Last year, we made a quality decision to remove Excel spreadsheet Resource Lists from our Loom discs. This was because the same book information (which is volatile, and changes more than we'd like because books go out of print) was repeated on our Bookshelf, in the Excel lists, and on our Book Update Chart. Some places didn't jive--easy to understand with so many balls in the air--and we got constant complaints of inaccuracies and discrepancies between resources, plus it just took us a lot of time to post on three different lists each time there was a change. So, we consolidated down to one resource for primary book lists: the search engine we designed for the Bookshelf, which could easily be exported to an Excel spreadsheet if anyone wanted that feature. Alternate books were listed on a static PDF that was delivered on the Loom.

Well, constant change is here to stay! This past winter, we were surprised when God led us to convert TOG to a digital delivery format (DE) and we sold the Bookshelf to Dana Caywood. Thus, Lampstand Press (publishers of TOG) and the book-buying resource store (Bookshelf Central) became two separate, but mutually supportive, entities.

Dana has now mounted new software on Bookshelf Central that does not produce the same handy chart that was easily converted to an Excel spreadsheet. She has decided to employ a different search tool. Therefore, we are going to restore fresh versions of the Resource Lists of old in the next update of DE. (Note this huge benefit of DE in action, by the way! DE allows us a painless way to change your copy of the curriculum for the better as the world around us changes, and to make available for free enhancements, updates, and change pages!)

In the next few days, we will be hammering out the exact format of the new Resource Lists and we'll let you know then what they're going to look like. They *may* be in Excel formats, or they *may* be in protected pdc formats (as are the Alternate Book lists on your Looms). We need to weigh not only the usability of these lists (some people really struggled with Excel in the past), but the ways they are accessed and the ways they are updated. No one option that we know of currently is obviously perfect; each technology has strengths and limitations, so please pray for wisdom for us as we hammer these into shape over the next few weeks.

We should be getting them to you (in whatever format) in our next update--probably in about two to three weeks--for Years 1, 2, and 3. For Year 4 customers, we will provide a cumulative book list with each unit you purchase as the year unfolds.