Suggested Resource search

RMC
RMC Member Posts: 4
edited November 20 in Resources Forum

Is there any way to search whether a given resource is used as a Suggested reading for Mobile Ed courses? I know there is a note file for each course which gives the readings for that course, which is helpful when choosing courses. What I'm looking for is the other direction of search - looking up a resource and seeing if it is used in a course.

For example, the IVP Bible Background Commentary OT is on sale right now.  If I could see that that is used in a variety of courses, I would be far more likely to pick it up than if it would simply be added to the thousands of resources I already own, even if I don't yet own those courses.   I would imagine that with the search capabilities that Logos has, this should be an easy thing to determine.

Comments

  • NB.Mick
    NB.Mick Member, MVP Posts: 15,838 ✭✭✭

    the IVP Bible Background Commentary OT is on sale right now.  If I could see that that is used in a variety of courses, I would be far more likely to pick it up than if it would simply be added to the thousands of resources I already own, even if I don't yet own those courses. 

    You can get access to the respective groups of courses you might own someday, and then join the Notes files and see the respective courses in the visual filters menu of the resource - once you own it:

     

    This shows that the resource is a recommended reading at least once in two courses I happen to have joined the Notes file. Of course, other users' mileage may vary considerably. And you can see this from inside the resource only.

    Is there any way to search whether a given resource is used as a Suggested reading for Mobile Ed courses? I know there is a note file for each course which gives the readings for that course, which is helpful when choosing courses. What I'm looking for is the other direction of search - looking up a resource and seeing if it is used in a course.

    This is something Faithlife could do and put on the resource page - and maybe maybe even qualify: it is not the same if a resource is recommended once, or over a dozen times in a course (or a user investing a bit of effort in becoming a follower in all courses groups and compiling all those individual information into one big database or excel sheet)

    I would imagine that with the search capabilities that Logos has, this should be an easy thing to determine.

    Not sure if it's easy. It should be possible with a library that contains all existing resources and all courses - I played around with the new Notes tool in the current L7 beta and didn't see any way to filter Notes that come from a subset of notebooks. If this was available (the respective notes all come from books named XXYYY-Readings), then the resource facet would show the number of notes for a resource in those notebooks. But again, this is not something you could see as a user, unless the information is shared on product pages or in the forum.  

    Have joy in the Lord! Smile

  • PetahChristian
    PetahChristian Member, MVP Posts: 4,636

    What I'm looking for is the other direction of search - looking up a resource and seeing if it is used in a course.

    Here's a slightly different approach from Nick's, which can answer your question, although it isn't convenient or easy (or even accomplished within Logos).

    In the same Mobile Ed Faithlife groups that Nick mentioned, members/followers can also find a Resources Linked spreadsheet. It contains a list of resources that a course uses, along with the number of times that a course links to each of them:

    What I do is download the spreadsheets for courses which I'm interested in, convert them to comma-separated values (CSV) so they're in text format, then search all the .CSV files for the name of a particular resource.

    I only have spreadsheets downloaded for about 62 courses, but none of those particular courses apparently use the OT IVP Bible Background Commentary:

     

    There's a second way you can see if a course uses a resource which you don't own, and it can be done within Logos, but it's also not easy or convenient.

    If you open up the Courses tool, then filter by Courseware, you can open a particular available (one you own) or unavailable (one you don't own) Course, then look through its syllabus to see if the resource you were thinking about buying is used by that course:

    Of course, that would be tedious having to check each course, one by one, but you might find it helpful if you want to see which resources you don't own for one particular course.

    As Nick suggested, FL could add the usage information to a resource's product page. It would certainly make it much easier and more convenient than having to download each course's Notes (or Resources Linked) document.

    Thanks to FL for including Carta and a Hebrew audio bible in Logos 9!

  • Dave Couch
    Dave Couch Member Posts: 162 ✭✭✭

    It would be useful to have a collection put together for the recommended reading too. Then I could buy all the resource I'm missing from the course!