an assessment would provide the necessary recognition required of P and T committees and department heads...
(3) Knowing that such a review and subsequent recognition is possibility we would all step up our game...

My institution has been supportive of my explorations in the online world, but I would support this kind of review committee. Some questions were raised:

• regarding the financial viability
• would the prospect of knowing online work would be reviewed take the fun out of blogging? I suspect that we would still maintain different types of online writing. A site like Online Critical Pseudepigrapha is in a whole other class whose contribution needs to be properly recognized.

Michael Barber, John Paul the Great Catholic University: The Sacred Page

Weblogs and the Academy: The Benefits and Challenges of Biblioblogging

(He promises to post his presentation later on his blog.) Is it even appropriate (given some of the blog site names) to be considering biblioblogging at SBL? Yes... It does not serve as a replacement of traditional formats, but it is helpful and worthwhile. Reported on a survey of academic librarians and their suspicion of blog writing, especially because of lack of peer review. People who blog are more likely to regard blog writing as having academic value as compared to those who don't blog. (duh!) There appears to be a generational gap, with younger scholars viewing blogs as scholarly publications as compared to older ones (even ones who blog). "Bloggership" as a useful neologism... 3 types of publishing: traditional, blogging w/ scholarly aspirations, other types of blogs. Facilitation of learning through 'edublogs' does seem to be appreciated....

Turning specifically to biblioblogging: note that traditional publishers are now regularly pointing to an author's blog on their book promotions.

Barber related his own positive experience of blogging in the research and development of his recently completed PhD dissertation at Fuller. ("Scot McKnight has claimed that historical Jesus research is dead, but apparently no one has alerted the publishers yet!") Unable to keep up with all publications, the blogosphere did provide keys to important directions and developments. (Especially Bird and Willitts at Euangellion) 

Even non-academic posts are useful in humanizing us as scholars... Really, must a serious scholar always remain serious and objective? Isn't it truer to display the subjective reality of who we are as scholars? This will not undermine our scholarship but increase honesty and sharing between scholars.

Discussion: What about 'vitriolic blogging'? ~ We would want to treat each other with charity and respect, but online exchanges may able to be more open and honest in a 'rough and tumble' way.

 

James McGrath, Butler University: Exploring Our Matrix

The Blogging Revolution: New Technologies and their Impact on How We Do Scholarship

Started with question: What is a blog? -- (NOT: Lost + LOLcats + YouTube mashups) but a format for making content available
Blogging = reading + writing + linking + commenting | better: commenting with posts organized by date

Graphic of the circle of "knowledge creation":

Analysis Interpretation ~ Authoring/Presenting/ ~Sharing/Networking ~ Publishing/Dissemination ~ Archiving/Preservation ~ Research/Data Collection 

What does this mean for the future of actually meeting together?

"If everyone is blogging... then no one is blogging." True?Is blogging the future? Need to define future of what? It is here to stay. It won't supplant traditional publishing, but does provide new venue.One of the best things about blogging is that it is encouraging new ways of thinking about and presenting content.
 

McGrath provided a lively (and often humorous) analysis and defense of the value of scholarly blogging. 

 

Robert R. Cargill, UCLA: XKV8R

Instruction, Research, and the Future of Online Educational Technologies

Referred to a NYT article on "Digital Keys for Unlocking the Humanities' Riches."

How do the new technologies fundamentally change our instruction? (Ie, not just adapting a traditional class to an online setting.) 

Noted his work with the UCLA Qumran Visualization Project which really could be accomplished only through the use of new technologies. Further, there was no real way to share findings through traditional channels. (Cf. Cargill's Qumran through (Real) Time)

Part of problem is convincing academy to adopt new forms of publication

Motivation for publishing is not based on financial hopes but on considerations for promotion and tenure. 

Academic Prestige still resides in the printed format of books and traditional journals. 

dot coms thrived and established businesses panicked and responded by buying and rebranding dot coms. Traditional newspapers and magazines have lost ground to the online sites.
 

This year, for first time, Amazon has sold more ebooks than traditional books. The academy is being left behind. Result: "The academy must embrace online publication." Online publication should not just be recognized as acceptable but as preferable.

In the past, institutions valued for their hoarding of 'sacred knowledge.' With the new paradigm shift, value resides in the sharing of knowledge. How can an academic institution increase their value and 'preserve their brand' by being known for their sharing of knowledge rather than the hoarding of it?

Solutions: 

• For publishers: we need more online journals and more scholars who will write for them (Eg, Bible and Interpretation)
• For authors: when appropriate, scholars must publish digitally (eg, The Dynamics of Change in the Computer Imagin of the DSS and Other Ancient Inscriptions which shows how a traditional format can be preserved but dramatically enhanced using digital options)
• For instructors: make use of tools like Moodle and iTunesU; view toward hybrid or blended courses; use the digital possibilities to take the lead in online education

The future of online course management systems is the textbook. (Digital textbooks, that is!) 

We need to embrace the digital humanities and overcome the challenges of simply commercial and less reputable alternatives.

For institutions, technological support needs to be understood as an utility like electricity rather than a luxury.

Reporting from SBL - Academic Teaching and Biblical Studies

Rough notes from SBL “Workshop on Interactive Technologies for Teaching and Learning” 2010.11.22

Kelley Coblentz Bautch from St. Edward’s University

“The Hype about Skype: Using Videoconferencing to Enhance Our Teaching”

• Goal is to bring more voices, including global ones, into the classroom
• KCB has been experimenting w/ the use of Skype in the classroom, including inviting the author of the required textbook
• Both session-long and also short Skype sessions (e.g., have an expert provide a top 5 list…)
• Students appreciate opportunity to interact w/ experts in the field and to hear contrasting views; also personalizes the scholarship behind the texts and technicalities
• Helps students become aware of how the Bible is received in contexts other than one’s own
• Skype is free and relatively easy to use (other options include Illuminate or iChat or panopto)
• There are potential challenges of technology and Internet connection
• The SBL International Voices … identifies scholars around the world who are willing to participate
• Students largely found it helpful, especially when used in moderation

Brooke Lester from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

“‘To Those Far and Near’: The Case for ‘Community’ at a Distance”

• In the academic context, the divide he identifies is not so much a technological one as it a distinction between those who have / not experienced ‘community’ online
• One frequently encounter skepticism re: the reality of online ‘community,’ but this really is reflecting a very limited perspective
• Provided links for his web tour HERE
• Note the fine introduction provided at A Community of Scholarship, Emory’s Candler School of Theology, but note the caricaturization of typical online
• Pharyngula as an example of community
• Twitter as another example (eg, follow along at #slb10)
• ‘Getting over the hump’ in an online class eventually ends up with a mutually supportive group
• Community, Infed (Informal Education) as an example from the field of sociology; community and communion (profound meeting with an/other); openness, reciprocity, trust
• What are good ways to assess whether students are or not experiencing community in online classes? I.e., what specific questions can we ask in evaluations which can provide some quantitative data for determing this?
• Some experiments Lester is inviting other scholars to participate in:
• 60 day invitation to community by interacting w/ other blogs HERE
• A wetpaint wiki experiment to discuss the ‘Hendel’ matter HERE

David Howell of Ferrum College

“Using Technology Not to Manage but to Connect Course Teaching and Learning”

Examples of programs he has used in teaching

• TimeGlider: students completed chronology assignments online here w/ some guided questions (Who is the person? Why is s/he important? Why should I care?)
• Wordle: E.g., used Wordle to visualize apocalyptic literature texts; also cf. Tagxedo or Word It Out (Another alternative I would recommend is ImageChef)
• Flickr for creating visual collections (eg., the Four Horsemen) and allow for comments and direct annotation of visuals
• Google Maps and Google Earth: Create one’s own annotated maps
• Diigo as a tool for social networking; bookmarking, sharing, tagging, and annotating online resources

Adam L. Porter of Illinois College

“The Power of Zotero for Student Learning”

I’ve been a longtime fan of Zotero, and Porter gave a fine introduction of its use and benefits. Do note that Zotero is in the process of creating Zotero Everywhere which will work in browsers other than Firefox as well as function as a standalone. Again, Zotero is a great bibliographic tool that allows you to accumulate, tag, and annotate resources from both online and local locations. With its integration with Microsoft Word, it provides an excellent way of footnoting papers and generating bibliographies. One thing I'm still hoping we can do is work on developing shared group bibliographies such as this one I've started for the Parables of Jesus. Also note that the SBL style needs to be installed separately and is available on this page.

Nicolai Winther-Nielsen

“Bereshit Basic Biblical Hebrew (3BH): Interactive Technology for Language Learning”

To get an idea of how the 3BH program works, login as a guest HERE. It is an interesting program that makes use of Moodle in the learning process. Winther-Nielsen uses the program in conjunction with Logos software. He also demonstrated Ezer Emdros-based Exercise Tool (3ET) as a self-tutored Bible reading program. Useful approach also involving linguistic analysis in conjunction with SESB in Logos. He also showed possibilities for Persuasive Learning Objects Tools (PLOTs). Consider also how we share and engage globally.

Reporting from SBL - E-Publish or Perish

Here are some rough notes from the E-Publish or Perish seminar at the 2010 SBL meeting.

The session was introduced by Charles Jones of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World who described the 30 or so years of work he has done as a librarian. He’s both encouraged and discouraged by online developments. Check out some of the work Jones has done at Abzu ("Abzu is a guide to networked open access data relevant to the study and public presentation of the Ancient Near East and the Ancient Mediterranean world") and AWOL (Ancient World Online).

Christian Brady at Penn State, well-known online as the blog author of Targuman and also the online editor for the Newsletter for Targumic and Cognate Studies, talked about his experiences as an academic who has been active on the Internet. (He encouraged scholars to participate in Academia.edu as a kind of Facebook for academics.)
He used the example of the iPad app Elements as a kind of engaging instructional resource that we should be imagining for biblically related materials. He recognized the amount of time required for producing online resources. From his experience, publishing with online journals is generally recognized as a valid and tenure-worthy form of publication. Other types of online sharing still face some scrutiny.

Ehud Ben Zvi of the University of Alberta and author of more books and online material than can be summarized spoke next. E-publication of journal articles has become an acceptable commonplace. More problematic is the e-publication of monographs. He sees that it will likely become an acceptable standard, but there are challenges and opportunities. One aspect he emphasized is that knowledge is part of the common good, but what does this mean in terms of open access? He is especially concerned about a global openness that makes the common knowledge available to the 80% of the world that does not have access to it now. To this end, check out the open access project, International Voices in Biblical Studies that specifically addresses this need. This project does not want to assume that the model is simply one of the privileged providing sharing with the needy. Hcnce, there is also an incentive to get scholars from the 80% world to publish as well.

Caroline Vander Stichele of the Universiteit van Amsterdam who has worked with the online journal lectio difficilior (European Electronic Journal for Feminist Exegesis) spoke next and described how she got started in online publishing in 1998. With others, she quickly realized the atractiveness of publishing an online journal: lower costs, global access, and fast and effective publication. Those are all good reasons for why one would start an ejournal, and it also allows us to think of experimental directions we might take in terms of topics, interactions, multilinguality, media, etc. So how does one start an ejournal? Her first step was to obtain institutional support for both financial and technological assistance. Institutional cooperation provides some security for a journal’s longevity and legitimacy while also giving publicity to the institution. The issue of control is a challenge—observing copyrights, protecting from plagiarism—but has been addressed in part by preserving physical copies of the online publications.

Ian Scott of Tyndale University College and Seminary (Ontario) and co-editor with Ken Penner of the Online Critical Pseudepigrapha (OCP) was next. His frustration finding texts prompted him to begin the creation of the site. He wanted, however, not simply to provide the most conveniently available out of copyright texts (oftentimes inferior ones) but to make the best primary texts available. Why would we not publish the best critical editions online with open access? We do want to be aware of the rapid technological changes that even allow us to ask this question. With the advent of the printing press arose all sorts of issues regarding intellectual property, paying for publications, etc. The Internet poses even more significant issues. The primary costs for physical printing are in the actual production of the artifact, not in the writing, editing, and peer review. The OCP shows the kind of possibilities for a dynamic and ‘dense’ document. Still, there are costs. The biggest costs for OCP involve platform and software development. Scott would like for academics to adopt a common platform, and to that end they will soon (next week?) be releasing the Grammateus Reader which will be freely available. The Grammateus Reader is flexible and extensible and once installed (Drupal setup), scholars will be able to upload documents and have them available. They are also planning to develop an online editor that scholars will be able to use without technical training. One major challenge is obtaining permission to print texts held in copyright by publishing houses. The SBL is an example of a positive interaction in that they both identified OCP as a SBL endorsed ‘publisher’ and have provided permissions for copyrighted texts that are therefore being released in both print and online versions.

It was an interesting seminar, and we all are benefiting from the work these participants have done. I am especially excited about Scott's announcement of the forthcoming Grammateus Reader. I have often made good use of the OCP site, and this looks to enhance it even further. Thanks!

Reporting from SBL - CARG

The CARG (Computer Assisted Research Group) session was disappointingly poorly attended today. John Schwandt from BiblicalGreek.org talked about his frustrations with inputting polytonic Unicode Greek. Some issues we face:

• What basic keyboard layout to use: Some of us have the NotaBene or Bible Windows or other system we've long used and don't want to change. Main issues are where to map chi, psi, xi, and upsilon. Schwandt would like to encourage use of the Greek national keyboard. (Personally, I've become pretty accustomed to the layout I learned when using NotaBene and Bible Windows.)
• A bigger problem is with the application of diacritical marks. The Tyndale kit is nice because it rather easily installs the Cardo font and a Greek polytonic keyboard, but I share Schwant's frustration with that and similar keyboards that require one to type the diacritical marks before typing the character.
• I find the Logos keyboard to be intuitive, but it does not do a good job of rendering all the correct precombined forms. 
• Schwandt encouraged the use of his own EZAccent solution. I have not checked it, but another good solution is to use Tavultesoft Keyman. If you just need to type a short section, TypeGreek is the way to go.

Reporting from SBL - BibleWorks

Greetings from the Society of Biblical Literature in Atlanta! The weather is great here, and it's even better to catch up with friends. Here's a pic of me with Glenn Weaver of BibleWorks. I got a chance to see some of the things that BW has indicated that they've been working on. Nothing definite to report for now, but BW has some exciting projects in the works. 
There are a number of things to report, but I will do them in short snippets. It's been a long day (starting at 4:30am...), so I'll get to them when I can. Another way to keep up with what's been happening here is to follow the twitter feeds.

SBL Greek New Testament Now Available!

As noted in a number of places, this is great news on the SBLGNT site! I am grateful we have a new critical edition (of sorts) of the GNT. I am grateful that is free. I am grateful that Logos has worked with the SBL to make this possible, that one version of it can be integrated into Logos (cf. below), and other versions of it are or will be available in Logos' iPhone app, at the online Biblia.com site, and as XML and TXT files which means that other Bible software programs will be able to integrate it as well. [UPDATE: As Michael Hanel notes in the comments, it's already been ported to BibleWorks.] I am also grateful that we finally have a critical Greek text like this that is free from the hegemony of the German Bible Society! Yes, I will continue to consult my Nestle-Aland, but now I have a reasonable alternative that will alert me to points of divergences in the Greek text that are worth considering.

You will want to read the introduction to this edition, but basically what the editor Michael Holmes has done is started with the Westcott & Hort  text and compared it to Tregelles' GNT, the reconstructed Greek text upon which was used by the NIV translation committee (edition by Goodrich and Lukaszewski), and the Byzantine text as compiled by Robinson and Pierpont. This approach does give preference to the Alexandrian tradition, but Holmes ultimately makes his own decisions. Holmes is not, therefore, working directly with the Greek manuscripts, but he is looking over the shoulder of these various text critics and editors and trying to make the best sense of all their direct research.

I was able to incorporate the text into my Logos4 program by following the download link, ordering it, and then starting Logos4 which immediately made it available to me. As you can see in the screen capture below, I can have quick access to the easily understandable apparatus (something that cannot necessarily be said of NA apparatus), and I do still have my NA27 at the ready. For example, from this shot of Mark 1.1, you can see that Holmes has chosen as the best reading to omit the υἱοῦ θεοῦ, but the apparatus indicates that he is following Westcott & Hort in doing so but that the inclusion is supported by the other Greek editions.

 

So head on over to the SBLGNT site, check out the resources there, and download this text in whatever format works best for you.

Zotero Everywhere!

I've been a big fan of Zotero, and yesterday (2010.09.22) they announced a new initiative called Zotero Everywhere. Be sure to check the whole announcement, but here's the key part.

Zotero Everywhere is aimed at dramatically increasing the accessibility of Zotero to the widest possible range of users today and in the future. Zotero Everywhere will have two main components: a standalone desktop version of Zotero with full integration into a variety of web browsers and a radically expanded application programming interface (API) to provide web and mobile access to Zotero libraries.

What does this mean and why is it important? Until now, Zotero has been limited to users of Firefox, and it largely works within the Firefox browser. (Remember, though, that Zotero has a plugin that allows easy integration with Microsoft Word or Open Office for easy generation of footnotes and bibliographies.) Now, they are promising integration with Microsoft Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, and Google Chrome. There will also be the standalone version available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.


I know that I use Zotero for creating my bibliographies as I work online, but I also use it to annotate entries, link to reviews of a book, link to my own resources, etc. It truly is a great research tool.


Zotero Everywhere is not yet available, and the announcement doesn't indicate when it will be, but this is good news.  
[HT: Dan Cohen]

Microsoft Zoom.it

Microsoft's Live Labs has come up with a neat way of sharing pics on the web called Zoom.it.
Here's an example of Caesarea Maritime aqueduct.

This was a stitched together panorama, so the resolution isn't the greatest, but you get the idea. Use the buttons at the lower right to zoom or go to full screen. You can grab and move the image around. Use your mouse wheel for zooming...
Zoom.it also works for capturing full web pages like this:

(Do note that it captures an image of the page. Links do not work.)
It's easy to create your own, so give it a try. For more info, also check HERE.

BibleWorks8 - Setting Search Limits

A student recently asked me how to use BibleWorks8 to search the Old and New Testaments, but to exclude the results from the Apocrypha. If you are searching in English (what?!?), then just use a version that doesn't have the Apocrypha... e.g., NET or NAU.
It's trickier in Greek. That is, we want to search only the books in the LXX that are part of Hebrew Bible canon, along with the NT Greek.The task is complicated by the way that the books of the OT are ordered in the Hebrew, Greek, and English versions. There are a couple ways of accomplishing the task, and if you click the graphic above, it will show you a 2'11" video on how to do so. One of the ways I'll show is setting up a custom search limit. You will need to copy the text below and paste it in to BW8.

Gen;Exo;Lev;Num;Deu;Jos;Jdg;Rut;1Sa;2Sa;1Ki;2Ki;1Ch;2Ch;Ezr;Neh;Est;Job;Psa;Pro;Ecc;Sol;Isa;Jer;Lam;Eze;Dan;Hos;Joe;Amo;Oba;Jon;Mic;Nah;Hab;Zep;Hag;Zec;Mal;Mat-Rev

If I get a chance, I'll try to show how to do the same in Accordance and Logos unless someone else can pull those together quickly. (I'm not as capable at Accordance, so I'm not sure how to do such a full Bible search with a single command. In Logos, I think it requires setting up a LXX/NT collection using the same morphology.)

Open Source Textbooks

There's been a progression of comments regarding the creation of a free, online Old Testament textbook. Here's the latest from Mark Goodacre, and you can track back from that post to AKMA. There is a parallel movement in the kindergarten to high school textbook field as well as described in a recent NY Times article, "$200 Textbook vs. Free. You Do the Math." Scott McNealy (of Sun Microsystems fame) is behind a nonprofit, online hub for free textbooks called Curriki. Some aspects of the discussion are the same, but there are differences as well. The article indicates that McNealy with others "shuns basic math textbooks as bloated monstrosities: their price keeps rising while the core information inside of them stays the same." So, from their perspective and with respect to the kind of textbooks they are interested in having, the information is static. It's the cost of textbooks that is the main problem. 

The discussion about a FOSSOTT (free, open source Old Testament textbook) has highlighted some of its advantages for fostering the possibility of including different viewpoints. I.e., we do not necessarily assume in the biblical studies field that all information is static. Further, as James McGrath has outlined, there are a number of potential different models for rethinking what we want in a 'textbook.' 

In response to the NY Times article, Mark Guzdial at the Computing Education Blog weighs in with some considerations regarding quality (in the process and in the material), innovation (Is it possible in an open source approach? Is the innovation in the approach or the textbook?), and sustainability. He is somewhat skeptical about the whole thing...

Personally, I'm thinking changes are not only needed but are inevitable. With the increase of portable reading devices (which still need to get a bit better to substitute for physical textbooks), I think we are headed to all digital. With Mark Goodacre, I would hope we move to something less "texty" and more open, interactive, connected, and social. (I.e., both teachers and students should be able to do more than 'use' a textbook. They should be able to note disagreement, questions, etc.) I've had something like this in mind on a small scale with my Parables of Jesus site, but it is still in its infancy. In any case, we are able to see a future which offers the possibility for some exciting options in creating more flexible (and hopefully also free or low-cost) 'textbooks.' 

Greek and Hebrew in Google Docs and Windows Live SkyDrive

I've used Google Docs for some time and recently Microsoft placed a version of its Office suite online under the Windows Live SkyDrive banner. One of the important considerations for me is how well they handle Greek and Hebrew. I ran through a number of configurations, and if you want to see how they look, you can check them out HERE along with additional comments. For a simple summary of what works or not, here's what I've been able to determine.

• It makes a difference whether you use Firefox or Internet Explorer. There are some differences in line spacing, but more important differences are based on how you have your font settings. For my test, I had switched my default Greek font in Firefox to Cardo but had left IE8's Greek default to TimesNewRoman.
  In FF, use Tools - Options - Content tab - Fonts and Colors - Advanced. Choose Greek from the dropdown and choose your desired font.
  In IE8, use Tools - Options - General tab - Fonts - Choose Hebrew or Greek Language script and choose your desired font.
  I still recommend the free Cardo font.
• Google has acquired rights to Cardo, but it is not yet implemented with a full set of characters to do Greek/English editing.
• SkyDrive likes to use Microsoft's Calibri font as an English default for composing or editing. Calibri is not available in GDocs, and it uses Arial instead.
• If you have Greek or Hebrew Unicode keyboards installed, you can type directly in Greek/Hebrew in either SkyDrive or GDocs. It is also possible to copy/paste.
• Saving my mixed English/Hebrew/Greek file in SkyDrive regularly crashed it (i.e., the SkyDrive tab, not the browser.) It was an easy and quick matter to restart but a bit of a pain nonetheless.
• Note that the option to open and edit an online document in SkyDrive in MSWord on your computer requires that you be running it in IE8.
• If you have a Unicode Syriac font installed and a Syriac keyboard, you can compose in Syriac as well. 
• The only font you can count on for a consistent display of Greek (i.e., all the characters are in that font) is Tahoma.
• Other fonts may look a bit strange with the font substitutions for accented characters, but the Unicode is accurately preserved. So, when you apply an appropriate Greek Unicode font offline in your local word processor, everything will look fine.
• Note that some of the Hebrew does not display correctly (e.g.  אֱלֹהִים - the holem takes up its own space), but when used offline and a font like Cardo is applied, it will appear accurately.
• In GDocs, you can right align text, but it does not allow for right to left orientation. In SkyDrive, you can apply right to left orientation, so, if you are doing a lot of typing in Hebrew, SkyDrive is more helpful.

BOTTOM LINE: You can work in Greek or Hebrew (or Syriac) in either GoogleDocs or Windows Live SkyDrive. I don't see a huge advantage of one over the other. If you want to have multiple persons working on a document at the same time, however, use GDocs. If you are familiar with MSOffice and its editing ribbon, SkyDrive will be very familiar. If you are mainly working in Hebrew, SkyDrive is better.