Question on "mixing" Logos & Verbum software/resources...

Hi everyone - as I think the screen will show - this is my first post here - so hopefully this will go ok...

By the way, I've learned so much via these Logos forums, I feel honored & privileged to be able to "directly" participate with this post.

The helpfulness, friendliness, support and knowledge/etc that is shared & displayed in these Logos forums were one of the main, original positive reasons I decided to "invest" into the Logos system.

Very Brief Background

I just started with Logos earlier this year (2022) after reluctantly deciding I needed to go "electronic" way more seriously with various books/journals/magazines/etc. So, I started with Logos 9 - and now is the time to consider "upgrading" to version 10.

I was pretty much planning to just keep it simple and upgrade the couple of different packages I already had.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I ran into some old Catholic friends and we had some good, thought provoking discussions with a few touching on theological topics. After that, it crossed my mind that it might be helpful (?) to have some Catholic/Verbum specific resources for reference. And since the new version discounts are still in place, and I haven't placed my order upgrade yet, "now" may be the best time to consider "adding" them.

Main General Question (for those who may be familiar with using "both" Logos & Verbum):

If I were to consider "adding" a Verbum package to my already existing Logos software/resources - should Verbum and Logos work together relatively smoothly, reliably and cooperatively (?).

In other words, do Logos and Verbum work OK/well/good together?

I did spend a fair amount of time trying to search this out and it does seem like they can exist/"play" together OK - but it did seem like there might be a couple of "quirks"/etc that a person might want to be aware of and deal with.

So, if anyone with familiarity may be willing to offer a few thoughts and experiences on this - I would sincerely appreciate it!

For example, I don't necessarily want/need specific or detailed "answers" to the following questions - but if I did "add" a Verbum package, a few things I'm wondering about are:

* Are there separate installation/installer/setup files for Logos and Verbum?

* If I did a new regular/normal install of Logos, would it include all of my Verbum resources? Similarly, if I did an install of Verbum, would it include all of my Logos resources?

* Are there "official" FaithLife endorsed install scenarios to have both Logos & Verbum on the same computer at the same time - and/or are there any other 'different' install scenarios that others have found helpful/functional/productive?

* Would there be any big/major "advantages" to just having Logos on one computer - and Verbum on a separate computer?

Summary

I'm just trying to decide if "adding" some Verbum packages/resources might make sense - and if I did add them - should they work reasonably smoothly with Logos or not (?). I feel like I can be fairly adaptable/flexible, but I don't want to introduce too much potential complexity if that might be the case here.

Thanks for everyone's time/consideration and any thoughts/ideas anyone might be able to offer!

PS I'm right in the middle of trying to "move" from my old apt of 26 years over to a newer apt about 8 miles over to the west side of town. So, if I may not be able to reply or respond right away to any possible questions/comments - please accept my apologies ahead of time!

I also had to type this in a lot faster than I normally would - so please forgive any typos and anything that wasn't as clear as I would have liked.

If a lot of this has already been covered and addressed, I apologize for bringing it up again...

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Comments

Dale E Heath

I'll let our expert, MJ, discuss the Logos/Verbum questions. I just wanted to let you know there are four Verbum sub groups, and some others, that can be viewed here: https://www.logos.com/compare/packages

Scroll down and select from the four Verbum sub groups at the left bottom. Lots and lots of choices.

MJ. Smith

You only need one copy of the software which runs all Faithlife resources whether Verbum, Logos, eBooks, the old Noet ... Once you have the library you want, you can decide whether you wish to install Logos or Verbum. Some of us run both -- one for the current release, the other for beta testing; but basically, FL assumes you have only one installation per machine.

Verbum differs from Logos in the following ways:

the default priorities differ in some cases -- this matters only if you aren't setting your own priorities.
Verbum has three automatically supplied collections not available in Logos - catechisms, church fathers, and church documents
Verbum lacks the help cards available in Logos
Verbum lacks some guide sections e.g. SermonAudio ... these sections will be stripped out when a guide is moved from Logos to Verbum
Verbum 10 is sold without the Church history features but will use the feature if you own the resources.
The guide section Catholic topical index was designed for Verbum but will run in either.
Verbum uses the term "homily" for the editor/manager that Logos calls "sermon".

So, if you are already running Logos, just add the libraries you want and stick with Logos; if the automatic collections are useful to you, run Verbum. No reason to bother with two applications.

Dale E Heath

I was pretty much planning to just keep it simple and upgrade the couple of different packages I already had.

You don't need to stay with the same packages you already have and upgrade those. Let's just say you already have Verbum 9 Silver, Verbum 9 Ordinariate Gold, and Logos 9 Standard Bronze. You don't have to upgrade those, unless you want to. When you upgrade, you keep all your old books, and can add, in addition to what you already have, Logos 10 Lutheran Silver, Verbum 10 Eastern Catholic Platinum, and Verbum 10 Academic Essentials. And/or you can also mix and match Feature Sets. It would be wise to discuss these with a Verbum Specialist, if there is such a person anymore. If you have any more questions, please come back and post them. Be sure to order by the end of the month. 30% off until then!

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1232114#Comment_1232114

While we're on the general subject of 'mixing', by way of background, I'm to the right of the evangels, but I use Verbum and most of my packages are from the Orthodox group (but I mainly speak 'Logos'). And it illustrates why mixing is not only transparent, but sometimes necessary.

The reason for 'Verbum' is simply to be lightly reminded of how others 'think'. On the mobile platform, I use Biblia also, just to be forced to see someone else's world.

But more importantly, FL tends to put 'at the margins' series in the Catholic/Orthodox packages. 'At the margins' are large packages as examples, for syriac, targums, and in-depth early church (as well as church fathers, etc). So, if you want depth in these areas, mixing is going to be unavoidable ... and works great.

SineNomine

MJ's answer was great.

If I did a new regular/normal install of Logos, would it include all of my Verbum resources?

Just to make something explicit, there isn't really such a thing as "Verbum resources". There are resources sold in Verbum-branded packages/Libraries, but they aren't 'different' from resources not sold in those packages.

NB.Mick

To add what MJ and others (great advice!) wrote, some direct answers may still be helpful

* Are there separate installation/installer/setup files for Logos and Verbum?

Yes, there are. You normally only need one and you can freely decide which one you use - MJ discussed the few differences - however, if you use Logos, and buy at least one Verbum package, there's a command (set Verbum to yes/no) to have it look and appear as if it was Verbum. This can be used even without estarting the application.

* If I did a new regular/normal install of Logos, would it include all of my Verbum resources? Similarly, if I did an install of Verbum, would it include all of my Logos resources?

Yes. No qualification, simply yes on both versions.

* Are there "official" FaithLife endorsed install scenarios to have both Logos & Verbum on the same computer at the same time - and/or are there any other 'different' install scenarios that others have found helpful/functional/productive?

It is helpful (and I think official enough) if you run two versions of the program, such as stable and Beta. MJ does this, I do it, too. Other, less official scenarios are users who want to run two layouts at the same time - there are such users - and those who want to run two different users (i.e. different libraries and maybe a different feature set) at the same time, such as professors who want to run the student's library with a possibly limited set of resources/features for demonstration purposes and their own full library at the same time.

Note that installing both usually will require twice the space requirements (and both will want to live on SSD).

* Would there be any big/major "advantages" to just having Logos on one computer - and Verbum on a separate computer?

I don't think there's any advantage to doing two different installs on two computers.

if "adding" some Verbum packages/resources might make sense - and if I did add them - should they work reasonably smoothly with Logos or not

Sure. You could treat the Verbum packages just like any other bundle - you get books and possibly features, for some of those it may simply be more efficient to buy them in a bundle than standalone, and they may only be available in Verbum. For others it may be more efficient to buy them in a Verbum package than say an Anglican or a Lutheran package (which used to have some overlap in the past). Then again, this may work the other way round, too.

NightOwl

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1232192#Comment_1232192

Thanks for everyone's wonderful/great feedback/replies!

This is all very, very helpful.....

I had one more follow up question - somewhat sparked by DMB's reply/post - if anyone might have some quick thoughts/ideas (?)...

As DMB indicated - sometimes having a wider/broader selection of materials can sometimes be helpful/instructive/etc.

With that in mind - when and if I did open up a resource (i.e. commentary, journal article, etc) that I wasn't familiar with and/or I wasn't familiar with the author(s) - is there a way in Logos to get a better idea of a given author's theological background or perspective (?).

In other words, is there a way in Logos (and/or "outside" of Logos?) to see if a given resource/author is typically coming from a Catholic or Baptist or Reformed or Jewish/etc theological background/perspective?

I'm not sure if I'm asking or wording this very well....

But since there are a lot of resources/authors I'm unfamiliar with - I didn't know if there were any ways or "tricks"/methods to be able to better determine a given author's likely denominational/theological background/etc (?).

Or is this mainly something a person picks up over time - and/or possibly by asking others?

Thanks again for everyone's generous time and replies!

PS I'm very tired as I type this in - so hopefully this made some sense!

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1232345#Comment_1232345

Some sections of the Passage Guide - Bible commentaries, systematic theology, Biblical theology - have the theological bent and the era as sort sequences. The Factbook entry for the author also may indicate theological bent.

SineNomine

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1232345#Comment_1232345

In other words, is there a way in Logos (and/or "outside" of Logos?) to see if a given resource/author is typically coming from a Catholic or Baptist or Reformed or Jewish/etc theological background/perspective?

I'm not sure if I'm asking or wording this very well....

But since there are a lot of resources/authors I'm unfamiliar with - I didn't know if there were any ways or "tricks"/methods to be able to better determine a given author's likely denominational/theological background/etc (?).

MJ is right.

In addition, the publisher often gives it away. T&T Clark, Eerdmans, Baker Academic, Yale University Press... not as much. Ignatius Press, Lutheran Publication Society, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, SPCK, Jewish Publication Society, Ligonier Ministries, Ariel Ministries, very much so.

(In case you're wondering, the second list of publishers almost exclusively publish Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Jewish, Reformed, and Messianic Jewish material, respectively.)

Publishers' theological backgrounds, when they are confessional, may be clear from their name, but when they are not, Google will usually tell you very quickly.

NightOwl

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1232856#Comment_1232856

Thank you very much MJ and SineNomine for this additional info - very helpful!

Time/energy permitting (?) if I wanted to send a new/quick post regarding a few questions about 'which' Verbum package to consider purchasing - would the Catholic Products Forum be the best place to post that question (I'm assuming so, but thought I'd ask)?

Thanks again for everyone's help (and patience/etc!) with my questions!

Small Heath

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1232887#Comment_1232887

I'd do it on here and on there both. There is somewhat more appropriate, here gets more traffic. What do you own today? L 9 and prior? L 10?

NightOwl

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1232912#Comment_1232912

Thanks Dale for the suggestion to post to "both" forum areas - I would have never thought of that....

I think I almost have something ready to post out there...

I may take you up on your suggestion and try posting to both areas - and I'll try to include what I'm thinking of upgrading to also for reference if that may help review/consider my situation... thank you!!

SineNomine

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1232924#Comment_1232924

If you're going to post in both, I would recommend posting to Catholic Products and then posting a link to that thread in the other forum so that the actual conversation is all in one place.

Armin

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1233621#Comment_1233621

Are my Notes and Highlights shared between Verbum and Logos installations, i.e., does a highlight in a resource in Logos also show up as a highlight in the same resource in Verbum?

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1237172#Comment_1237172

Yes, for all intents and purposes running one Verbum and one Logos installation behaves the same as two Verbum or two Logos installations. One can count the exceptions on your fingers ... and most of them are insignificant.