Recently I had the opportunity to ask a friend about the future of literature, especially as it relates to theology and research.  I for one have been a little anxious about when to make the switch to digital literature, whether it be through Kindle, iPad, eBooks etc. Most of us realize that making the switch is inevitable–technology is turning books digital. The benefits are real.  Most notably, they include better accessibility, lower cost, and more space.  Imagine having all of your study tools on a laptop through a product like Logos or Bibleworks.  You can literally have your entire library at your finger tips when traveling or moving between your office/home. Also, research becomes quicker as you can search for keywords. But it also makes these products more affordable–printing costs, distribution etc. are cut and therefore the price is usually 1/2 – 2/3 that of a hardcopy. Finally, physical space is saved because now your library is on a hard-drive rather than a bookshelf.  The only downfall to this is not being able to showcase your scholarliness to your friends. But Christians don’t do that, right? Let’s not forget that, in the interest of stewardship, digital books are also more green.  It saves trees (good news).

Even after weighing the benefits, it’s hard to know when to make the switch and how fast.  Should all of our purchases be digital from now on?  Micah J. Jelinek, Library Administrator at Moody Theological Seminary-Michigan, helped weigh in on this issue as it relates to theology and biblical studies:

If it were me, I would weigh my costs. If I can get a full commentary set through Logos for $500 or a hard copy for $1500, I’d get the copy with Logos. They provide full sets of commentaries at a significantly reduced cost (ex. Logos has the Word Biblical Commentary Series and many others available as add-ons). So, if you get the right package you can search a number of your commentaries/lexicons/etc. all at once through Logos, plus everything is backed up online and it’s also available on your iPhone. Logos doesn’t have every commentary, so that’s where I’d invest money into hard copies. It’s a major transition, but I think having everything searchable and right at your fingertips is a major time saver.

On the future of theological libraries and texts: I don’t think that theological texts will be going all digital for at least 10-15 (or more) years. Even then, because our field of study is (1) under funded, and (2) dependent on older texts, I don’t believe theological libraries will go completely digital or rely completely on a digital database with access to full text books. I think there will always be a place for hard copies of books in academia. Libraries may move to have more online and digital access to books, but hard copies will likely be necessary for reference at the very least.

I would also be hesitant to move to a completely digital collection right now, because Google, Amazon and others are currently competing to claim supremacy in the eBook domain. So, in the same way that there have been transitional periods for video format in VHS vs Betamax or VHS to DVD, I think that we’re in a transitional time for digital literature. The Kindle will likely be obsolete in a couple of years anyway and there is no guarantee that the formatting will remain the same. So for now I’m waiting to see what happens and I’m backing up the eBooks I do have with PDF copies.

After saying all of that, I’m still a purist. For me nothing will ever replace a hard bound book, so I’ll continue to collect hard copies, but to keep up with technology I will also be investing in software like Logos and adding some commentary series’ to my collection that way.

At this time, it seems that buying used books is still profitable, especially if you haven’t invested in a device like Kindle or iPad. And let’s not forget that you can borrow out or give away hardcopies without infringing copyright laws.  Still, purchasing digital volumes through software like Logos seems appropriate at this point in the industry. It will save you time and money.  In conclusion, we are in a time of transition and you will probably have to consider which way to go on an individual basis. Hopefully this helps you make informed decisions.

Read an article from http://boston.com about this phenomenon as it relates to Harvard’s libraries here.