NEW Features: Bookshare has two new features that let Sponsors control how students on Organizational Accounts search for and read books:
- Safe Search places restrictions on searching
- Download from Search allows students to download any book they choose
Sponsors can enable one or both settings at once for all students’ on the Member Roster OR individually by student.
Searching the collection
Bookshare’s default search setting allows students on Organizational Accounts to search for books from the full Bookshare collection (minus any that are explicitly marked as containing adult content). Searching displays a list of titles with a link to the book’s synopsis.
With Bookshare’s new Safe Search, Sponsors can restrict search results to a limited collection of books deemed suitable for younger audiences (approximately Sixth grade/under 13 years old).
Reading Books
Bookshare’s default reading setting is that students on Organizational Accounts can only read books that their teacher has assigned to them.
With Bookshare’s new Download from Search feature, students can read any book they discover when searching, in addition to those assigned by their teachers. Previously only students with Individual Memberships could read books from the full collection.
Enable settings for your Organizational Account
- Select the Organization Information link from the left navigation on your My Bookshare page.
- Under Organization Status, you’ll find two checkboxes: “Safe search default for new members”, and “Allow free downloads from search” for the entire organization.
- Select one or both features if desired. Any feature checked will apply to all students on the member roster.
- Once the features are enabled for the Organization, you can not make changes individually.
Enable settings individually
- Go the Member Roster on your My Bookshare page.
- Select the pencil icon next to a student’s name.
- Under Account Details, find the “Safe search” checkbox and the “Allow Downloads from Search” check box.
- Check the feature(s) you wish to activate for the student.
Four possible combinations:
- Safe search off, download off (the default): the student can search all non-adult titles, but can only read books that have been directly assigned to them.
- Safe search off, download on: the student can search all non-adult titles and read any of them.
- Safe search on, download off: the student’s search is limited to titles suitable for younger audiences, and can only read books that have been directly assigned to them.
- Safe search on, download on: the student’s search is limited to titles suitable for younger audiences, and they can read any of those titles.
Notes:
- Safe search and the downloads setting work independently. A student can have any one of the four combinations above.
- When turned on at the Organizational level, the feature(s) are turned on for every student on the member roster.
- The new download feature differs from the Individual Membership, which gives a student full access on their own, regardless of any sponsor setting and follows them even after they are no longer connected to their school or district Bookshare Account. Learn more about the benefits of an Individual Membership.