I have been using Logos for about four years now and I have never used the notes capabilities beyond dabbling. A bible teacher that I listen to recommends not taking notes in your bible program, just in case the company goes belly-up or (gasp) another better bible program becomes available. The little that I have played with the notes features, I like them. I have extensive written notes in my bible that I would like to start adding to L4, but I am still hesitant.
For those of you that have extensive notes in Logos, do you have any regrets doing so? Are you satisfied with the way they work in Logos, or do you prefer something more? Are all of your notes in Logos or do you have several ways of organizing them?
Also, I was curious as to how you organize your notes. Do you simply use one big note file or do you have many? Is there advantages to doing it one way or the other?
Thanks in advance.
"It seems our problems solve themselves when we look beyond us to those truly in hell." - Beyond Our Suffering - AILD
I would not keep notes outside Logos - the visual markers and the My Content make notes within the software ar distinct value added features. Yes, Logos' implementation of notes is not perfect but advantages outweigh disadvantages. Even paper notes are subject to loss - fire or flood. Electronic files are more apt to be lost to failure to back up than needed to convert to a new product. In the case of conversion, you usually can transfer your notes - even if you have to resort to copy and paste.
Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."
I have a very, very large number of annotation notes in my Logos NASB and pretty much do not regret doing so because it is more practical than any kind of hand-written method and much faster than making notes in some other word processor software. The main drawback issue for me is that when Logos upgraded or updated the Logos 3 NASB resource, the location of the annotation notes moved into the wrong places. My work-around was to keep the older version of the NASB in my Logos 3 and skip the update. The fall back for me is that in Logos 4 the annotation note file is actually an XML file, and using Excel 2003/2007, I am able to read the XML file into Excel which gives me a method to retain the content of my notes. I do not know if Logos will address the issue I and others experienced (we are hoping), but we do know that Logos is addressing the compatibility issue between Logos 3 and Logos 4. It remains to be seen if Logos 4 notes will retain their XML format so that they can still be imported into Excel (stay tuned to this forum). I hope so.
As for how to manage notes, for sure just designate one annotation note file to your entire Bible rather than making separate note files. It is much easier to work with and manage one file than multiple files. Logos 3 scaled very well nothing breaks if one annotation note file gets very large, I have thousands of annotation notes. I was even able to take my annotation note file into a good text editor and directly make certain changes in the text editor (such as search and replace) and then Logos 3 was able to read it again just fine.
Tom Geswein:A bible teacher that I listen to recommends not taking notes in your bible program, just in case the company goes belly-up or (gasp) another better bible program becomes available.
This is not going to be an argument against or for Logos notes. But let me respond to this fear.
Wherever you save your notes you could lose them.
1. In Logos - they might not let you import them into a new version or they might not let you do it for a few weeks/months.
2. In another Bible program - same issue.
3. All Bible software programs can become orphaned - read Pradis from Zondervan here.
4. OneNote - MS has a way of just throwing away things other than their cash cows. Frontpage users can I get a witness.
5. Word - hard to manage but you could lose the files in a hard drive crash or a house fire. So backup offsite. What if they offsite place goes down/bad and you don't know it and then you have a hard drive failure.
6. Notebooks on a shelf - go back to house fire and impossible to search later.
You get the point. No matter where you keep them you could lose them. My advice is use the best solution available now and also make sure there is an escape. For example, I use Bibleworks to save my notes. I used to use e-Sword. Before that I used QuickVerse. All of them had a way to get them out. Does Logos have this? I'd like to know and haven't researched it yet. Until they have less lag I won't use them. Whatever you use make sure you have a way of escape.
Dr. Kevin Purcell - Theotek.com
Kevin,
Additionally - Format matters. I also use Bibleworks for notes. The files are a slight extension to RTF. And they open in ANY wordprocessor or MS wordpad. RTF is even readable in a plain text reader with some markup issues. In a worse case scenario, as long as you backup you should still be able to access notes.
Sarcasm is my love language. Obviously I love you.
Tom Geswein:For those of you that have extensive notes in Logos, do you have any regrets doing so? Are you satisfied with the way they work in Logos, or do you prefer something more? Are all of your notes in Logos or do you have several ways of organizing them?
Tom:
Till now I have never put notes into Logos Notes. I have started copying possible sermon illustrations into notes files that are not tied to specific books or texts. I use either MS OneNote or David Michael's TheJournal for keeping track of my notes. OneNote was the product of choice for my Tablet PC; however, it crashed when a porter chose to toss its carrying case off a Amtrak train . I use TheJournal on my Vista (non Tablet) machine. Both can embed links back to LOGOS, both can store snippets of texts for future reference, both allow me to add comments using colored fonts. Both are searchable.
I have occasionally posted a list of alternate products that have been mentioned by others. Most recently I did it here:
http://community.logos.com/forums/p/3548/35924.aspx#35924
You will find the list of alternative products about 3/4 down into the thread. Look for the Snoopy avatar. These products (other than the two mentioned above) do not come with a recommendation from me - but somebody had recommended them either here or in the former news groups.
As somebody said, pick what works best for you.
Yours because His,
Floyd
Blessings,Floyd
Pastor-Patrick.blogspot.com
If you do go with an outside product, I would suggest you look at a knowledge base to organize them - General Knowledge Base is one acceptable such product.
I actually just blogged about this last night...
http://larosajohnson.com/tech-stuff/trying-something-new.php
I'm in the process of deciding if I want to continue using Logos to keep track of my notes (which I like because it's searchable from within the app & I don't need to have another program open or create some way to manage all of my files). But, last night, now that I'm playing with the Office 2010 beta, I decided to give OneNote a try, and I actually seem to like it. My outlines are formatted more cleanly & I can more easily go from OneNote to Word (or PowerPoint).
I'm going to give this a try for a few weeks and see how it goes. If all works out, this will probably be my permanent solution (since I'll probably always have MS Office around & don't see OneNote going anywhere anytime soon). Right now, the only let down is not having automatic hyperlinking of my Bible verses, but I guess that's easy enough to overlook (for now).
Urban Scholar - http://urban-scholar.com Christ-centered Hip-Hop - http://www.sphereofhiphop.com
LaRosa Johnson:I'm in the process of deciding if I want to continue using Logos to keep track of my notes (which I like because it's searchable from within the app & I don't need to have another program open or create some way to manage all of my files). But, last night, now that I'm playing with the Office 2010 beta, I decided to give OneNote a try, and I actually seem to like it. My outlines are formatted more cleanly & I can more easily go from OneNote to Word (or PowerPoint).
Another cool feature of OneNote is that you can "PRINT" to OneNote from any application that allows you to choose a printer (i.e. does not require use of the default printer) . Once printer to, you can move the printed page to any heading or tab you wish.
Tom Geswein: For those of you that have extensive notes in Logos, do you have any regrets doing so? Are you satisfied with the way they work in Logos, or do you prefer something more? Are all of your notes in Logos or do you have several ways of organizing them? Also, I was curious as to how you organize your notes. Do you simply use one big note file or do you have many? Is there advantages to doing it one way or the other?
I use the note feature the way I would use the margins in a Bible. If it won't fit in the margin, I don't put it in a note, but create a study document in WordPerfect (like Word, only with more features) and save them all in a subdirectory of "My Documents" called "Study." If I'm working on a sermon, I've gotten into the habit of appending my notes to the end of the sermon document (and then 'hiding' that text before printing the sermon to take to the pulpit.
Massive word studies, or long verse lists don't go there. Nor would I create any document for printing purposes in the Logos note-file system. There just aren't enough formatting options for me.
I did, however, do an extensive study on the word "truth" in the NT and put 25 of those verses in the Passage Guide in the Notes section under Parallel Passages (I'm preaching on the first piece of the armor of God tomorrow). I've not done that sort of thing before. So we'll see how that works out for me next time I visit this passage. To remind me of my Passage Guide notes, a put a 'note' on 'truth' in Eph 6:14 that says "See additional verses on 'truth' in Passage Guide on Eph 6:14"
I've not regretted putting notes in the text, and it makes it easy to see some key points I observed the next time I visit the text.
Help links: WIKI; Logos 6 FAQ. (Phil. 2:14, NIV)
Tom Geswein: I have been using Logos for about four years now and I have never used the notes capabilities beyond dabbling. A bible teacher that I listen to recommends not taking notes in your bible program, just in case the company goes belly-up or (gasp) another better bible program becomes available. The little that I have played with the notes features, I like them. I have extensive written notes in my bible that I would like to start adding to L4, but I am still hesitant. For those of you that have extensive notes in Logos, do you have any regrets doing so? Are you satisfied with the way they work in Logos, or do you prefer something more? Are all of your notes in Logos or do you have several ways of organizing them? Also, I was curious as to how you organize your notes. Do you simply use one big note file or do you have many? Is there advantages to doing it one way or the other? Thanks in advance.
I have extensive notes in L3. I have decided to wait to make notes in L4 until they have had time to work on the notes feature since it is unacceptable at the moment. There needs to be a way to link to resources within a single note rather than to be required to make a separate note for each link. Also, I would prefer that only one note be visible at a time. The last is somewhat negotiable, but that is my d'ruthers. I expect that I will be able to add notes to L4 before too long and that I will be able to import my L3 notes into L4. I not only do not regret using the notes feature but I would maintain that without a notes feature the program would be of little worth other than as a reading platform (such as Microsoft Reader). The internal notes feature allows me to have both the notes and any links before me at the same time rather than being required to <alt-tab> to view one or the other. Also, I don't know what the linking capabilities of external notes programs might be but I like the way (in L3) I can link to various resources quite easily. Unlike Rich, I never got into the habit of writing notes in the margins of books. To write more in a book than one's name is virtually anathema to me (Books are your friends; treat them with respect). The nice thing about Logos notes is that I can change a note without leaving erasure marks on the page of the resource.
As regards my organization of notes: I have one "General" notes file (in L3) which is always open. This contains anything that I don't have a specific note file for otherwise. My notes are generally organized by scriptural book and chapter -- one note file for each chapter (I do have notes covering entire books, but these are translation notes rather than comments and links to other resources). I have a few note files for non-biblical resources, but these are scarce and are separate note files for each resource (e.g, I have a note file devoted to comments on the bizarre commentary by Ford on Revelation in the Anchor Bible series. I also have a VERY few notes which might be termed topic studies such as one on the significance of the Greek word ποδήρη in the LXX (used with regard to the description of Jesus Christ in Re 1.13) and another on the significance of various usages of νεφέλη in the LXX.
In my opinion, if you aren't using notes in Logs, you aren't taking advantage of one of its most significant features.
georgegfsomsel
יְמֵי־שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָהֶם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וְאִם בִּגְבוּרֹת שְׁמוֹנִים שָׁנָה וְרָהְבָּם עָמָל וָאָוֶן
MJ. Smith: If you do go with an outside product, I would suggest you look at a knowledge base to organize them - General Knowledge Base is one acceptable such product.
Hi MJ! *smile*
What (very briefly!) is a knowledge base. I just googled "General Knowledge Base" and my McAfee warned me that some people have found that to be a possibly dangerous site for bad computer crawlies.
Peace to you! ............ Mel
Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand..........
Milford Charles Murray:a possibly dangerous site for bad computer crawlies.
Odd and scarey. I've used their product for several years, updating every now and then. Wikipedia gives a decent introduction.