Using Logos to make your own Personal Books

Logos is a terrific tool for studying, well, almost any text.  

But it's makers have focused on using it as a study platform for Christian studies.  The software itself is the tool but its utility is unleashed when coupled together with a library of books and multimedia resources.  

Amongst all the bible software developers, Logos has the largest library of resources.  Nearly all the major book publishers have works adapted for the Logos platform.

By tagging content, the content can be efficiently indexed and then searched.

The library of resources that can be purchased is enormous.  Unfortunately, not all resources are accessible for several reasons:

• The publisher or the author may not be inclined to give their consent.
• The publisher or the author may have already given exclusive rights for electronic distribution to someone else
• Logos may ask too much of a margin on the selling price of the resource.
• The publisher or author may be biased toward hard copies.  

Logos allows its users to make their own personal books which can be imported into Logos for personal use.  

It's easy to do.

Just make a Microsoft Word .docx file of the resource and then import it.

All standard format bible references will automatically be turned into hyperlinks to your library's bibles.

There are special tags you can insert into your text if you wish to search content by topic.

One or two hooks to keep in mind:

1. If you want your document to show up in passage guide searches, then build it as a bible commentary, not a monograph or just a commentary.
2. Bible commentaries are specially tagged .docx documents.  Learn the syntax here:  https://wiki.logos.com/Personal_Books.  Once you have inserted the [[xxx]] tag before each verse that has a comment in your document, then if you open your bible in one panel, and your commentary alongside, and if both have been designated in the same set, then they synch with each other as you scroll through either document!  There are many types of documents that can be produced as personal books, such as, encyclopedias, dictionaries, lectionaries, calendar devotionals and more.  I have a lectionary that has all the Jewish annual reading (parasha) calendar.

There are a lot of resources in .epub, .mobi, .html and .pdf format on the web.  This is a cheap way to build out your library, but as always, be mindful of copyright law.