How to orgnize my libray?

Richard Cao · April 2022

My Logos is the Chinese-English Bilingual Platinum now. Over the years, my library now has 4,140 books. I am a little overwhelmed with all the books I have. I am sure there are many resources I do not even know I have already in Logos. I am wondering if there is a good way to orgnize the library?

danwdoo · April 2022

This is a challenge that you are not alone in. It can feel overwhelming but there are practical steps that can help. Some are:

Tagging = in the library adding tags to categorize resource can be labor intensive, but pays off later when you are able to use those tags to more easily search those resources with targeted searches.

collections = Collections are basically saved search functions that can be based on things like tags to pull up search results from targeted resources that meet a particular criteria. Tools like the passage guide can be modified to add collections for things such as commentaries of a specific criteria (i.e. date range, theological views, targeted audience, types such as maps or dictionaries, and far more).

Logos training videos and articles cover a lot of these and other related topics: Logos Help Center

There have also been some really good threads in these forums about organization and organization strategies so a little searching there can be worth the effort. I'm sure others will add their own wisdom and experiences as well.

Mike Binks · April 2022

My Logos is the Chinese-English Bilingual Platinum now. Over the years, my library now has 4,140 books. I am a little overwhelmed with all the books I have. I am sure there are many resources I do not even know I have already in Logos. I am wondering if there is a good way to orgnize the library?

My only advice is to mentally imagine your library is down the street and that you have a runner who will fetch whatever book you want.

In this scenario you would not think it reasonable to worry about the books that you don't need now but might need later. These are the books that are not worth reading but may be useful if somebody else points you to a specific passage. I fear there are a number of users who have hidden such volumes and have lost the nuggets of gold in amongst the dross.

Now you can concentrate on the books you know you want - or you find through reference or searching and, if the built in library categorisation is insufficient, add a custom tag or two yourself.

Dave Hooton · April 2022

Over the years, my library now has 4,140 books. I am a little overwhelmed with all the books I have. I am sure there are many resources I do not even know I have already in Logos. I am wondering if there is a good way to orgnize the library?

Tagging is the secret to managing the books you want to study, but don't attempt it all at once. I have tagged 36% and it may not get any higher unless I tag purely for the sake of categorising.

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There are overlaps, and Eschatology incorporates specific commentaries on Daniel & 1-2 Thess, whilst specific commentaries on Revelation have a separate tag. There is a separate tag for Rapture. And I bookmark specific articles in a Favorites folder.

Tags for Christology and Theology occurred when I wanted to distinguish the former from the latter, but I only tag the books that interest me.

I rate all my books and you have to do this as new ones are downloaded. It helps manage the books I have not tagged as well as those that are tagged. Those with a Rating of 1 are candidates for Hiding (being removed from Library), so I review them fairly regularly. Some get hidden and some get promoted.

DMB · April 2022

I have around 4K+ books too. Just this last week, I was tagging about 1,500 of them; newer purchases I hadn't tagged for a while.

Adding to the above:

- Use broad categories early, so you don't go crazy. You can break them out later as you use your tagging system.

- In tag naming, it's helpful to combine names from general to specific. For example, AncientEgyptian combines Ancient (several different areas) with Egyptian (specific to Egypt). As you tag and later use, it looks up the groups as you type, narrowing down the tags quickly.

- Be aware, as you tag, either type fast, or be patient. The software unexpectedly will store, cutting you off as you type multiple tags. I learned patience last week.

- The tags stay for years, so time investment has its payoff.