At BookRags, you can research anything, but you may still have specific questions on a topic that research alone cannot answer. That’s why we’ve created BookRags Q&A. With our Q&A system you can ask, answer and collaborate with other members to enhance your knowledge on any subject!
Here’s how it works:
It’s easy to join BookRags Q&A. Just click here to register as a BookRags member. Once you’ve validated your email address and logged in, you can ask and answer questions, vote and earn points towards discounts on study guides, study packs and other BookRags products.
You can make changes to your account at any time by clicking the “My Account” link in the upper right-hand corner of each page.
Once you’re logged in, you can ask any question on any research topic (as long as it’s within our Member Guidelines). There are many ways to ask a question:
Visit the Q&A Homepage and type your question directly into the “Ask a Question” field at the top of the page.
Click the “Ask a Question” button found on a variety of pages throughout the Q&A system.
Ask a question directly from any topic page by clicking “Ask a Question.”
To answer a question from a topic page or the Q&A homepage, just click on the question title.
You’ll have the option to enter any additional information about your question. Tip: clarify or elaborate on your question to get the best and most useful answers.
Enter the number of points your question is worth. You must offer at least 5 points, which is the default point value for every question – but you may want to offer additional points to convince other members to work harder to answer your question. You can offer any amount of points that you have in your account. Enter the total number of points you’d like to offer into the field provided.
Next, select the appropriate category for your question. Please choose the category that best suits your question.
Now click “Review” to see an example of what your question will look like.
From the review page you can choose to “Post” or “Edit” your question.
Once your question has been posted, it will remain open to answers for 7 days. After that period closes, you can return to your question and vote for a best answer (see Choosing a Best Answer and Voting for more details). In the meantime, you can follow your question’s status in your Q&A dashboard.
When you’re logged in, you can answer a question by visiting the Q&A homepage and browsing through open questions, or by answering a question directly from a topic page.
To answer a question from a topic page or the Q&A homepage, just click on the question title.
or
You’ll see the full question and all the current answers. Click on “Answer” to respond to the question.
Answer the question in the field provided, review your answer and post it to Q&A. You will immediately be awarded one point.
If you answer a question within one hour of when it’s posted, you will immediately receive an additional point. Look for the clock icon next to the point box. This indicates that a question has been asked within the hour.
When a question’s answer period closes, the voting period will open (see Choosing a Best Answer and Voting below). Once both of these periods have closed, the best answer will be awarded based on votes from the question asker and the Q&A community. The remaining points will then be awarded to the member who receives the most votes for best answer.
Note: BookRags reserves the right to revoke points at any time if your answers are found to be inappropriate in any way (this includes but is not limited to spamming, illicit content, irrelevant comments, etc.).
A best answer is selected based on community votes. The vote of the person asking the question has more weight than that of a general community member. However, if enough of the community agrees that an alternate answer is indeed better, that answer will ultimately be awarded “Best Answer”. So, while the question asker has more influence on which answer is selected, he or she does not totally dictate which answer is best – the community has input as well.
If you’re the Question Asker – If you’re the question asker, all you need to do is check your Q&A dashboard during the voting period, click on your question, review the answers and vote for a best answer.
You’ll find all your questions listed on your Q&A dashboard. Each question will indicate whether it’s open for answers, open for voting or closed.
You may also find an alert message reminding you to vote on questions you’ve asked. Remember, you can earn points for voting, so it pays to come back and vote on a best answer to your questions.
To vote, simply click on the question title, read through all of the answers and vote for the one that you think answers the question in the best way. You can only choose one answer and vote once on each question.
When you vote, you will be refunded 1/3 of the points you offered for the question as long as the community agrees with your choice. For example, if you only offered the minimum 5 points, you will receive 2 points back. If you offered 15 points, you will receive 5 points back.
Since the Q&A community also has the opportunity to vote on the answers to your question, it’s possible the question you select as “Best Answer” will not win. However, voting on a question that you asked will not be counted towards your daily voting limit. There’s no downside to voting on the best answer of a question you asked; you may even get points back!
If you’re not satisfied with any of the answers you receive, you also have the option to vote “No Best Answer.” If the majority of voters determine that there is no best answer, then you’ll get all of your points back (whether or not you also voted “No Best Answer”).
If you vote “No Best Answer” and the community selects one of the answers as “Best Answer”, your vote will be overruled and the winner will receive the points you offered.
In general, members have limits to how many votes they can cast, but as the question asker you can always vote for the Best Answer of a question that you’ve posted. So if you encounter a “Vote as Best Answer” button that is grayed out, it means you have already voted on this question.
If you’re a Community Member – If you’re a registered community member, voting is simple. As long as you’ve accrued enough votes (see Membership Levels and Earning Points), you can vote for the “Best Answer” of any question as long as the voting period is open.
Visit the Q&A homepage and select the “Open for Voting” tab. Then browse through the questions until you find one you’re interested in voting on. You can also filter the questions by category. Just click on the category tree on the left and you can view questions in only that category.
When you see a question you want to vote on, click on the question, review the answers and click “Best Answer” for whichever answer you think is the most informative, thorough and useful. Keep in mind you can also select “No Best Answer” if you are not satisfied with any of the responses. (See the Q&A Guidelines if you’re unsure what constitutes a “Best Answer”).
You will earn one point for each vote you cast. Remember that you earn the ability to vote by answering questions and advancing to higher levels. See Membership Levels & Earning Points to review how you can earn points and advance through the ranks. If you encounter a “Vote as Best Answer” button that is grayed out, this means that you are not eligible to vote for this question either because you have already voted, you have not earned enough votes or you have reached your daily voting limit.
Members can earn points that they can use to get discounted or even free products on BookRags.com!
The BookRags Q&A system has 5 levels, and each level gives you additional perks. In order to advance through the levels, you’ll need to earn points. The easiest way to earn points is by answering questions and being awarded the “Best Answer”.
In the table below you can see the member levels, the points needed to achieve each level and the perks associated with each level. (Note the question, answer and vote daily maximums).
|
Level |
Points |
Questions/Day |
Answers/Day |
Votes/Day |
Votes/Answer |
Add’l Bonus |
|
1 |
0-149 |
2 |
5 |
10 |
2 |
None |
|
2 |
150-499 |
5 |
25 |
15 |
3 |
Redeem Points |
|
3 |
500-999 |
10 |
50 |
20 |
4 |
Redeem Points |
|
4 |
1,000-2,499 |
25 |
75 |
30 |
5 |
Redeem Points & each vote cast counts as 2 votes |
|
5 |
2,500+ |
50 |
100 |
50 |
10 |
Redeem Coupons & each vote cast counts as 3 votes |
Example of how to read the table: If you have between 500 and 999 points, you’re a Level 3 member. As a Level 3 member you can ask up to 10 questions a day, answer up to 50 questions a day, vote up to 20 times a day, earn 4 additional votes each time you answer a question, and redeem your points for discounts on study guides.
It’s easy to earn points. Below is a table of what activities award or cost points.
|
Ask: (-5) |
It costs at least 5 points to ask a question. |
|
Ask: (-) |
You have the option to offer any additional points that you have accrued in order to entice others to answer your question more thoroughly or sooner. |
|
Ask: (+) |
If you select a best answer and the community agrees with you, you will be refunded 1/3 of the points you offered. If you offered 15 points, you will get 5 points back for voting on a best answer. |
|
Answer: (+1) |
You get one point for answering a question. |
|
Answer: (+1) |
You get one point for answering a question within one hour of it being posted. |
|
Answer: (+10) |
If your answer is voted as Best Answer, you get at least 10 points: the points the asker offered (at least 5), plus another 5 points from us. |
|
Vote: (+1) |
You get one point for voting on the answers to a question. |
|
Register: (+25) |
Everyone gets 25 points upon registering. (NOTE: You can use these starter points to ask questions, but they won’t count towards discounts on products.) |
|
Invite a Friend: (+5) |
You’ll earn 5 points for every person you invite who registers with BookRags. |
Each point is worth one cent and you must be at least a Level 2 member in order to redeem points.
First you’ll need to select the study guide, study pack, or subscription plan you wish to purchase. Do this by searching for the topic or work that you’re interested in and clicking on the “Order Study Pack” or “Order PDF” link. Then choose which product you’d like to order:
If you’re ordering a subscription plan, you can click on the “Join BookRags” link found throughout the site, or any study guide or PDF “Order” links (please verify that you’re purchasing the subscription you want as there are multiple subscription options).
Next you’ll be asked to enter your login and billing information. Here you’ll see the option to apply your Q&A points. Check the box to indicate you’d like these funds to apply.
Then complete the purchase as you normally would. You’ll see the discount applied upon checkout.
