Blogging BibleWorks 9: Introduction

Blogging BibleWorks 9: Introduction August 14, 2012

I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to do a blog review of the most recent version of the famous BibleWorks software, BibleWorks 9. This post will offer just a few introductory remarks about the initial experience of installation and first impressions. I will then go on to blog about specific features and offer a detailed review in multiple posts.

BibleWorks 9 makes a good impression even from the very beginning during installation. There are nice little things that get ones expectations soaring. To give one example, as soon as one highlights and copies an activation code received via e-mail during installation, when one returns to the program, one finds that the code has already been noticed and added to the list by the program, without even having to manually paste the code in. While this might seem like a minor thing, it indicates to me an attention to detail and concern for ease of use and user-friendliness that goes above and beyond what many of us have come to expect from software we use on a daily basis.

As soon as one sees the many different modules that are available, it will be hard to resist the temptation to install them all – including some that require a significant amount of space, such as images of Biblical manuscripts. I tried installing most of these features, and even so, and even without keeping an eye on the computer the entire time, the process took less than an hour.

The software comes on three DVDs, and is accompanied by a quick-start guide as well as a more detailed booklet describing features.

I am excited to have the opportunity to explore a number of the features of this latest version of BibleWorks. In addition to being interested in its features and functionality as a resource for scholarship (including the sorts of Bible-related matters a scholar who blogs might wish to blog about), I am also working on developing online and hybrid courses, and am interested in the potential of this and other programs to be used by students studying Biblical languages without having access to the traditional classroom experience.

As I said, I will be blogging through the software’s features over the coming days and weeks. To whet your appetite, here is one of several official YouTube videos created by the folks at BibleWorks, to show off the program. You can find more such videos on the BibleWorks web site, and there are also multiple tutorial videos which are included with the program itself.


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