Nota Bene

Trinity Journal, Spring 2005 by Anderson, Charles A

Nota Bene 7.0b (Nota Bene Associates). Lingua Workstation $449; Academic/non-prof it $399; Students $299. [Version 8.0 was due for release in February 2005.]

Long known to its devotees as the Cadillac of word processors, Nota Bene (NB) is designed specifically for scholars and students (and pastors). Its integrated suite of programs includes three components which cover writing, bibliography, and note-retrieval, and presents users with maximum control over what they do with the software.

The heart of the package is the word processor itself. Beginners can use it for basic operations right away because of its similarity, at that level, to Microsoft Word, the dominant product on the market. The power of the program, though, lies in its advanced capabilities. Nota Bene allows users to customize virtually its every aspect, while offering numerous features tweaked for academic use. For example, working with the biblical languages is much easier in NB than Word. To switch to Greek, simply press Ctrl-Shift-G, and then move back to English with Ctrl-Shift-R. Ctrl-Shift-H activates Hebrew which writes from right to left and wraps correctly onto the next line. Plus, changing the font for an entire document will not affect the biblical languages. Furthermore, the program comes pre-loaded with numerous academic style templates. Before starting an article, choose from Turabian, Chicago Manual of Style, MLA, and so on, and NB formats the document accordingly. Even after the paper is finished, it takes only a few mouse clicks to change the template. Similarly, internal cross-referencing and indexing are made relatively easy. Nota Bene greatly simplifies the academic writing process.

The second component of the Nota Bene suite is Ibidem, a bibliographic manager able to store the details of any book or article ever consulted. Importantly, each record also has a place for keywords. With it, pastors can quickly produce reading lists in response to church members' questions, and scholars can compile recommended works for syllabi. One professor whom I know always has an extensive bibliography ready on any theological topic thanks to an astute usage of this keyword feature and the patient compilation of sources over decades. The integration of Ibidem with the word processor allows for the automated formatting of citations. Click on the bibliographic record, and NB places the reference in the document. Again, users can easily change the format, so that, for example, hundreds of footnotes set up according to the SBL Handbook can convert quickly into parenthetical citations.

The third component, Orbis, builds searchable databases of NB documents, providing instant access to anything you have ever written, from lectures to papers to random jottings. Boolean-based searches allow for quick retrieval of specific information. Converting files from other processors is not difficult and worth the effort. I changed all of my sermons from Word to NB and created a database in which I can easily search for any biblical passage, illustration, or doctrine on which I have preached. For seminary students who take class notes on a laptop, Orbis could prove the ideal tool for actually using those notes long after graduation.

Some may see NB's price or the amount of time needed to learn these advanced features as obstacles. The program is more expensive than many others, but the potential benefits far outweigh the cost. The same holds true for the extra time involved. While the learning curve is significant, the automated citation and search capabilities alone justify the time investment. Help tutorials and sample files can guide users through all the features. Moreover, the technical support is outstanding. Last term, while developing an outline for part of my dissertation, I made a formatting mistake and began to receive a series of eight error messages each time I tried to add a new element to the outline. Unable to find a solution in the Help menu, and unwilling to start over on a 13-page, single-spaced, 10-point type outline, I emailed NB technical support. Within 24 hours they suggested how to fix the aberrant codes and even offered to do it for me. I emailed them the file, and within an hour they sent back my document fully corrected. That kind of technical support cultivates loyalty (note: they did not know I was writing this review).

One shortcoming is that the RTF filters, meant to convert NB files into a format readable in other word processors, do not work as well as advertised. Trying to save a long article with hundreds of footnotes as an RTF file led to some formatting problems which took time to fix. Users should probably have a PDF writer (one is available for purchase from Note Bern's website) for sending documents. The strengths, however, far outstrip such problems or obstacles. For anyone in academics or pastoral ministry, and especially for those at the beginning of such callings, the advantages of Nota Bene - its integration of components, academic-driven design, and possibilities of customization - make it an excellent word processor.