My sincere thanks to the generous folk at Logos Bible Software for a review copy of the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary.The Anchor Bible Dictionary is simply the best Bible dictionary available, packed with the highest quality scholarship. Many of its articles are required reading in a number of areas. What is more the Logos Bible Software format is ideal for this genre of material. In the next few posts in this series I will offer short extracts from the dictionary, give reasons why I honestly think the electronic version is superior to the hard copy, link to some useful discussion about the product, tell of details for a special 30% discount (yea, baby!) and cheekily suggest that you splash out with your Christmas money and buy yourself a copy (including tips on avoiding getting caught by your spouse in the process). Seriously, this is one mightily useful resource, so I am going to shamelessly promote this one!
7 comments:
Chris, is it better than the New Interpreters series?
I also noticed that the IVP OT bundle is listed on PRe-Pub!
Chris, how is the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary different that the standard Anchor Bible Dictionary (edited by David Freedman)? Is it a new edition?
Ed
Chris, how is the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary different that the standard Anchor Bible Dictionary (edited by David Freedman)? Is it a new edition?
Ed
From Logos.com:
How is this product different than the Anchor Bible Dictionary?
The contents of the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary are identical to the Anchor Bible Dictionary. The name of the product has changed because the copyright for this resource was transferred from Doubleday to Yale University.
Additional Information
* Title: Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (formerly Anchor Bible Dictionary)
* Abbreviation: AYBD (formerly ABD)
* 6 volumes
* Editor-in-Chief: David Noel Freedman
* Associate Editors: Gary A. Herion, David F. Graf, and John David Pleins
* Managing Editor: Astrid B. Beck
* Yale University Press
I've got the electronic version, too. It's absolutely excellent for searching, of course. All the illustrations are included, some of them in color which are in B&W in the printed edition. The pictures are accessible by links in the text, which open popup windows with the illustrations in them, so the page layout you're readig is all text, unlike in the printed version. On your screen, the illustrations are also much bigger than in the book, too, so plans, etc, are easier to view. I haven't found the maps from the endpapers of the printed edition though, which show the Israel Grid map, coordinates to which are used for all locations within that area, rather than lat/long.
One thing I intensely dislike about the electronic ABD is the transliteration font doesn't scale well. The edges are jagged. You can't change that font, either, as it's somehow embedded to use whatever crappy font it is. The general font for the entries can't be changed either, but you at least have the choice of serif/non-serif settings. I'd like more control over fonts, but I think that's locked into the thing.
Overall, though, aside from the font thing, I'm extremely happy with it.
Hi Mark, I think Anchor is the best.
Thanks for helping me answer questions, E and Phil!
FWIW, it's also available for Accordance.
http://accordancebible.com/store/details/?pid=Anchor
or http://tinyurl.com/7zu3cq
Phil, it's the transliteration fonts that are the problem, and they appear to be hard-coded, unfortunately. Editing the resource files works for my changing the default fonts (or your very interesting script would also work), but it's the ugly (in some resolutions) transliteration font that is the eyesore. Libronix really needs a better way for people to change the fonts.
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