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THE
ESSENTIAL IVP REFERENCE COLLECTION CD-ROM £99.99
Over the past few years IVP have produced a host of superb reference books
with more on the way. All of these draw on the best of evangelical scholarship
while not being afraid to enlist the help of those from other traditions
where appropriate.
Now, IVP have brought
many of these works together on a new CD The Essential IVP Reference Collection.
Included in the collection are The New Dictionary of Theology, The New Dictionary
of Biblical Theology, the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, the Dictionary
of Jesus and the Gospels, the Dictionary of Paul and his Letters, the Dictionary
of the Later New Testament and its Developments and the Dictionary of New
Testament Background. There are others, but these are the ones that stand
out.
Each of these works
is useful in its own right and many are exceptional. By bringing them all
together the user gains access to an amazing amount of reference material
– more than ten million words according to IVP. All the best-known evangelical
scholars are here somewhere: Morris and Carson, France and Fee, Bauckham
and Grudem.
The software itself
is easy to install and use and comes with a clear and comprehensive electronic
manual. What is particularly impressive is the extent to which the different
texts are linked and cross-referenced. It is possible to search for a word
or text in a particular work or in the entire collection using either the
search feature or the word, topic or reference browsers. Thus a quick search
for the word ‘reconciliation’ produced 677 occurrences in 16 books, while
a search for John 3.16 produced 145 occurrences. Other useful features include
the ability to write your own electronic notes and to drag and drop text
into Word Processor documents.
At £99.99 this may seem
like an expensive CD but considering the amount of material on it, it’s
a bargain. Buying this range of books separately would cost over £350. However,
if you already have a number of the books contained in the CD – which those
considering purchasing it probably do – then it can seem an expensive option.
Yet, unless you have almost the full set, the CD can still be recommended
since it greatly enhances access to the material contained in the separate
books. In addition, since this CD is built on the Logos Library System standard,
a host of other materials can be seamlessly integrated into the package
including the Word Biblical Commentary series.
Some gripes: the only
Bible text included is the KJV. Other translations are on the CD and can
be unlocked for a small fee. However, the NIV is not available and has to
be purchased separately on LLS standard, as do Greek and Hebrew texts. There
are also a number of other reference works that could have been profitably
included on the CD. The New Dictionary of Christian Ethics and Pastoral
Theology comes to mind, as does the Historical Handbook of Major Biblical
Interpreters. However, these are minor considerations. For clergy, students,
colleges, schools and teachers this resource is well worth the investment.
The CD will run under
Windows 95, 98, 2000 and NT 4. It needs a Pentium processor, 16MB RAM, 20MB
free space on your hard drive and a CD Rom drive. Internet connection will
give access to technical support and updates. |
