Frequently asked questions
If you have a question that is not addressed on this page, please submit it via
our
contact us
page.
General
Book and DVD reviews
Reading lists
Groups
Bookmark lists
Person-to-person book and DVD circulation
Deploying books and DVDs
What is BookProject?
BookProject is a volunteer-run nonprofit. All BookProject services are free. We
do not sell books (or anything else). We do not accept advertising.
The BookProject website is an open, non-commercial platform for book and film reviews,
reading lists, groups, and person-to-person book and DVD circulation.
For an overview of our website and our purpose in creating it, visit our
welcome page.
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What does it mean to join BookProject?
To join BookProject means to create a member account on our website. Joining is
free, and requires only an email address and a nickname.
BookProject takes members' privacy seriously. We do not display any member's email
address to other members, and we do not provide our members' email addresses to
anybody else for any reason. (See our privacy policy.)
Becoming a member of BookProject gives you access to all of the features of our
website, including
adding books
to the website, creating a personal
bookmark list,
writing book reviews, viewing the travelogs of books you have handed on,
deploying books,
and participating in
groups.
Members can choose to receive periodic emails from BookProject, or not to.
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Do you sell books and DVDs?
No. We do not sell books (or anything else).
We recommend that people borrow books from their public library, or buy them from
locally owned, independent bookstores (used if available), or from online merchants
that they specifically intend to support.
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Who can post book and DVD reviews?
All BookProject members are welcome to post book and DVD reviews.
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Are book reviews moderated?
All book and DVD reviews are moderated by BookProject staff before they appear on
the website.
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What are reading lists?
A reading list is a list of books and films recommended by an individual, group,
or organization.
Each reading list can have its own "review team" of one or more people
who review and rate the books and DVDs on the list.
When you view a particular book or DVD in the context of a reading list, only the
reviews and ratings from that reading list's review team are presented.
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Who can publish reading lists?
Any individual, group, or organization can request to publish a public reading list
on our website, provided the reading list does not have a commercial intent.
In order to create a reading list, you must be a BookProject member. To create a
reading list now,
login
to BookProject and follow the reading list instructions our "member FAQ"
page.
Aside from public reading lists, all BookProject members are welcome to publish
private book lists within groups they create on our website.
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What are groups?
For a general explanation of groups, visit our groups page.
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Are group book reviews visible outside groups?
Each member can choose to have her book reviews visible only within the groups she
joins, or to allow them to be visible on the public areas of the website as well.
This setting can be found on the member preferences page. (Link at the bottom of
the member home page.)
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Within a group book list, do non-group book reviews appear?
No. Group book lists only contain books added by group members. Further, for each
book, only book reviews from members are shown. Group book ratings are calculated
based on the average ratings of the book by current book members.
On the group book page for a book, a link is provided to allow members to view the
public page for that book.
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What is a bookmark list?
Our website allows you to keep a private list of books and films you are interested
in. You can add books and DVDs to the list, and prioritize the items as you like.
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What is person-to-person book and DVD circulation?
Person-to-person book and DVD circulation, or hand-to-hand networking, is handing
a book or DVD from person to person to person, or exchanging books or DVDs with
others by dropping them off or picking them up at a designated book-exchange location.
Circulation works as follows. A person who wants to circulate a book (or DVD) visits
our website to get a "book code" for their book. They put the book code
into the book, and then either hand the book on to a friend or leave it in a book-exchange
location. When the next person finishes the book, they hand it on to a friend of
theirs or leave it in a book-exchange location, and so on. Each person who reads
the book can make an entry in the book's travelog on the website, and can then use
the website to follow the book's travels as other people read it and hand it on.
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What is a travelog?
A travelog is a history of the travels of a single book.
Specifically, a travelog is the collection of log entries created by the string
of people who have read and handed on a particular copy of a book.
Each travelog entry contains the nickname of the member who created the entry (or
"anonymous" for people who created an entry without becoming a BookProject
member), the date of the entry, and a comment about the book, if the reader entered
one.
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Who can view travelogs?
Only BookProject members can view travelogs. Further, a book's travelog can only
be viewed by the person who deployed the book and the string of people who have
read the book.
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I've finished a book that's being circulated with BookProject. Now what?
When you are finished with a book, please
create an entry
in the book's travelog, to let the people who read the book before you know that
it's been read again. Then hand the book on to a friend or leave it in a book-exchange
location.
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Can I return a book to you?
No. We do not have a facility for receiving books. If you are finished with a book
and you do not have somebody to hand it on to locally, please consider mailing it
to a friend in a different city, or returning it to the person or book-exchange
location you received the book from.
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Can I leave a book in a random public place for somebody else to find?
We do not recommend this.
We feel that a good part of the value of circulating books comes from the simple
act of handing a book to a friend, or leaving the book in a book-exchange location
that is dedicated to issue-oriented books.
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What does it mean to "deploy a book"?
To deploy a book means to put a book into circulation with BookProject.
When you choose to deploy a book with BookProject, we email you a book code
that is unique to your book, and that allows your book to be tracked on our website.
You put the book code into your book, and then hand the book on to a friend
or leave it in a book-exchange location.
When the next person finishes the book, they can visit our website and log the fact
that they have read the book. They then hand the book on to a friend of theirs or
leave it in a book-exchange location, and so on. Each person who reads the book
can keep track of its travels via its travelog on our website.
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Can other people tell who deployed a particular book?
No. BookProject takes your privacy seriously. When you deploy a book with BookProject,
nothing is displayed on our website, or in the book, that reveals who deployed the
book. (See our privacy policy.)
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If I deploy a book with BookProject, is it still my book?
Yes. However, depending on how you circulate it, the book may or may not be returned
to you. See below.
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If I deploy a book with BookProject, will it be returned to me?
There are two ways to circulate books with BookProject.
BookProject was designed to facilitate the open-ended circulation of books, where
books eventually move outside the circle of friends of the person who deployed the
book. To deploy a book in this manner, simply leave it in a book-exchange location
or tell the person you hand the book to that you intend the book to keep traveling
indefinitely. In this case, it is unlikely that the book will be returned to you.
Alternatively, BookProject can be used to circulate books in more of a close-to-home
manner. In this case, you circulate a book within a close circle of friends and
ask them to return the book to you when they are finished with it. You and your
friends can use the BookProject website to keep track of who has read the book,
and to comment on the book.
Note that BookProject does not assist members in locating or recovering books that
they have deployed with us.
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Can I deploy DVDs with BookProject?
Yes. DVDs are excellent to circulate with BookProject because they can move quickly
from person to person.
DVDs deployed with BookProject are given a "book code" in the same
way that books are. Travelogs are kept for DVDs in the same way they are kept for
books.
Throughout our website, for the sake of brevity, we use the word "book"
to refer to both books and DVDs.
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How do I label a book or DVD when I deploy it?
Each book and DVD deployed with BookProject gets a unique "book code."
(Our book codes look like this: ABCD-EFGH-IJKL.) After a person reads a book,
the book code is the key that lets them create a travelog entry for the book
on our website.
There are a number of ways to put the book code into a book that you are deploying,
and we invite you to be creative with this step.
Together with the book code, please include our website address (www.bookproject.org).
You may also want to include a note to future readers, or an instruction to pass
the book on after reading it.
Here are a few suggestions for attaching a book code to a book (or DVD):
- Write the book code onto a bookmark, postcard, or index card and tuck it into
the book, or into the DVD case.
- Write or computer-print the book code onto a piece of paper, cut it out, and
tape it inside the front cover of the book, or inside the DVD case. (The email you
receive when you deploy a book includes a link to a simple label for computer printing.)
- Write or computer-print the book code onto an adhesive label or sticker and
attach it inside the front cover of the book, or inside the DVD case. (Adhesive
labels come in both permanent and removable varieties.)
- Simply write the book code inside the front cover of the book.
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