Listing Commentaries by Bible

Hi All, when I had paper books on my shelf (remember them!?) I had all my books stored in book order ie all my Genesis Commentaries together, all my John commentaries together etc etc etc. Is there a way to list them like this in Logos? Preferably in Biblical Book order.

Blessings

Mark

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Deacon Steve

Others may offer different, perhaps simpler approaches ... what comes to mind for me are "Collections". You could construct one for each book of the bible (e.g. Genesis Commentaries, Exodus Commentaries, etc.)

https://wiki.logos.com/Collections

There is one out there already made.

https://wiki.logos.com/Canonical_Commentary_Collections

DMB

I tag each commentary volume by set and numbered Bible book.

More importantly, I prefix the title of each volume by number (1-66), so they sort as you wanted, in the library, searches, and the tools.

Mark Smith

Mark,

I think what you are hearing is no, there is no easy way to do this. I use collections to organize my commentaries but not by Bible book.

It would seem like this should be a simple thing to do right in Library. You can see from the examples that Steve gave you that some Bible books are harder to identify than others. It isn't as simple as it should be. Faithlife would have to do some work to make this a simple task.

DMB

Key word 'easy' (smiling). I have maybe 15 sets ... the big boys. And I tagged and prefixed them sitting on the morning deck, in a couple of hours. What's nice is that the Bible book ordering shows up on my ios Logos app too. Once you do it, it sticks for years. Easy!

scooter

Denise: What are your thoughts on, say, the old EBC, where the 3rd volume has multiple books [Deut to 2Sam.] How do you put the numbers out front? Thanks.

DMB

Well, first, in your example, I have a tag for each included book. That's been a big help when I forget a series includes a book, not apparent in the title (eg Lightfoot Talmud).

For a prefix, I always use the first book (Deu in the example). Maintains the sort. This most often happens with the prophets. Not perfect but better than random.

I might mention, I often clarify the title, when prefixing it. This is important if you like the multiview tool but need as much space as possible.

I also prefix the OT apocrypha (70s), pseudepigrapha (80s), and NT apocrypha (90s). This corrals a lot of stray volumes, plus Hermineia. Keeps everybody nice and neat.

Oh. Lastly (!), prefixing also helps sorts inside a collection. The Bible books are always in order. Just like God made them (maybe not the sort part).

Whyndell Grizzard

Try this- I use it and have my commentaries sorted this way, I crated a collection "NT- Hebrews" using this formula:

type:bible-commentary subject:"bible n.t. hebrews"

same for each book- not perfect but it works fairly well.

Mark Barnes

Hi All, when I had paper books on my shelf (remember them!?) I had all my books stored in book order ie all my Genesis Commentaries together, all my John commentaries together etc etc etc. Is there a way to list them like this in Logos? Preferably in Biblical Book order.

No, there isn't.

You have two options though:

The easiest is to create a custom passage guide with just a "Commentaries" section. Run the guide for "Genesis" and all your commentaries on Genesis will be listed.

The second option would be to filter the library with type:bible-commentary, and then sort by subject. Scrolls down to the subjects that begin "Bible. N.T." and "Bible. O.T.". You'll then be able to see all your commentaries on whichever Bible book you choose.

scooter

Thank you Denise and Whyndell. scooter

Adam Borries (Logos)

Hi All, when I had paper books on my shelf (remember them!?) I had all my books stored in book order ie all my Genesis Commentaries together, all my John commentaries together etc etc etc. Is there a way to list them like this in Logos? Preferably in Biblical Book order.

Hi, Mark,

People above have offered some great suggestions. But out of curiosity, what is your end purpose? If Faithlife were to build something like this, what would be the main benefit/ use case?

--Adam

Veli Voipio

I have a related suggestion: more fields to the library database.

Some could be Logos prefixed, like for the purpose discussed here.

The other could be user fields: user adding and editing them. It could be for those single user specific cases, like when someone is doing a literacy research, or whatever odd idea.

Mark Smith

Hi, Mark,

People above have offered some great suggestions. But out of curiosity, what is your end purpose? If Faithlife were to build something like this, what would be the main benefit/ use case?

--Adam

Adam,

Take a look at the link to the wiki mentioned above. If you go to Library and look for commentaries on First John you will quickly see the problem. There is no simple way to get all of them. FL could find a way to tag every Bible Commentary with the Bible book or books the volume covers. This could become a datatype that can be used in Library to select commentaries by the book of the Bible one is interested in (call the datatype BibleBook, for example, then in the Library find box BibleBook:Genesis would bring up all my commentaries on Genesis). FL would have to document what those tags are so we could use them correctly. (Is it 1st John, 1 John, I John, or First John? Perhaps you can make it work for all options.)

Even better, for Mark's situation, is to let us sort our Library by book of the Bible covered. So create a column heading called BibleBook that we can sort by.

Adam Borries (Logos)

There is no simple way to get all [commentaries on First John].

Right, I get it. So, say there was a simple way to list them all. Then what would you do with that list? How would your workflow be different than opening commentaries from the Passage Guide?

DMB

Workfow.

Andrew, that's something I notice at Faithlife. It presumes you use Logos only. And presumably the toolset as designed.

I use Logos similar to a toolbox (guy metaphor). You want the tools organized. Not all mixed up. Reach-in, get it, done. Don't need a workflow ... I bounce across 3 Bible packages and it depends on who has what.

The list ... sorted for one. Especially for new users, within a commentary. For me, I want a quick glance at my choices, with the author column showing. Be reminded I'm light on certain books. But mainly grab and go.

Mark Barnes

How would your workflow be different than opening commentaries from the Passage Guide?

One issue with the PG is that it's often hard to see which commentaries are which. Titles are often very similar, and you have to hover. You can't see at a glance what you have. You also can't sort by rating, etc. which means you have to maintain your prioritisation pretty effectively to make the best use of it.

Mark Smith

Then what would you do with that list?

I don't use the Passage Guide very often, so I would use it in Library to scan my resources.

The other thing Mark Barnes didn't point out about using the PG is that I don't see my tagging, ratings, or any other data that is found in Library. It would be helpful to see that.

Rev Mark Woodhouse

hi Adam, yes some really good answers (thanks everyone). The main use for me is is visual (how my brain works!!). when am preparing a sermon / talk etc it really helps to see everything in a list and pick the book, this is especially so as I get use to certain volumes, the book itself is a reminder. Some of the suggestions I think would work really well. I do have one question. if you rename a book what happens when Logos update it?

blessings and thanks everyone

Mark

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

if you rename a book what happens when Logos update it?

Thankful for customized Title and Abbreviated Title being kept when resource file(s) are updated.

My work in progress of customizing Bible Commentary titles shows in Passage Guide, which includes a commentary rated in Top 2 (has = sign in title) by => http://bestcommentaries.com/topcommentaries/

Note: anticipating modification of my priority order.

Some series have Bible Commentary and Monograph resources so have customized some Monograph titles with year prefix: e.g. Rev. John Lightfoot whole works. Adding year prefix shows some series have decades from earliest volume to the last. Also year prefix can reflect original author time frame: e.g. 1558 for Calvin, which was translated and published in 1845.

Keep Smiling [:)]