LogosTalk

Everyone likes free. But it’s still often true that “you get what you pay for.” In this post I’d like to address the issue of free Personal Book Builder (PBB) public domain books vs. Logos editions of public domain books.

The question comes often and in a variety of forms, but the bottom-line issue is whether the added features and functionality of the public domain books that we produce are worth the cost when compared to the books created and freely shared by many of our users using the Personal Book Builder.

One user asks,

I am seeking an in depth answer to a question I’ve had trouble having answered to my satisfaction: What are the advantages of Logos public domain resources over PBB public domain resources?

PBB’s can be placed in one’s Logos library, hovering the cursor over a Bible version reveals the text, and, of course, PBB’s can be searched. So what can the Logos version do that the PBB version cannot do?

The Standard Edition of our Personal Book Builder tool allows users to create their own Libronix resources from their sermons, lectures, class notes, or books in the public domain (or any material for which they hold the copyright) and share them with other users who have the PBB Reading Key, which is included in all of our base packages. (A Private Use Edition is also available at a reduced price, but the books cannot be shared with other users.)

The PBB meets a real need for those who want to have their notes, lectures, and other materials searchable in Libronix, but is it the best solution for building your library of public domain titles? Some say yes. Others say no. I’m going to give you the facts and let you decide for yourself.

Advantages of PBB Public Domain Books

1. Cost: PBB books are free (however, see #1 below). Most of the Logos editions of public domain books are not free, though they are often priced less expensively than copyrighted material. The Community Pricing Program enables you to pick up public domain books at very low prices. But still, they aren’t free.
2. Control: This is not really an advantage of the books themselves, but I needed a #2. :) Since users can create their own resources with the PBB, there’s no need to wait until we decide to put a title on Community Pricing or Pre-Pub and no need to wait until it generates sufficient interest to send it into production. If you want it, you can do the work and make it. (But this assumes that you either (1) spend the money to purchase the Personal Book Builder or (2) have a friend willing to do your projects for you.)

Advantages of Logos Public Domain Books

1. Accessibility: PBB books require the PBB Reading Key, which is available only in our base packages or by purchasing the Standard Edition of our Personal Book Builder (PBB) tool. So while PBBs are free, you’re looking at a $115 prerequisite at minimum (i.e., Christian Home Library with 25% off discount) to be able to use them. The public domain books that Logos produces can be used by anyone without a special reading key and without having to own a base package (though we would certainly encourage you to purchase a base package to get the most out of your public domain purchases).
2. Appearance: PBB books do not follow your font choices. You’re stuck with whatever the builder decided to use when he created the files. For the most part, Logos books allow you to customize which fonts are used for Greek, Hebrew (and other Semitic languages), and English (with a special script code). PBB books also don’t zoom as nicely as Logos books (the scroll bar increases in size along with the font).
3. Accuracy: PBB books are usually not as carefully proofed as our editions are. Since the individuals who build the PBBs are not being paid for their time, they usually don’t proof their work as carefully for accuracy. Logos books are OCRed and checked carefully to guarantee a very high degree of accuracy. Many are also updated to fix typos and other issues.
4. Extensiveness: Many PBB books and collections are not complete; they are often based on partial texts that are available online. Many books lack footnotes and some collections lack entire volumes. In our editions we strive to provide you with as complete of a set of works as possible, even often bringing you more than is found in modern reprints.
5. Tagging and Linking: Many PBB books are pretty sparse on Bible reference tagging and other tagging. Logos books usually include tagging for all Bible references and often lots of tagging to other resources available in Libronix. This isn’t to say that PBB books can’t be thoroughly tagged, just that, as a general rule, they aren’t.
6. Data Types and Searching: For the most part the only data types that you’ll find in PBB books are the Bible data type and (sometimes) page numbers. This means that PBBs won’t be keylink targets and won’t be as searchable as Logos books. PBBs also lack fields and don’t allow you to limit your search to specific portions of text like footnotes, body text, etc.
7. Citations: The source text of many PBBs is unknown or unspecified, so the auto-generated footnotes often don’t contact sufficient information to be useful for articles, papers, books, or other publications. Most Logos books contain all the pertinent information necessary for proper citations.
8. Book Types: PBB books are not able to be categorized as Bibles or commentaries and therefore won’t function the way Logos Bibles and commentaries do (i.e., Bibles won’t appear in the various Bible version tools, and commentaries won’t appear in the commentaries section of the Passage Guide).
9. Notes and Highlighting: You cannot add notes or highlighting and other visual markups to PBB books. Logos books can be extensively marked up and annotated.
10. Support: Since we don’t make the PBB books themselves, we cannot provide the same level of support for them as we do for our own books. If there is a problem with the book itself, you will need to contact the book’s creator, who may or may not be willing to provide support or fix the problem.

The Personal Book Builder is a wonderful tool and serves its purpose well, but it may not be the best tool for building a library of public domain titles. If you are on a tight budget, want to accomplish very simple tasks like reading and basic searching, don’t always need exhaustive texts and a high level of accuracy, and can get by without advanced functionality, the PBB books might be sufficient for you. If any of the 10 items listed about are important to you, the Logos editions may be the better choice.

In Wednesday’s blog post I talked about the Resource Auto Update script and how it is important that you run it regularly to make sure that you have the most up-to-date version of your resource files.

I mentioned how you could bookmark the link in your browser, but some of you may prefer to have the link right in Libronix. So I’ve created a quick video demo that shows you how to create a resource update toolbar button.

If you don’t want to watch the video but just want the steps, here they are:

1. Open Libronix.
2. Right click in the toolbar area and click “Customize.”
3. Click “New” to create a new toolbar. (You can also add the button to a pre-existing custom toolbar.)
4. Leave the “Category” as “Special,” and click on “Go To (Internet Application).”
5. Click “Add,” give the toolbar a name like “Resource Update,” and then click on “Details.”
6. (Optional: Give the button a name, select a style and icon, and assign a shortcut key.)
7. Paste the following link into the “Internet Address” box: https://www.logos.com/media/update/ResourceAutoUpdate.lbxupd.
8. Click “OK,” “OK,” and “Close.”
9. Click your new button (or use your shortcut key) to run the Resource Auto Update.

Or just download the toolbar, put it in your My Documents\Libronix DLS\CustomToolbars folder, and enable it from the right-click menu by clicking in the toolbar area and selecting “Resource Update.”

We strive to produce very high quality digital books, but typos do creep in sometimes. With the help of our attentive users and our typo reporting tool (Help > Report Typo), our electronic text development department is often able to get these typos fixed and new files added to our FTP site. You’ll find them at ftp://ftp.logos.com/lbxbooks/.

Why Should You Update?

Updating your resources is good for you and us. It gives you more accurate resources with better functionality, and it also helps to eliminate typo reports on outdated resources.

How Do You Updated?

The simplest way to get the latest files for your books is to run the Resource Auto Update script: https://www.logos.com/media/update/ResourceAutoUpdate.lbxupd. Simply click this link and choose “Open” if your browser gives you an option.

Libronix Update will scan the resources on your hard drive and then give you a list of resources that are outdated.

You could check the box next to Resources to download all of the updates, but if this is your first time running the Resource Auto Update script (or you haven’t run it in a while), you might want to look at the “Total Download” size before you hit “Update.”

My update is 159.30 MB, and since I have a very fast connection here at work, this won’t take long at all. But if you’re on a slower DSL or dial up connection, this could take several hours. If you’re uncertain of your connection speed or how long it might take, the best approach would be to download them a handful at a time so you can gauge how long it’s going to take. Check half a dozen boxes and try a smaller download first. Then repeat the process until you’re done with all of them. (Note: you’ll need to start Libronix in between each session or else you’ll be prompted to download the same resources you just download.)

When it completes the download, you’ll be prompted to close Libronix (if it was opened). After it finishes, you can start Libronix and begin using your newly updated books.

Bookmark This!

We recommend that you run this at least once a month. To remember this link for later, just right-click on it and select “Add to Favorites” (Internet Explorer) or “Bookmark This Link” (Firefox). You’ll also find this link at the bottom of this page: https://www.logos.com/support/download/30bupdate, which is accessible from the Support section of our website (Support > Download the Latest Version > Update).

I’m a book lover. While I prefer the digital kind, I still love the print ones too. Whenever I visit another book lover’s home, my eyes are almost irresistibly drawn to his bookshelves.

As you can imagine, we have thousands of print books around the office. My wife works over in the Electronic Text Development department, and I’m always peeking at the bookshelves to see what’s new when I go over to meet her for lunch.

In the last week or two, we’ve had several big shipments of books that have really gotten me excited. The shipments weren’t quite as big as the ones we got from T&T Clark a couple of years ago, but they contained some excellent books that I know many of you will be as thrilled about as I am. I wish I could tell you more, but I don’t want to ruin the surprise.

You have probably noticed that it’s been fairly quiet on the Pre-Pub page over the last couple of weeks, but that’s about to change very soon. Stay tuned!