SUGGESTION: “Textbook” Bundles

Keith Larson
Keith Larson Member Posts: 1,133
edited November 20 in Resources Forum

I would like to suggest that for each mEd course Logos would create two bundles: “Required Texts” and “Suggested Texts”. These bundle would of course be dynamically priced so users would get credit for book they already own and if possible a discount should be negotiated with the publishers so they are attractively priced in comparison to purchasing books individually.

This would be an affordable way for individuals who do not have a Platinum Level base package to at least read the required readings. By discounting the "suggested' readings it would also be a convenient (and hopefully economic) way for all users to get the most out of these excellent courses. (Rental bundles might also be an attractive option).

RELATED SUGGESTION: Ask new resources are added to the Logos library of books, the courses and packages could be updated to include them.

Comments

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith Member, MVP Posts: 53,031 ✭✭✭✭✭

    [Y]

    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."

  • Nick Steffen
    Nick Steffen Member Posts: 673 ✭✭✭

    Great idea, Keith. [Y]

  • NB.Mick
    NB.Mick Member, MVP Posts: 15,837 ✭✭✭

    Keith,

    to the best of my knowledge, we currently don't even know if there are "required" or "suggested" texts for a m.Ed course at all! I think it's a massive lacuna (=empty space where something is missing) that there is not even a basic course syllabus for the courses, which informs potential buyers of the topics instructed, the means of instruction (quizzes, self-reading, activity tasks...) and the most relevant material i.e. resources needed.

    Currently, we can only guess. Maybe the speaker refers to just one book which is not part of a base package at all (or even not in Logos?!) - we won't know.

    The blanket pointing to Platinum does not serve anybody (unless as a subtle hint to the purchasing power Logos expects of its m.Ed userbase). Should the courses utilize L5 functionality, Silver or - with the Senses database - Gold would suffice.

    So I suggest that

    1. we get this information for all m.Ed courses
    2. Logos builds such bundles as you advised

    Mick

    Have joy in the Lord! Smile

  • Keith Larson
    Keith Larson Member Posts: 1,133

    Mick,

    Here is a sample from NT 331-Introduction to Romans-The Occasion of Romans

    Required Reading

          The Setting and Purposes of Romans INT:CMMF (DeSilva’s Intro to the NT)

          Romans in the Framework of Paul’s Career BNTC:ER (Black’s NT Commentary on Romans)

    See Also

          Paul the Apostle EBR:TS (Encountering the Book of Romans)

          Paul the Apostle EBR:TS

          The Roman Christians EBR:TS

          The Roman Christians EBR:TS[1]

     




    [1] Douglas J. Moo, NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Logos Mobile Education (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).


  • Celeste Fiorillo
    Celeste Fiorillo Member, Logos Employee Posts: 599

    Keith (and others!),

    Thank you for your suggestions about including information about required and suggested reading on the product pages. We are currently working on making the product pages more informative for our customers - and your feedback offers great insight into what you are looking for.

    I do want to offer some explanation about our pre-pub pages. We are still working on the courses that are on pre-pub, so not all of the linked resources have been chosen yet. We're not trying to hide information from you - we're just still perfecting it! 

    Your other suggestions will be brought into our conversations, as well. Thanks for helping to make Mobile Ed even better!

    -Celeste

  • JAL
    JAL Member Posts: 625 ✭✭

    Can anyone suggest a strategy to automate the search within a course to identity all of the linked resources containing required/suggested readings. I would like to compile a master bibliography for each course I begin.

    It would help with planning new resource purchases.

    "The Christian mind is the prerequisite of Christian thinking. And Christian thinking is the prerequisite of Christian action." - Harry Blamires, 1963

  • NB.Mick
    NB.Mick Member, MVP Posts: 15,837 ✭✭✭

    Jal,

    to the best of my knowledge, every course has an associated Faithlife group which will provide (after joining the group as a member) a shared notes document with all the readings highlighted - left tab in the screenshot below.

    That said, inline search is a great way to filter the course text to only show the readings. I search all text for "suggested reading" OR "see also" and give the resulting hits in paragraph - see the right tab of the screenshot:

      

    For example, group NT221 for Ben Witherington's Johannine Literature course will give access to https://documents.logos.com/documents/a7fe450f40d44a4c813add363ed2758f which contains all readings with links to the resources you own, seen at the left of the screenshot. The notes document will add a blue marker to the readings from the course (I highlighted it in red in the middle pane). Those resources you don't own will show up as "unavailable resource" - clicking them will open the tab with "You don't have a licence" and a preview:

    Hope this helps, Mick 

    Have joy in the Lord! Smile

  • JAL
    JAL Member Posts: 625 ✭✭

    Thank you NB. Mick. I will try this - looks like it will fit the bill.

    "The Christian mind is the prerequisite of Christian thinking. And Christian thinking is the prerequisite of Christian action." - Harry Blamires, 1963