The Ark

The Ark software is a very powerful tool for researching the early history of the Christian Science movement.  It contains all of the Christian Science Journals, Sentinels and Quarterlies published through the year 1922 in addition to the published writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the King James Bible.

The interface of The Ark software is divided into two basic functions which are selectable by tabs at the top of the screen; a search function and a viewing function.  The search interface is very easy to use.  There is a box in the upper right hand corner of the interface.  Type in the words you are looking for and a list of articles and references quickly appears.  The resulting list of articles can be refined by selecting different books or categories which are listed on the lefthand side of the screen.  All of the articles from the Christian Science periodicals have been categorized by author, date, and classification (editorial, lecture, testimonies...).  The ability to refine searches by these parameters greatly enhances the ability to find relevant information when doing research.  When an article is selected from the list of results, it is opened in the viewing tab.

The viewing tab displays a PDF file of the document selected.  The advantage of using PDF files by The Ark software is that it preserves the original format of the pages as they were originally published.  This enables the user to see not only the words but actually view the original document.  Another advantage of using PDF is that the articles or pages of the text can be sent via email or saved as a PDF file for use outside of the program.

Another powerful capability included in the viewing tab of the software is a dictionary lookup function.  The program includes both English dictionaries as well as Greek and Hebrew definitions from Strong's.  The English dictionaries include Webster's 1828 and 1913 editions.  Expanded Greek and Hebrew word meanings are available from Gesenius' Hebrew and Thayer's Greek lexicons.  The lookup functions are integrated into the viewing page of the software so that the definitions appear in a column to the right of the text that is being viewed.  I have found that this is a very efficient design.  All you need to do is highlight a word with your mouse and the definitions appear on the side of your screen.

The Ark software also includes an interactive timeline of the early Christian Science movement.  This timeline provides a view which captures dates of significant events in Mary Baker Eddy's life, events in the Church and dates the periodicals were published.  This can provide some context to what was going on in the Christian Science movement when a particular article was published.

One item which is not included in The Ark software which is included in Concord is the Hymnal.  If you need to be able to search the Hymns (readers of the Church) then Concord is the right tool.

You can get more information about The Ark software here.

Note:  The Ark software is delivered via a USB flashdrive.  This flashdrive IS the program and must be inserted into the computer in order for it to work properly.  Most software is installed from a CD or DVD these days.  That is not the case for The Ark software.