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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">STEP Library</span></span>
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<div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><p><b>STEP</b> (<b>Standard Template for Electronic Publishing</b>) is a standard <a href="File_format" title="File format">file format</a> used to distribute <a href="Biblical_software" title="Biblical software">Biblical software</a> from various publishers. STEP was conceived in 1995<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> by Craig Rairdin of Parsons Technology and Jim VanDuzer of Loizeaux Brothers Publishers. Rairdin and VanDuzer formed a consortium of Biblical software publishers called the Bible Software Industry Standards Group (BSISG) to oversee the development of the STEP specification and to develop common tools to be used by developers and publishers interested in implementing STEP compatibility in their programs or publishing books in the STEP format.
</p><p>The STEP logo was originally a trademark of Parsons Technology, Inc., now of FindEx, Inc., the current publisher of QuickVerse Bible Software.
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Format_specification">Format specification</h2></div>
<p>The files use Microsoft's <a href="Rich_Text_Format" title="Rich Text Format">Rich Text Format</a> (RTF) with special STEP tags added.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>While not fully <a href="Open_format" class="mw-redirect" title="Open format">open format</a>, as was sometimes claimed, the specifications have been publicly released, enabling third parties to write their own tools to create, edit, or view STEP resources. There are restrictions on the use of the logo, and commercial use of the term "STEP Compatible". Findex distributed <i>The STEP Publisher's Toolkit</i> as part of their license. It is similar to <a href="Libronix_Digital_Library_System" class="mw-redirect" title="Libronix Digital Library System"> The Libronix Digital Library</a>, for users of <a href="Biblical_software" title="Biblical software">Biblical software</a> wanting integration of various reference works, using a common application to access and <a href="Cross-reference" title="Cross-reference">cross-reference</a> various works from various publishers.
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Bible_study_software">Bible study software</h2></div>
<p>The following <a href="Biblical_software" title="Biblical software">biblical software</a> can read STEP files:
</p>
<ul><li>e-Sword;</li>
<li>QuickVerse 5.0 through 2009;</li>
<li><a href="WORDsearch" title="WORDsearch">WORDsearch</a> 4.0 and 5.0;</li></ul>
<p>The following companies also issued resources in STEP format:
</p>
<ul><li>Ages Library from 1997 to 2000;</li>
<li>Bible Companion from 1995 to 2002;</li>
<li>Ephesians Four Group (current issuer);</li>
<li>Light By Design (current issuer);</li>
<li><a href="NavPress" class="mw-redirect" title="NavPress">NavPress</a> from 1995 to 2003;</li>
<li>Certain of <a href="Zondervan" title="Zondervan">Zondervan</a>'s software titles 1995–2001, including their own STEP Reader (which was in fact a rebranded Quickverse Library) which ran independently of their own Reference Software suite;</li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.digitalword.org/STEP1.htm">"The Next STEP in Bible"</a>. The Digital World. 2000-07-25<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2007-01-03</span></span>. <q>Created by several of the leading Bible software companies in 1995</q></cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.crosswire.org/bsisg/STEP%201.1.doc">"Standard Template for Electronic Publishing v1.1"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(Microsoft Word 97 doc file)</span>. Bible Software Industry Standards Group. 1999-06-05. p. 4<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2007-01-03</span></span>.</cite></span>
</li>
</ol></div></div>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>
<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.quickverse.com">FindEx Corporate Website</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.e-sword.net">e-Sword Website</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.crosswire.org/bsisg/">STEP Site mirrored by crosswire.org</a></li>
<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.e4.net/">Ephesians 4 Website</a></li></ul></div><!--htdig_noindex--><div><div class="zim-footer">
This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2024-06-13" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=STEP_Library&oldid=1228915960">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.
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