A Universal Library Utility

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This post technically isn't feedback on L4 but I offer it as a suggestion for possible inclusion in the L4 tool set.    I have written about this previously in the Newsgroup and it remains one of my top wishlist items.  Furthermore, I do not know if there are legal or ethical ramifications involved in such a project or not, regardless, I can still wish ...

I wish that Logos would put together a utility that would examine all of the Bible Study program databases or file indexes on my hard drive and give me a concise, universal bibliography.  About the best I can do now is to print out hard copies of each library and keep them in a notebook (and, I am not even sure that I will be able to do that in L4!).

I know someone could argue that such a tool might only encourage the use of the competition's product.  But I disagree.  Look, many years ago I discovered the joys of being able to electronically search books instead of disappearing into the library stacks armed with nothing more than pencil, paper, notecards, and two slices of pizza hidden in the briefcase.  I also discovered that a box of books automatically increases in weight by about 1/2 pound every year on my birthday.  Hence my desire/drive to switch to an electronic library. 

Also, I would imagine that virtually every Logos customer uses other Bible study software, too.  It would be a beautiful world if my entire library was nothing but Logos, but it is not.  To have all of my resources contained in a single database would have obvious benefits.  But it just isn't going to happen on this side of eternity!  I also use Ages, WordSearch, and Pradis.  There are some titles I simply cannot get in Logos that I can in others.  And, there are some titles that I just simply cannot afford (now) and must use in a competitor. 

Therefore, until the day arrives when I can use Logos alone, I must use some of the competitors.  And until then, I would love to have an universal library utility to facilitate my personal Bible study.

As to the feasibility of such a utility, I am not a programmer but I cannot imagine that this request is any sort of a herculean task or would require a massive, on-going support effort. 

Final argument: Tell it not in Gath, Publish it not in Ashkelon, but I would be happy/eager to pay extra for such a tool ($ka-ching$).

J.R. Miller

I don't see any reason why Logos would invest money into such a venture. I wouldn't. It is a bad investment of resources.  

Plus, as you say, it is probably a violation of copyright or at least each company would have to provide access to their developer code to a competitor, and I don't see that happening anytime soon.  Do you really think every software company out there is going to give Logos access to their source code to make a universal bibliography maker?

For the record, I only use Logos, and based on my experience I would think that the majority of users have on 1 study program.  Of all the people I have "sold" on Logos over the past 12+ years, not a single one of them uses anything except Logos for basic reason that I want to keep my study life simple.

If, as you suggest, there is a huge market of paying customers for such a feature, I recommend you start a company.  I have started 2 companies and planted 1 church over the past 15 years.  It is a fun experience.  Then you could find some venture capitalists, hire some programmers, negotiate contracts with all the Bible software vendors, develop a marketing campaign, and sell your Universal Bibliography maker tool. I can guarantee Logos will never do this, but if it is such a need and benefit, why not start it yourself?  That is how companies are started --see a need and fill it.