Changes to scriptures.lds.org

I haven't spent too much time on the new scriptures section on lds.org, but the few things I've found so far can enrich my study of the Gospel. And if used well, these study tools could even prove to be a blessing to me later in life.

First, the basics:

Chapter
When I clicked on a book of scripture in the old version, a page would appear showing chapter numbers with hyperlinks. The current version instead shows chapter summaries of each book, all on one page. Skimming for the right story/verse is now easier.

The old version didn't include any social media options. This version allows you to not only share the scripture by email but also on twitter, facebook, and even del.icio.us. Most everyone these days has a facebook account - fewer have twitter, and I think far fewer are familiar with del.icio.us, which acts as a social bookmarking service. For those who haven't utilized del.icio.us, they can not only create a new personalized bookmarking tool but it could become a great way to share scriptures with friends (and the world).

The old lds.org had mp3 versions of the scriptures, but you had to access through a dedicated audio page. Now the entire chapter can be downloaded by mp3.

Verse
Not only can you accomplish all of the same tasks as above in the new version when you are within a chapter, you can also listen on the spot, print, and the most interesting option is the one that allows you to hide footnotes. In my paper scriptures, footnotes aren't as distracting as they are when reading online, when the black and blue color contrast can get in the way of the text flow.

How could these things enrich my study of the Gospel? They are simple changes that actually change the way I read. Unless I'm preparing a lesson, most of my reading/study is personal. Either I am reading a section of scripture or focusing on a certain topic. With the new web 2.0 adds I am now semi-consciously reading in a more social way. The ease of posting to facebook/twitter/del.icio.us requires a click or two and I've just made my study a social experience versus a private one.

If those were the only changes it would still not drastically increase the time I spend reading scriptures online. I probably read online scriptures an average of 15 minutes a week versus several hours a week spent reading in print, and most of the time viewing the online addition is through my phone to look up a quick verse or topic. The main benefit of reading online is I can read a lot more in one sitting. The columns in print breakup the flow whereas there is much more text in a line on the web. The ease of jumping from footnote to footnote makes it more efficient as well. All that being said, I continue to prefer studying the paper version over the electronic, however all that may be about to change based on a new feature added to the scripture site.

Study Notebook (must have a login ID to access)
This is a very cool new addition to the lds study page for someone like me who has notebooks all around the house filled with random Gospel thoughts collected over the years. They are unorganized. I also have four different quads spanning the last 20 years with underlined text and notes scribbled in the margins. I've tried to use google docs in my personal study but that hasn't helped as well as it has for preparing a lesson or talk.

The new study notebook could prove to be the boon of my study to help consolidate my thoughts in one central place. How convenient that it is on the lds website! The notebook is available to collect thoughts on scriptures, conference talks, manuals, etc. What I need to figure out is how I will organize it, but even that can wait as I begin the "journal entries" and "bookmarks" that are available on the page. The two ways to organize are through "collections" and "tags." Collections act as folders to store your journal entries, and the tags can allow you to identify entries that span over multiple folders.

In another great feature called "bookmarks," I can now write whatever I want in the new electronic "margins" of each chapter of scripture or the various manuals or conference talks (it's somewhat limited to those areas but I can see it expanding).

I see this as just the beginning of cloud-based church study offerings. Hopefully enough people will use it so they devote more resources to making improvements. Anyone who uses it can send in suggestions and feedback to the church's tech department.