Applications to Know About

Many lists of applications and utilities, from the intentionally selective to the exhaustively exhaustive, are available out there in the webworld and blogdom alike. I thought it would be good to present here a page of applications and utilities that are potentially of specific interest to bible scholars. Instead of beginning with long list, I'll highlight a single app from time to time, and add it on. I intend to omit the obvious, and focus on rare/niche utilities that have specific utility for those in our field, but applications that are just sooo cool and breakthrough-ish regarding how you work are fair game as well. Please make your own suggestions for Mac applications that fit these categories in the comments. The more input we receive, the more we all benenfit. 1. First on the list is a new innovation I learned about this week--a library database manager that allows you to enter your books by scanning the barcode with your Quicktime compatible webcam/digital camera/camcorder. One option is Delicious Library. Delicious Library manager specializes in simplifying the input of your books (and CD's, etc.) by scanning the barcodes with your iSight or any other Quicktime-supported web cam or camcorder. If you have a camera you can video chat on your computer with, it will most likely work. It scans the barcode, then retrieves all available data from the Amazon.com database. The library file is stored in an XML format, so export possibilites are rather unlimited. So, if you've decided to update your library file, while this won't help with the oldest members of your collection, what a time saver otherwise. But, at $40, I can't say I'm recommending it without reservations. It does have a downloadable demo, so you might find it's just up your alley. Thanks to Merlin Mann for his review of Delicious Library as well. Update: Another option, recommended by Chris is Booxter. Booxter seems to be as fully featured as the previously mentioned alternative, with a cost of $15. The extra features on Delicious Library (such as the "To Whom Have I Loaned this Book" feature) are rather superfluous, IMHO. I'd like to learn more about the export format possibilities for Booxter. The goal for me is to have a means of entry, and then export a data file that I can then use elsewhere, such as Endnote or in my own custom database. My apologies if all these apps are OSX, but I so rarely used Classic these days.