Topic Guide/Factbook Related Terms
I just typed "Pneumatology" into the shortcut box on the homescreen, hoping to start some study on the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, I got this instead:
I am sure that someone, somewhere, wants a Jay Adams article on how a doctor should start spiritual conversations with patients. But most of us would rather this search be linked the the Holy Spirit, like several other topics are linked to equivalent terms.
Using Logos as a pastor, seminary professor, and Tyndale author
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One solution I would like to eventually see implemented is the merging of topic guide and factbook. There is enough overlap between the two tools that, to me at least, it would make sense to combine them into a single one-stop shop for information about a given subject.
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I would agree with Matthew. I would also include the Sermon Starter Guide in the mix. When I start researching a topic for preaching or sharing, I often have a hard time which of these three tools to use, and the differences among them.
Peter
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I agree, although custom guides can solve that to some extent. But this particular issue happens for FactBook as well. The software just doesn't seem to know that Pneumatology is the same as the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
Using Logos as a pastor, seminary professor, and Tyndale author
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Or does it make the distinction I do that pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit e.g. theology with the Holy Spirit as the object of study.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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MJ. Smith said:
Or does it make the distinction I do that pneumatology is the study of the Holy Spirit e.g. theology with the Holy Spirit as the object of study.
This is almost certainly true. Anthropology, Hamartiology and Christology behave similarly. The difference is that Encyclopedias widely have articles on Anthropology and Christology, but not Pneumatology or Hamartiology. My suggestion would be that, for the vast majority of use cases, including the object of a field of theology should be included in Factbook and the Topic Guide.
If you disagree, I am curious: In terms of resources which you think should pop up, what is the difference in resources about the Holy Spirit an resources about the study of the Holy Spirit?
Using Logos as a pastor, seminary professor, and Tyndale author
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Matthew said:
One solution I would like to eventually see implemented is the merging of topic guide and factbook. There is enough overlap between the two tools that, to me at least, it would make sense to combine them into a single one-stop shop for information about a given subject.
Right now Factbook has a broader scope than Topic Guide, and Topic Guide has some additional details. Whether we merge them or keep them separate is still under discussion.
Sermon Starter Guide has a different focus and will likely remain separate.
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Factbook can only be open one time. You can open multiple Topic Guides, you can customize the Topic Guides etc. Please do not merge them. They serve different purposes in their current form.
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John Fidel said:
Factbook can only be open one time. You can open multiple Topic Guides, you can customize the Topic Guides etc.
True, but Faithlife could change that if the two were merged.
John Fidel said:They serve different purposes in their current form.
Can you please elaborate further?
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Hi Matthew,
The biggest difference for me is how I have implemented my collections into the Topic Guide and then implemented the Topic Guide into a Topical Study Layout. The key, for me is to be able to better target my results. Searches using Factbook and Everything are often too broad. There are similarities between the TG and FB, but I can customize the TG to remove the duplications and then incorporate the two into a layout. . If Logos can incorporate the two and allow the customization and flexibility of the TG, then fine. My take is that Factbook is intended to be an all inclusive tool. A hammer is sometimes the proper tool, but often it is better to use something more task specific. Don't make Factbook the iTunes of Logos, does everything, but nothing as well as specialized apps.
Here are two examples:
1. You are counseling on anxiety. I enter the term in both my custom TG and FB:
I get topical results from my Counseling collection. I also have a collection of authors and devotionals below the screenshot. I also have a link to FB to get different information. The similarities are in the dictionary or topic section and passages. Although the TG is often more extensive in the passages. Sometimes topics are easier to find in the TG because it does not require a "topic" tag. The link to FB may be a synonymous term.
Here is the on on Babylon. Note the customized TG gives me background and archeological information from my collections.
Hope this provides you my perspective on the matter more clearly. Let me know if you have further questions.
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John Fidel said:
If Logos can incorporate the two and allow the customization and flexibility of the TG, then fine.
John, thanks for the very thorough response and multiple screenshots! I also have a customized Topic Guide that searches multiple collections. I find it very useful and would not want that functionality removed, so I believe we are in firm agreement on that point. What I envision is a guide/tool that capable of providing an all-in-one experience for subjects/topics, but one that has the same amount of flexibility the Topic Guide has. This would allow "regular" users to view all available tagged or database-dependent information within a single tool, but it would allow power-users the ability to customize as much as they want. Naturally, multiple copies could be open simultaneously as well. Such an implementation would remove the overlap between the two tools, allow "regular" users to see all available tagged and database-dependent information from within a single tool, and would provide power users with the freedom to customize as much as needed.
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