# Questions for owners of Ages Software



## Kenneth_Murphy (Sep 6, 2008)

Are all the collections of Ages books basically the same format?

Is the format provided (seems like PDF?) such that it can be opened in any PDF reader and thus suitable for markup/annotation in a software like PDF Annotator?

In looking at some of the older forum posts it sounds like there can be many typos etc in these works (bad OCR?). Is that just an annoyance, or is it worse than that?

I guess the rubber is hitting the road for me soon with the John Owen collection coming out via LOGOS. The AGES version is MUCH cheaper. I would like to be able to highlight and save annotations on these and other similar puritan works. I know a LOGOS version supports that but can it be done with the AGES?

Is the AGES text fully searchable?

I'm hoping I get some good answers here, otherwise I'm going to have to buck up and get something from AGES to determine the functionality.


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## DMcFadden (Sep 6, 2008)

I'm not much of a PDF expert. You can search the Ages documents. Maybe you know how to search multiple PDF documents at once, I don't. As it is laid out, you might need to search Owen in its various PDF files. The Hebrews commentary, for example, is separated into 13 PDF files by chapter.


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## CovenantalBaptist (Sep 6, 2008)

You can use Google Desktop to search multiple PDF's however it is clunky in that it searches whole hard drives - another desktop search engine might provide a more refined search option.

Although Ages has a good quality scan, I would investigate what you can find for free on Archive.org or Google book search first.


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## py3ak (Sep 6, 2008)

The Ages discs come with an index which can be used to search through quite a large amount of material. For instance, you can find every place in his works where Owen uses the word "habitude" without any great difficulty.

I don't know about annotations. There are typos: I've never found one I couldn't figure out.


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## Broadus (Sep 6, 2008)

Kenneth_Murphy said:


> Are all the collections of Ages books basically the same format?
> 
> Is the format provided (seems like PDF?) such that it can be opened in any PDF reader and thus suitable for markup/annotation in a software like PDF Annotator?
> 
> ...



I'm thinking similarly, except I'm looking at the usefulness of the PBB edition I have on Logos. I'm thinking seriously about dropping my Logos pre-pub order because there are other works I need to buy (e.g. MacArthur).

Bill


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## Rev. Todd Ruddell (Sep 6, 2008)

Kenneth_Murphy said:


> Are all the collections of Ages books basically the same format?
> 
> Is the format provided (seems like PDF?) such that it can be opened in any PDF reader and thus suitable for markup/annotation in a software like PDF Annotator?
> 
> ...



1. All Ages books are in PDF format. 
2. Yes, any PDF annotator will work with the Ages files. Further, portions can be copied and pasted into other documents, although this is a clunky process with many carriage returns to edit out. 
3. There are typos, but they can be ferreted out. For instance, in my version of Owen, his treatment on the on the Sabbath is called in the contents page "A Day of Scared Rest". (I always get a chuckle out of that one!)
4. As was said above, the Ages titles come with an index file that makes them fully searchable. In fact, if one were to add all the index files to the search, one would be able to search his entire Ages library in one command. 

As an owner of both Ages and Logos, obviously I prefer Logos. However, one can make good use of any Ages library without too much effort. The way Logos interacts with the rest of the Logos library is a big advantage, but for some is not necessary. 

Hope that helps.


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## DMcFadden (Sep 7, 2008)

Rev. Todd Ruddell said:


> As an owner of both Ages and Logos, obviously I prefer Logos. However, one can make good use of any Ages library without too much effort. The way Logos interacts with the rest of the Logos library is a big advantage, but for some is not necessary.



Amen! I have both as well as appreciate the incredible value of the Ages material. If you are planning on doing scholarly work and writing, Logos is the better deal. If you are studying for your on benefit, Ages is SOOOOO much less expensive.


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## Kenneth_Murphy (Sep 7, 2008)

Eventually, once I finish my current degree and a second part in Latin, I'm planning to continue with a Ph.D. in Puritan, History, and Literature. I'm sure this will require a healthy dose of Puritan works to read and write on. However, being honest with my "pacing" it will be several years to finish the general masters I've recently started and the co-required Th.M. in Latin before I can start the final degree in the series. I part of me says I should get these "Puritan" pre-pub LOGOS works now and save money later when I get to needing some of them. However, a lot can change/improve by then, even LOGOS versioning again and then maybe even including some of them in their latest and greatest scholars platinum or whatever they call it then. So it could actually be cheaper to wait. Or the quality/price of ages stuff etc could get better by then as well. So I leaning now to thinking there are enough options out there between Still Waters, Ages and LOGOS etc that I'm probably best of waiting until I get there (be patient Luke ... ) and save my money for now.


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