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January 31, 2009

Searching Biblical World in Pictures

A question I am often asked is: What pictures of the Holy Land are available in the Libronix format? Currently the best resource is The Biblical World in Pictures containing hundreds of images that can be used in PowerPoint and presentation software like EasyWorship.

While the images are stunning, finding just the right one can be difficult. For example, let's say you're looking for an image related to Jericho. Since the book is not topically indexed it can't be searched with the Topic Browser. In addition, the book not only contains images, but also descriptions and explanations of the pictures. Thus, if you use the Basic Search to execute a word search for Jericho you'll receive over 700 hits! There are not 700 pictures of Jericho in the resource. You just located the word Jericho.

While there is no "easy" way to search just the images here is a way that is not too difficult. The extra steps will be rewarded with beautiful pictures.

  • Open The Biblical World in Pictures (this resource is not in any Logos base collection and must be purchased separately)
  • Choose Search | Basic Search
  • Select The Biblical World in Pictures from the In drop down list
  • Type this query in the Search box: "Complete List of Images" Jericho
  • Click Search

The resource contains a page called Complete List of Images which lists by title all of the pictures in the book. This search query is performing an AND search looking for all of the articles containing both the phrase Complete List of Images and the word Jericho.

When the Search Results window opens click Aligned Hits in Context to list all of the hits. Click on each hit one at a time to go through the resource until you find the picture you want.

After you do this a time or two it will be very painless and quick.

Posted by at 3:00 AM | | Comments (0)

January 28, 2009

AW Tozer Books

My favorite devotional and spiritual writer is A.W. Tozer. Apart from the Bible his writings have influenced me more than any other book. I am thrilled that Logos recently released the A.W. Tozer Collection consisting of 57 volumes. If your budget allows I encourage you to add these books to your electronic library. For your convenience I have defined a search collection that you can easily download at mpseminars.com.

Once you purchase the books and download the search collection you can locate information from the books by using the Reference Browser.

  • Press Ctrl+R to open the Reference Browser
  • Set the In box to the Tozer Search Collection
  • Set the Type box to Bible
  • Type a Bible reference in the Find box like John 3.16
  • Click Search
  • Click one of the results to open a book

Posted by at 3:00 AM | | Comments (1)

January 24, 2009

Backing Up and Reinstalling Libronix

I am often asked how to back up Libronix files and reinstall the program on another computer. Rather than go through all of the details here I have created a short video on our website to walk you through the steps. If you will follow all of the instructions in the video you can reinstall Libronix on a new computer in a short period of time.

Posted by at 3:00 AM | | Comments (0)

January 21, 2009

Parallel Passages and the Passage Guide

Some events in the Bible are recorded in more than one location. The different verses that describe the same biblical event are called parallel passages. The resources listing the parallel passages are called harmonies. Logos combines these two into an automated report called Parallel Passages and Harmonies located at Tools | Bible Comparison.

Regarding this report I recently received this question:

Is there a way to go from the passage I am studying to that particular passage in a Harmony? I find myself mostly skipping the Harmonies of the OT and NT because it takes so long to find what I want there.

Excellent question! Hopefully the answer will be helpful to you:

The Passage Guide is the solution for the question.

  • Open the Passage Guide (PG) from the toolbar or at Tools | Bible Study | Passage Guide
  • Open a Bible
  • Tile the windows at Window | Tile Vertically
  • Link the PG and Bible to Set A using the chain link icon on each window
  • Jump to a location in your Bible like Ex 20 and you'll notice the PG go there as well
  • One section of the PG is Parallel Passages and Harmonies (PPH)

Obviously the PG is giving you a lot more info than PPH. You have 2 choices to limit the info in the PG

You can click the Properties icon on the PG and uncheck the information you don't want to appear.

OR

  • Generate a complete PG report like you did above for Ex 20
  • Click the minus sign (-) next to each section in the report like Commentaries, Cross References, etc. This will turn the minus sign to a plus sign (+) and pause the search for that section. When you need the information just click the plus sign.

For example, click all of the minus signs in the report except PPH. Go to Mt 16.18 in your Bible and the PG only lists the PPH with all of the other sections still collapsed!

Posted by at 3:00 AM | | Comments (0)