Just saw another post on this and checked it out.

I like looking at the passport stamps on the books in this site and how far books have travelled, so I was just wondering how many people here have registered their books with Bookcrossing.com or if you recieve a book with a bookcrossing ID do you log it?

I'm a Bookcrossing fanatic!   I don't get very many journal entries from PBS, but I do get some & love to see them.  :)

I've received one or two from PBS members.  Checked out the site once or twice, but lMO kinda boring and insiderish.  Had them RC'd for awhile and prefer not to receive Bookcrossing books, feel like they belong to somebody else and I should return them to the real owner. 

I'm new to PBS, but have been on bookcrossing.com for a while. I like the mission of bookcrossing, but the mechanism of PBS better. The letter of the law on PBS is "no writing", but I'm wondiering about how folks feel about a book with a bookcrossing.com ID on the inside cover. Either sticker or handwritten.

Welcome to PBS, Matt!

According to the Swappability criteria, book crossings markings are ok as long as they don't obscure text. Hence the need for RCs if you don't want them. You have to accept the fact that your recipient might not participate in the bookcrossing.

BookCrossing books may have stickers or stamps or markings on the outside or inside covers or page edges of the book; this is OKAY. These may not obscure text

 

Technically, it's not "no writing" but no writing on text pages:

No writing or highlighting or underlining on text pages

• a signature or note on the flyleaf or inside front or back cover is OKAY
• an author's signature on the title page is OKAY
• writing or highlighting or underlining on the text pages is NOT OKAY
  • Exception: if it is a textbook or workbook, these are expected to have highlighting/underlining/writing
    • if you post a textbook/workbook, the condition must be described to the requestor in a Personal Message
    • AND the described condition MUST BE AGREED TO in a reply PM before the book is sent
    • This is the one of the ONLY three cases in which a PM exchange about a book is required before the book can be sent (the others are for travel guidebooks and cookbooks--see below).
  • Exception: if it is a travel guide (not a picture book but a guide, such as Fodor's or Lonely Planet), some writing on text pages could be expected.  All maps must be present and included with the book - if detachable it is OK if they are detached, but they must not be missing.
    • if you post a travel guide that has writing in it, the condition must be described to the requestor in a Personal Message
    • AND the described condition MUST BE AGREED TO in a reply PM before the book is sent
    • This is the one of the ONLY three cases in which a PM exchange about a book is required before the book can be sent (the others are for textbooks/workbooks and cookbooks--see above and below).

funny to see this thread. I just asked about BookCrossing on the bit one at the top. I got a book that I had wishlisted for 6 months with their label inside the cover. I got it to keep. No way I will pass it on. This one was nearly new, just like it had come off a bookstore shelf. I will look into the site. It looks like that they feel that posting makes it sort of community property?

I've received a few books here that had BookCrossing stickers inside. One of them was a keeper so I was kind of annoyed to have all those stickers (three!) inside the cover. However, since it's not against PBS rules and I don't have an anti-BookCrossing RC I just accept it when I get them. I don't bother logging the books at the BookCrossing site, though.

All of my books are highly wishlisted.  I may have to wait several months before they come available to me.  I would prefer to receive a book that is not plastered with bookcrossing stickers but if I do I feel the book is mine.  I don't feel I have to pass it on to another individual.  The majority of books are keepers for me.  I would probably document it but that is the extent of what I would do.  Several years ago I joined book crossing but feel it is a lot of work to document books.  I did a few in the beginning.  The books I have not I list on trading sites (I belong to two) but don't bother with documenting these because most people don't like them.  When I did document books I just lightly taped the sticker inside the cover.  Most books that I have that are not wapped out at trading sites that are too heavy or too damaged I just donate to my local charity thrift shop and I don't even bother with book crossing stickers.  As I said too much work and nobody even bothers to document that they got the book anyway.

I've received lots of books with the bookcrossing stickers but I am not a member nor do I log books. Some of them I got early on here (I'm talking 3-4 years ago, before they had the RWAP process in place) were really over the top--people actually wrote the BCID on the tops of about 20 pages in the book, had huge stickers on the front and back covers, etc. It really turned me off. Those type I would mark RWAP now, due to the writing on the text pages. Most BC stickers are discreet stickers or IDs that are no more proliferative than library stickers, so unless the person has an RC against stickers and such, I pass them along like any other book when I'm done with them.

Cheryl

I got one once.  Didn't log it on the site and eventually passed it on.  This one had an easily removeable piece of paper taped to the inside of the front cover.  I didn't even notice it at first.

I've gotten a few really ugly ones years ago. Not so many now that I notice.

I had one that had a red ink stamp with the BookCrossing info stamped on every front page before the story started, and thereafter in the clear spot next to every Chapter header. Which bled through to the text on the back of that page. Otherwise a really nice book, someone had gone crazy with the red stamp and, IMHO, really mangled that book.

Other's with the small sticker in the front I barely notice.

I really dislike the huge stickers. They're way too big when a small one would do.

I don't see them here that much anymore, so don't RC against them. And I never log them in.

Personally, I don't mind the idea of leaving those books in the wild, for free. But I feel it's not appropriate to label a book with the stickers if the owner plans to post them here instead of giving them away. Then, the book isn't 'released' to be free, it's sold for a credit. Which isn't what the web site seems to promote.

Most bookcrossers don't mind if you keep a book.  Especially if they are swapping it through a site like PBS they shouldn't.  We would be delighted if you would go to the site and journal the book (can be done anonmously) and say why you like the book enough to want to keep it.  Journal entries are not expected, though, unless the book was sent via a BX-related way.

Personally, I rarely send out BX books through PBS.  I got tired of the whining on the forums about BX books and the number of people threatening to remove the stickers--even at risk of the book.  I have one sticker inside the cover of the books I register on BX.   I only register BX books I've read, since I'm interested in what other readers think.  I am a bit sad at not posting them on PBS, since they higher chance of being WL'd in my experience than the random books I pick up elsewhere.  Ah well!

Other than when I sent books to a BXer I already knew from elsewhere, I don't know that I've ever gotten a journal entry through PBS.  I prefer wild releasing--I get more interesting journal entries anyway.  Sending books to other online swappers just puts them in their TBR pile (which I am also guilty of).

There are BXers around, but not too many.  For a while there were a lot of us--a couple BX-related sites posted links to PBS early on in its life.   As PBS has grown through media spots the # of BXers have gone down (well, the % of BXers has gone down, I don't know if the actual # has.). I don't remember the last time I received a BX book through PBS.   They may also have gotten tired of people who don't have RCs complaining about stickers inside the book.

Oh, and BX has no problem swapping books.  It isn't the "focus" of the site but it certainly isn't "against" it either.  The only people I've heard claim that aren't BXers. 

I've only received one Book Crossing book here--and I had to mark that one RWAP because it had a broken spine.  I like the idea of Book Crossing, but I'm kind of of the opinion that books with Book Crossing stickers should not be traded elsewhere--it seems like that goes against the idea of Book Crossing.

I'm also a member of BC and have been for 6 or 7 years. I'm only a member of PBS for a few months and so far I greatly prefer PBS. Labeling the BC books is frankly a pain, and so I think I'm going to quit doing it. I will certainly not mind if I get a BC book from PBS but whether I will continue to journal BC books is iffy at best. I am very used to used books, ex-library ones, etc. so the labels and stuff don't bother me, but I can see where they might bother others.