How to do JW resarch like Pro

From time to time I will get a request to do research for a Brother. These are Brothers in our area that I know and sometimes from well outside our area. There is a mistaken impression that I have access to some special database or some special knowledge. In truth it is neither and and it is something we all have but some may have forgotten about.

Long before JW Library (JWL) and Watchtower Library Online (WOL) there was Watchtower Library DVD (WTL-DVD). In my conversations with some I have learned that many no longer use this resource, the thinking is (and many have actually said it) why do we need it since we have JWL and WOL? Consider if we did not need it Watchtower would not continue to support it and update it. So let's examine why there is still a need for WTL-DVD.

1) WTL-DVD is the internal search engine for Watchtower HQ and Branch. It is the exact same program we use except they have all the publications in it as well as other references.

2) The WTL-DVD is a full install program, when you install it, it installs the entire Watchtower Publication Database. This is not the case with JWL. In JWL the user must choose what publications to install and the more you install in JWL the slower JWL will get. In many lands without reliable Internet, JWL and WOL are not options. If you have to pay a high price for Internet or it is unreliable then the only option is WTL-DVD. It can be downloaded and updated in one file, unlike JWL and an always needed Internet like WOL.

3) Did you also know the "search engine" in WTL-DVD is much different than JWL and there are even differences in WOL. Try this: Do a search of the exact same phrase in JWL; WOL and WTL-DVD, you will get much better results and more exact results in WTL-DVD.

There is also an excellent teaching guide built into WTL-DVD to teach you how to properly do a Theocratic search. WTL-DVD also has an excellent save feature that allows you to save searches and publications by topic, content, subject or any other way you may like. Also WTL-DVD has a search within a search. Example: You find the right Watchtower article but don't really want to read the entire article to fine the part you need. Once the article is open, CTRL-F allows you to search that article for one key word or several key words. Once you master that search within a search feature, you can actually search hundreds of articles extremely fast.

Another feature in the WTL-DVD not in JWL or WOL (WOL does have a mini version of this, it brings up fewer results.) is a Bible Verse search.
In JWL when you have a Bible Passage open, in the Gems pane you can see in the Reference Guide several articles and the same is true in WOL. However in WTL-DVD use the "Bible Navigation" feature, then tap the verse number in the right side pane and the results will be every publication that verse is cited in, some may now be removed, but you will get much more than you can ever use.

My ability to find obscure Theocratic information is not a skill I have or something special about me, in fact before JWL and WOL when the only tool we had was the WTL-DVD all of the Friends could look up and research obscure information, like how many people on Earth in Noah's day? About 47,000 is all. There are other gems like that.
But JWL search is limited and WOL is still being built and added to. The drawback to WTL-DVD is it will only work on a Windows (Microsoft OS) based device. Watchtower DVD will not run on any type of iPad or iPhone or Android device (It will run on Android with Wine installed however its function will be limited.) So if you are interested in diving in and doing some obscure Theocratic research get back to the first and best JW research tool, the Watchtower Library DVD.
https://www.jw.org/en/online-help/watchtower-library/install-watchtower-library/