Talk:BookCrossing

Edit

My first action on Wikipedia was to edit the History section to reflect the current numbers of Bookcrossers and books. The figures were over two months old! May I suggest that someone checks the Bookcrossing site on a regular basis (say, the first of each month) and updates the numbers. [-- User:Skyring]

You can suggest that, but the best thing to do would be to update the numbers yourself every-so-often :). By the way, welcome to Wikipedia. You can sign your posts using 4 tildes (~~~~). —MikeX (talk) 08:00, Dec 16, 2004 (UTC)

Thanks, Mike! I was planning on updating it myself anyway, but just wanted to chuck it in and check in with whoever has been making mods so far. Skyring 11:09, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Hi there. I've made a number of changes to the second half of the article that I hope people approve of. I've added more about inter-BCer communication and books travelling between members as I felt before the emphasis was pretty much on wild releasing, whilst many people get many of their books from other BCers. I've also added a section on the controversy over BC - I thought that might be interesting - and I've added a couple of links that I think are relevant to the bottom of the article. Dupont Circle 21:40, 30 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Drat! Forgot the date! So excited about going over 2 million. Perhaps we could list the Bookcrossing Conventions? There's only been a handful so far. Pete, just back from catching a wild release. Pete 06:08, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

Well done on catching a wild release! I'm off to my second covention in July but I'm not sure about listing them here as I think that would take it away from being an encylopedia entry Dupont Circle 06:34, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

Two years on, and I still don't think the list of conventions is encyclopaedic, and so have removed the list. However, I have added on the paragraph about contact between members than much of the contact is done without the assistance of bookcrossing.com. I've also removed the part about similar tracking websites as we now have Category:Internet object tracking Dupont Circle 21:00, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

What is PhotoTag?

General Advice to Editors

If you make any edits to the main article, please also update the date and the member and book totals at the top of the article. I do it when ever I think of it, but the effluxion of time means that the information is generally out of date. Pete 20:51, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Book sources

I added BookCrossing into the Wikipedia special page for ISBN lookup(Wikipedia:Book sources). It didn't fit as a library or bookseller, so I made a new section for it under Books available from free resources. I just thought editors here might be interested. --Bookandcoffee 20:08, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Revertions

Excuse me but may I ask why the updates to the statistics were reverted by User:Jtdirl and User:Geni? The stats are correct acoording to the website and is located at the top right corner of http://bookcrossing.com/ So, why the reverts? --Andylkl ^(talk) 19:10, 22 October 2005 (UTC)

Vandalism

Sorry to hear this page is protected as a result of vandalism. Once unprotected, please add this article to Category:Webby Awards winners. Thanks. —RaD Man (talk) 05:55, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

Not exactly vandalism I'd say, since none of the edits were actually done in bad faith. I'll be updating the article to the latest stats once it's unprotected. --Andylkl ^(talk) 07:26, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

Looks like it was the person who protected it doing the vandalising! Jtdirl, please put away your ego and leave this article alone! --139.168.157.141 10:27, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

Assuming you're Skyring, please try to respect the ArbCom's decision, and please don't keep making any more inflammatory comments to Jtdirl. --Andylkl ^(talk) 10:37, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

First paragraphs

"BookCrossing, BC, BCing, or BXing, is defined as the practice of leaving ("releasing") a book in a public place ("the wild") to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise. The analogy is with the ornithological practice of ringing birds to track their movements.

There are no charges for participation but donations to keep the Web site going can be made..."

First section is fine, but the next paragraph does not fit into this - it has to be rewritten and properly explained. My personal opinion is that on should not mention "the Web site" when this something that actually is not limitted to this single web site (since when did that site "own" BC?). the bookcrossing.com site should be mentioned later, and of course in the history section if that is the site that started it. Get my point? Ehjort 20:52, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

The name came from the site. There are no references to BookCrossing prior to the site's establishment. BookCrossing depends on a BCID registration number, and there were no sites offering a database of book IDs for this purpose prior to the establishment of BookCrossing.com --Surgeonsmate 11:46, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

So, you say it is impossible to do anything similar to bookcrossing without registrating on that page? but if it is, what is the name of the idea that is hidden behind the "trademark" of Bookcrossing? Is this activity entirely dependent upon the possibility to track the book around the world? The idea/activity is, in the first paragraph, described as "the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do the likewise" - you should then rewrite this paragraph, so that it actually says what you are saying. Ehjort 19:28, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Of course you can do something similar. But leaving computer-registered books around for others to find was unknown before BookCrossing.com. The definition comes from the Oxford English Dictionary, which included this some years after the establishment of BookCrossing.com. Don't read too much into the Wikipedia article. --Surgeonsmate 01:34, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your answer. Seems we agree on the topic; but I say a little rewriting is necessary - BCing is not just the practice of leaving books in public places (...) (though it is, according to both me and the dictionary), it is the practice of leaving a book in a public place and registering it on the web site. Ehjort 07:47, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

Would you all agree that my own version of the intro is somewhat an improvement? For instance, I made sure to note both the meaning of the term AND its origin in the opening sentence, as well as defining a directly-derived term that was used later in the article, and nixed the list of ways in which the project can be funded by user donations (it made it sound like an advertisement as opposed to a neutral article. Simply mentioning that it gets its funding from a combination of user donations and advertizing is enough, as far as I'm concerned; if someone actually does want to donate to the project, they can always go to the website itself and do so, which if they're honestly wondering what payment methods for donations the website accepts, is what they're probably thinking of to begin with). Runa27 22:42, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

I like that, although I think it should be two sentences. Definition of bookcrossing, followed by its derivation. Dupont Circle 16:44, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Consistency?

In the first section, it's claimed that Ron came up with the idea because of currency tracking. However, later in the article it says that PhotoTag is the idea on which it is based. Anyone have any clarification on this issue? Which is correct? Or, if they're both correct to some degree, could it be made more clear? KristinLee 01:39, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

I'll tag this article for cleanup or clearification. Also, see the above paragraph ("first paragraph"). Ehjort 15:46, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

I tried to get around this issue, I think by saying that Where's George was sometimes said to have inspired it (which is said on the WG article), but I have to admit - PhotoTag does not appear to be notable, as it was a redlink, so I removed it. It's possible the link was wrong, and it's possible that the site is actually notable and just doesn't have an article yet, and it's possible it did inspire BookCrossing. If so, please feel free to revert my changes, but just make sure to clarify (both here and on the Where's George? article) which site really did inspire BookCrossing. In the meantime, if PhotoTag is notable (whether on its own or by proxy due to having inspired the creation of BookCrossing), I suggest somebody create an article on it. :) Runa27 22:46, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm... according to the BBC, it seems like it might actually be both!:

In 2001, Ron Hornbaker and his wife noticed the popularity of websites such as PhotoTag and Where's George? which track the journeys of various items - in these examples, disposable cameras and American banknotes respectively - as different people use them. It set Ron wondering about what else people might want to track, and he hit upon the idea of some sort of system for tracking who had read a particular book. After establishing that neither the idea of tracking books, nor the name 'bookcrossing', were yet to be found on the Internet, he set about establishing his own website.

These two sites are frequently cited specifically in reference to what "inspired" BC, but I have yet to find a source explicitly stating that those two specifically, as opposed to simply "sites such as..." inspired it. Hmm. Runa27 23:16, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

In an email sent to me on June 25th, 2001, Ron wrote: I'd like to thank you for creating Where's George, and thereby contributing to the inspiration for our new book-tracking site, http://BookCrossing.com. We acknowledge that inspiration at http://BookCrossing.com/faqs/ with a link to you. Henryhank 14:20, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

Rings, Rays & Boxes

Should rings, rays and boxes come under the 'furthering the BC idea' rather than in the same section as catches and releases? Rings, rays and boxes, to me, don't fall under the dictionary definition of bookcrossing, even though Bookcrossing.com is used to organise them - Dupont Circle 16:42, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

History

Missionary organizations and individuals have for a long time left books (i.e. actual books, not pamphlets or other ephemera) in public places, such as waiting rooms and public transit stations, so that others may read them and pass them on. Is this worth mention as a historical precursor to book crossing? Michael Sidlofsky 19:46, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Jim Hawkins

Perhaps a controversial move, but I've taken out the paragraph about Jim Hawkins' radio show. I'm not convinced it's particularly important in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure the only non-BCers who listen to the show are those in Shropshire, and therefore it's only as important as any other regional media coverage? Dupont Circle 19:24, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

As an ongoing show, it is certainly of regional interest only, but it was the first radio show that had (still has) a regular BC feature, and has spawned numerous BC-related shows and activities on other regional BBC Radios. It certainly helped to make the concept of bookcrossing known to more people in the UK. I haven't heard of any such ongoing activities in other countries. Maybe the info could be included in a more general way (referencing BBC Radio Shropshire as the ones who started it)?--62.225.177.13 07:54, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

• What text would you suggest? Dupont Circle 18:31, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Community aspect

I've moved what Skyring wrote recently about the community aspect of Bookcrossing.com into the 'Furthering...' section, and tried to cite the fact that it's a good community by referencing the Webby Awards. I did consider moving the Webby Awards paragraph from this history bit down to this, but I think the awards are too signifcant not to be in the history bit Dupont Circle 19:31, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Userboxes for Wikipedians

If you are a BookCrosser, you might be interested in the userboxes I've written:

{{User:TechBear/BookCrossing}}	Freed any good books lately? Learn more about BookCrossing.
{{User:TechBear/BookCrossing 01}}	This user is a BookCrosser.
{{User:TechBear/BookCrossing 02|BCName=TechBear}}	This user is a BookCrosser. If you want to become one too, tell them TechBear sent you!

Using the template BookCrossing 02 allows you to give your BookCrossing name and creates an external link directly to your bookshelf. I would rather use Ballycumber for the image, but I could not find one that met Wikipedia's fair use requirements. If you have any suggestions, I'm all eyes. TechBear 17:28, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

Have you seen TexasWren's site? Presumably using Ballycumber in release labels is the same as using it in those userboxes? I did make that last bit up though... Lottie (talk) 16:33, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

The BookCrossing logo is freely available for non-commercial, non-competitive use. Speaking as a member of the BookCrossing Support Team, I can assure you that there is no problem at all with using it for a userbox. In fact, we'd be delighted! As for TexasWren, I've not only seen her site, but met her a couple of times in Texas, spent a night on her couch last year. She's a darling. --Pete (talk) 20:50, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Good news! Thanks Pete - seems like everyone's heard of TexasWren, she's a bit famous... Lottie (talk) 17:17, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Conventions

I don't agree that this article is the correct place for a list of BookCrossing conventions. The article mentions that conventions happen - to start listing them isn't encyclopedic, in my opinion Dupont Circle (talk) 07:28, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Furthering the BookCrossing idea section

This section lacks sources that indicate the significance of the particular services mentioned. I made some edits (here) to try and tackle some of the promotion-ish sounding wording and to genericize it a little. But my attention has been drawn to reasonable objection to the exact wording I used. In the absence of independent sources I'm not sure the section should really be included at all (per WP:UNDUE) though I think with niche subjects it's important not to demand inappropriately "official" references. Are there decent review sites that we could quote? And perhaps a more prose like approach would be better. Something that talks about the concepts that enthusiasts have developed rather than specific talking about the specific services. Thoughts? -- SiobhanHansa 18:49, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

As the one who raised possible questions about the wording (see here, I agree. The individual spinoffs are not notable but there has to be a way to mention them in aggregate. FWIW on sourcing, I found the following in reliable sources, which should definitely be added:

• Weekend Australian article which covers the RABCK notion
• a number of articles on the notion of bookcrossing zones. In fact I think this concept may well be notable from the amount of RS coverage it has received

I'm going to look for some sources on the controversies where you noted the fact tags TRAVELLINGCARI^{My story}_{Tell me yours} 19:00, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

I've added a couple of sources, but I really think the article needs a drastic overhaul, including change to prose as Siobhan mentioned above. It kind of makes sense to me because I'm familiar with the site but I think John Q. WikiReader would have no idea because there's no true 'about' section and we get bogged into process, which really isn't encyclopedic. I don't have time at the moment to work extensively on this, but I'm happy to help. TRAVELLINGCARI^{My story}_{Tell me yours} 19:19, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

March 2008

I completely re-wrote the article. I removed a lot of unencyclopedic content that's more in line with the site FAQ than an encyclopedia article and essentially violated WP:HOWTO. I sourced a lot but there are a ton more sources if someone wants to dig further. I really think the website funding section should go as well, it's not remotely encyclopedic and rather spammy. Thoughts? TRAVELLINGCARI^{My story}_{Tell me yours} 14:45, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Even as somebody who has added some of the unencylopedic bits, I think you've done an excellent job. I've taken the plunge and removed the website funding section, the link to the Erasmus PC photo of a bookshelf, and the bit about Richard Bach being a notable bookcrosser. Having looked at his postings on the BC forums, is that enough for us to be sure that it was him? Is there any interview or article where he talks about BC? Dupont Circle (talk) 19:04, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Agreed, the only RS mention I found is this and I can't access the full text to see what it actually says. Ghits are a mess due to bookshelf listings of his books. It can always be re-added if we find a source. Thanks for sourcing the neighbours claim. Had a feeling it was in there, I just didn't know where. I know there's also mention of Adams because I remember hearing about it when it happened. I think the focus of the article has changed over time and that's why I'm glad editing preserves the history. We may go full circle and end up adding back your material, but I didn't see a role for it now. Thanks for your good words. I intend to come back to this article when I have a bit more time. TRAVELLINGCARI^{My story}_{Tell me yours} 20:40, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Notable BookCrossers

I have added R J Ellory to the Notable section with a link. I've followed the format already in the entry but I think it would be better if the links next to the names of prominent Bookcrossers were actually reference citations, rather than external direct links.

Also, are there any other famous or well-know BookCrossers out there? 90.221.172.129 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 05:19, 28 May 2010 (UTC).

edit the HISTORY section

The first paragraph of the History section needs updated to reflect the last few years of history.

Most specifically, link #7 is a 2008 news article and the data for which it is a reference is about 2010 membership and book numbers. I left that sentence alone temporarily, but the data and reference no longer fit together.

I added the latest numbers (as of 23 MAR 2012) from the bookcrossing web site, but I can't cut and paste the page info with my current portable device. If another editor wants to quickly do that for me, feel free. Otherwise I'll catch that later.

BobDohse (talk) 18:31, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

Many sites about BookCrossing.com

Looking at this diff, I see an anon saying that there are many other sites about BookCrossing. I'd be interested to know what they are. --Pete (talk) 18:06, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Launch date

BookCrossing.com was launched on 17 April - or at least that's the date used for many years, especially in setting the date for the first Anniversary Convention(s) in Christchurch and St Louis on 17 April 2004. It was active before then, in March 2001, as seen here. --Pete (talk) 03:42, 31 July 2015 (UTC)