What does the below condition mean? Does it mean when a cover is separated or starting to separate from the spine? Is it when the spine is cracked and from the iniside you can see the webbing of the binding or inside of spine? Does it mean something totally different?

"Binding:

Must be intact, with no separation on the inside or outside of the book"

My concern is if I'm confused, then others be too. That leads to problems of interpretation.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I believe it basically means that the paper must be completely glued/attached, and nothing falling off or out of the book.

This thread: http://www.paperbackswap.com/What-Cleaved-Spine/topic/150725/ might help.  You can scroll to the end for the clarification that Kim got from the team on the subject.

Karen, thanks so much for thread. The photos made it very helpful but in some ways the discussion and the PBS clarification made it more confusing.  What is confusing is that it seems people don't know whether to report this as RWAP or not and what qualifies as intact. Even Lisa's description of nothing falling off or out of the book could mean our broken binding is okay since everything is still actually attached. It seems that if pages are intact and not falling out then a lot of members let it go. 

We've received a hardcover book where the front cover is the only thing holding the first spine break together and the second break, about at the halfway point, the two sides of the book are almost completely separated and you can see the interior spine webbing. Both areas are similar to the first photo http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/rubberducky102760/8_299.jpg This book is from a new member (Sept, 2011), we are one of, if not the first book order, they've received and we could try and repair the damaged sections ourselves. We thought to make them aware of the issue but not mark it RWAP, giving them the benefit of the doubt. Good idea or not? What would others do?

It is interesting that PBS has changed the guidelines and eliminated the last two items, in red.

Binding:

• Must be intact, with no separation on the inside or outside of the book
• If the book tends to open at a particular page, this is OKAY
• Small amount of fraying or denting at top or bottom is OKAY

Ron and/or Dawn, I'm of the mind that if the edge of the pages that usually touch at the binding aren't touching anymore when open, then it constitutes "separation on the inside of the book". Opening to a particular page, and showing signs that such separation could happen in the future is one thing; two separate chunks of pages with space between them, showing the glue or inside of the spine is another, and, I believe, an example of unpostable condition.

James, thanks that really helped and made things much clearer. By that definition, as well as the others, then this book has two distinct areas where the binding is no longer intact.

Dawn (this time)

Definitely mark it RWAP! Just because the member is new doesn't make it okay to ignore the rules.