Bookcrossing
Before the Internet is popular, we used to making friends around the world via some PenPal programs. When we were children, we paid a PenPal organization for its administration fee and then started our exchange of letters in our unrecognized English with counterparts in the other side of the world. Behind pieces of letter sheet, there were friendship, curiosity and fun.
We can no longer find such feeling via emails or instant messengers that are supposed to replace letters. The speed of the interaction is rapid and they can carry images, audios and videos. However, the key of PenPal is not information exchange but soul exchange.
Can we retrieve such feeling in the world of Web 2.0? Yes, we can do it through Bookcrossing. Bookcrossing is an activity of leaving a book in a public area to be picked up and read by others who will do so then. With the power of Web 2.0, such personal and free activities can be traced and coordinated by an online database and a website.
Bookcrossing.com (URL: http://www.bookcrossing.com/) is known as a worldwide bookcrossing club. This is also a good example of Internet usage. Its practice is simple and the club calls the practice as 3Rs - Read, Register and Release.
First, a participant who has joined the club selects a book and READs it. After finishing the book, he REGISTERs the book in the website of Bookcrossing.com. A unique number that is called BookCrossing ID number or BCID will be generated after the registration. Then he labels the book with the BCID. Finally he RELEASEs the book in a public area for someone else to read. He can leave it on a park bench, donate it to some charities, forget it on a cafe table, etc. Once someone picks up the book and records a journal entry for that book, the one who has released the book gets notified by an email. The bookpicker will do the 3Rs again.
The goal of Bookcrossing.com is to build a library of the whole world. This library is so big that covers every edge of the world the Internet can reach. We can share our books as well as our opinions amongst book lovers whom we did not meet. Similar to Blog and Wikipedia, it is also considered as a step towards Global Village.
As you see, it does not only offer us convenience, but also changes our living modes. It is a revolution.
We can no longer find such feeling via emails or instant messengers that are supposed to replace letters. The speed of the interaction is rapid and they can carry images, audios and videos. However, the key of PenPal is not information exchange but soul exchange.
Can we retrieve such feeling in the world of Web 2.0? Yes, we can do it through Bookcrossing. Bookcrossing is an activity of leaving a book in a public area to be picked up and read by others who will do so then. With the power of Web 2.0, such personal and free activities can be traced and coordinated by an online database and a website.
Bookcrossing.com (URL: http://www.bookcrossing.com/) is known as a worldwide bookcrossing club. This is also a good example of Internet usage. Its practice is simple and the club calls the practice as 3Rs - Read, Register and Release.
First, a participant who has joined the club selects a book and READs it. After finishing the book, he REGISTERs the book in the website of Bookcrossing.com. A unique number that is called BookCrossing ID number or BCID will be generated after the registration. Then he labels the book with the BCID. Finally he RELEASEs the book in a public area for someone else to read. He can leave it on a park bench, donate it to some charities, forget it on a cafe table, etc. Once someone picks up the book and records a journal entry for that book, the one who has released the book gets notified by an email. The bookpicker will do the 3Rs again.
The goal of Bookcrossing.com is to build a library of the whole world. This library is so big that covers every edge of the world the Internet can reach. We can share our books as well as our opinions amongst book lovers whom we did not meet. Similar to Blog and Wikipedia, it is also considered as a step towards Global Village.
As you see, it does not only offer us convenience, but also changes our living modes. It is a revolution.
Comments
I doubt whether people are willing to share their books in such way. What do you think?
I like the sheep---Joseph、it's very cute!!!