Studying with both Logos and Accordance

I am a Logos user since December of 2022 and have been very impressed with the feature set it offers. I am an old time Accordance user and like it also, very much. I don't think I'll ever abandon one for the other completely. The reason are myriad so I won't get into it here.

Are there any of you using both Accordance and Logos for your studies like I am? If so, what does your workflow look like? When do you prefer to use Accordance and when do you jump over to Logos?

For me, I use Logos when I need to tap the power of the data sets. The Bible Browser is great for this. Also the Interactives are great. I also prefer the Word Study layout best in Logos.

I generally use Accordance as my starting point because of the simplicity of the layout and menus. The customizable colors are easier on the eyes. I also use Accordance's Copy and Paste Verses because it works with Evernote and Scrivener.

Any input would be appreciated as I try and hone down my workflow.

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DMB

I think it depends on (a) where you started, and (b) who has what.

I mainly use 3 platforms; my own (does what I want), Logos for research, and Accordance for graphics (eg imagery, mapping, timelines, etc). More recently I've been adding the 4th ... Kindle due to library limitations in Logos.

But in terms of cross-use, they're all lined up on my sidebar on my Mac and opened; my hot-corners move between apps and app-windows. It's pretty much just hand-motion (since I know who does what). More 'complicated' is I also use an L7 on an older PC, which has more older apps that I use. Life is life.

This morning I started the newly released Ehrman book (Kindle), and Logos for cross-checking. Yesterday it was Jerome (Logos), and old latin (Accordance).

Kathleen Marie

I am reading this thread with interest. I have so much stuff going at once. Endnote citation software, Verbum version of Logos, several other Bible softwares, college and public library databases, Google scholar, Kindle, Bookshare (library for print disabled people), and several newspapers.

I am on a gaming PC and have my taskbar full of icons even on the smallest setting. I am vision impaired and cannot actually see the icons. I just see colors and have their general location memorized. I have given up on the this idea that if I just buckle down and learn and organize all this software, that I will be able to miraculously write papers with ease. I forget what I have learned, and what I learn keeps changing. I just try and keep my nose above the water, now.

I too often start my research with less advanced software and then move onto Verbum/Logos. I tried to train myself out of needing to start that way, but I spent more time training than I wasted jumping back and forth.

Verbum/Logos is a tool. One of a large toolbox of tools. It is the most expensive and powerful, but sometimes a gocart is more convenient than a racecar. Sometimes the "best" can get in our way and slow us down. Sometimes less is more.

Thanks for starting the thread!

mab

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1251796#Comment_1251796

I had a patchwork of five or six programs on a couple of computers back in the day. I thought Accordance was king but I had no idea how to use it. I didn't use Logos much until I bought an L4 package. I thought eSword had the right idea of being accessible.

I still have BibleWorks on one laptop, and really like the Accordance LSB app on my iPads, but Logos is just there. Yes I do have some books in Kindle and some books on the shelf, but I don't have to think about where I start or finish anymore because Logos is going to up and running on my desktop, tablet, phone or web browser.

Donovan R. Palmer

I used to lean towards Accordance for exegetical studies and speed. As I was Mac based, Accordance appealed to me in a ‘BibleWorks’ sort of fashion of being very text centric. My workflow mainly in those days used Logos as a library searcher and reader.

I also liked the way Accordance handled work spaces and its Altas was world class. The community was close knit and the tutorial videos from Dr. J were brilliant.

With that said, on a technical and performance level the differences between Logos and Accordance are not so great anymore. I also have been very, very disappointed with the launch of Accordance 14. Something has changed and I hope they can get back on track.

To be fair, I have struggled with Logos at times too. After the debacle of Logos 1.x for Mac, I nearly sold my entire Logos library when version 4 launched and I had to run the windows version in an emulator to get decent bug free performance.

Bible software is generally this way… ups and downs. My licenses for PC Bible, Quick Verse and Wordsearch are all gathering dust.

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1251796#Comment_1251796

I am vision impaired and cannot actually see the icons. I just see colors and have their general location memorized.

It's been raining cats and dogs for months (mainly cats), so I try to use the new Apple Weather app ... the forecast icons are so small I can't see if it's raining (have to look outside). Developers probably use massive screens. But I can try to imagine your challenge.

And the UI in Logos/Verbum doesn't favor any impairments ... visual, hearing, or hand motion. It's unfortunate 'pretty' has been their calling card, since their award years back. They're hoping for another one!

Kathleen Marie

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1252294#Comment_1252294

I am vision impaired and cannot actually see the icons. I just see colors and have their general location memorized.

It's been raining cats and dogs for months (mainly cats), so I try to use the new Apple Weather app ... the forecast icons are so small I can't see if it's raining (have to look outside). Developers probably use massive screens. But I can try to imagine your challenge.

And the UI in Logos/Verbum doesn't favor any impairments ... visual, hearing, or hand motion. It's unfortunate 'pretty' has been their calling card, since their award years back. They're hoping for another one!

Logos so often reflects the bigger trends. I can no longer use an enlarged font and have my computer function at the most basic level. Critical buttons are hidden and the text is cut off if I enlarge the font. I sit hunched over the laptop wearing glasses so strong they make me throw up.

I have survived the worst of the grieving process. I am mostly in the acceptance stage, now. I am just trusting God and taking it day by day. Much to the dislike of my audience, I accept that I will produce less with fewer resources and tools.

Technology could make our society more inclusive. Those in power have made the choice to use technology to make society less inclusive instead of more inclusive. Those in power love to advertise potshot tools designed to increase inclusivity while failing to disclose the roadblocks that make these potshot tools useless. Sometimes, my poverty locks me out of more than my eyesight. There are many ways that technology is isolating more and more people.

God is in control. As long as I approach all this like a child who focuses on Daddy and expects him to fight my battles and give me my marching orders, I don't panic and wallow in hopelessness. It is going to be okay. God's kind of okay, not man's.

R. Mansfield

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1252282#Comment_1252282

I used to lean towards Accordance for exegetical studies and speed. As I was Mac based, Accordance appealed to me in a ‘BibleWorks’ sort of fashion of being very text centric. My workflow mainly in those days used Logos as a library searcher and reader.

[…]

With that said, on a technical and performance level the differences between Logos and Accordance are not so great anymore...

I relate to much of the above quite well. I’ve used both programs for decades now. For the longest time, for my purposes, Accordance was primary and Logos was secondary, to the point that I even worked for Accordance for many years. But times change. Situations change. Technology changes. Now I no longer work for the other company, and I personally use Logos 90% of the time and open Accordance for the rare occasion that I have content there that I don’t have in Logos.

Not too many years ago when I was with the other company, a coworker suggested that one edge over Logos was still speed. I had to ask him, “Have you used Logos lately? Because I use it regularly. I don’t think we can tout speed anymore as being superior—especially when searching multiple word phrases across multiple or all titles. In that situation, Logos clearly is faster.”

I’ve come to appreciate Logos to the point that I can’t imagine a context where I wouldn’t recommend it over any other Bible software. All the pain points felt by Accordance users—syncing between devices, stable releases, a viable cloud solution, mature full-featured mobile versions, tremendous library selection, new titles released closely concurrent with print, built-in preaching and teaching tools, etc.—are solved quite well with the Logos platform.

Brian Davidson

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1252405#Comment_1252405

Heartily concur.

Donovan R. Palmer

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1252405#Comment_1252405

As much as our tools have really matured and we can do more than ever, there are still some wish list items for me.

Text centric power mode. Bibleworks and to a certain degree Accordance, really had the UI optimized for textual studies. Yes, Logos can do this, but it would be cool if the designers could take a clean sheet of paper and design a power mode that takes the best of Bibleworks and Logos to focus on exegetical text centric studies.
Atlas and multimedia Mode. Similarly, it would be great to have an Atlas mode that is multimedia rich. The Accordance Atlas was cutting edge and I think the field is ripe for someone to reimagine what a digital Bible Atlas could do. Frankly, the Logos Bible Atlas mostly feels like a print version crammed into a digital format. Factbook is great, but is data set driven. What about a mode that allows the experience to be visually driven? If so, could we have more focus on Biblical archeology as a core component for study?
Greater Church calendar, lectionary and liturgical support. This has been posed many times, but it would be great to see greater product support for church traditions that follow a calendar and seek to use a lectionary as a driver of studies and daily devotions. Yes, there is some coverage of this already, but it would be great to see more investment in this. I would suggest that there might be some even from other church traditions that might find this sort of approach as a useful option to explore too.

Anyhow, we do have cool tools regardless. I hope Accordance can turn a corner on their issues as we need their continual innovation too . The Bible software scene has narrowed considerably and diversity is good for the craft.

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1252423#Comment_1252423

there are still some wish list items for me.

Your idea of a 'Bibleworks' power mode is interesting. I was always fascinated with how 'directed' Bibleworks was (and still is; works on my PC). There are bits and pieces that can be replicated in Logos (the usual workarounds). I doubt they would though; their mindset is database extraction; not idea-flow. Logos is one big 'list book'.

Atlas and multimedia qualifies for the word 'embarrassments'. Remember Logos4 and the turtle-like unsorted map list with the media on the right, that just barely worked. That was maps #2 (their almost-Accordance #1 got canned). Then there was the next try #3; kind of loopy. Then they tried again #4 (current one), which largely matches your basic Atlas book; not a powerful digital viewmaster. I think they're pretty much exhausted. And haven't got to zoomable imagery yet (mobile did).

Of your 3, the improvement in liturgical support seems most hopeful (read, money-making). If only because that market remains pretty much untapped. Unfortunately (just my opinion of course), your #2 and #3 really belong together for the liturgical market. It'd certainly be amazing, from a multi-century point of view.

Donovan R. Palmer

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1252428#Comment_1252428

Your idea of a 'Bibleworks' power mode is interesting. I was always fascinated with how 'directed' Bibleworks was (and still is; works on my PC). There are bits and pieces that can be replicated in Logos (the usual workarounds). I doubt they would though; their mindset is database extraction; not idea-flow. Logos is one big 'list book'.

‘Idea flow‘ is a fascinating comparison. I had not thought of it that way, but that sums it up very well for me. User interface design has a genetic DNA. I have suggested more than once that you can still see to this day the genetics of the Libronix Library system and Series X In the way that Logos is designed. It is not bad and it is why I have had Logos all these years, but the genetic orientation of BibleWorks and to a certain degree Accordance, was different.

Again, I do hope Accordance can pull their stuff back together. I think with BibleWorks gone it is the closest we currently have to that way of working, that is, unless Logos does something different to add a mode for this kind of idea workflow.

MJ. Smith

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1252428#Comment_1252428

Your idea of a 'Bibleworks' power mode is interesting. I was always fascinated with how 'directed' Bibleworks was (and still is; works on my PC). There are bits and pieces that can be replicated in Logos (the usual workarounds). I doubt they would though; their mindset is database extraction; not idea-flow.

I believe that Logos planted the seed for idea-flow in the workflows. Unfortunately, its capabilities are, at the moment, too limited to achieve its potential. A simple example: the inability to utilize collections to direct searches or the inability to use the same workflow twice on the same passage (the second wipes out the first). Workflows have a modest ability to adjust to features of the text which could be expanded to include user choice to track the topic of interest. What is needed is users to pressure them to understand the usefulness of a directed power-mode with a clear understanding of the required functions and their relative priorities.

DMB

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1252443#Comment_1252443

Agree on 'defining' what creates power-mode. To be honest, I learned a lot, just observing BW's dev's design. Far ahead of me!