Globook

Repository for the Globook project holding the source code for the web application and the Globook API.

Idea

The idea of this project is a place to track hitchhiking books - books that are passed from person to person. Knowing where a book has travelled might be motivating for the reader to keep reading and passing it on.

When a book starts its journey, the donator writes a welcoming message with a short explanation of Globook into the first page of the book. This will include the unique identifier and the secret. The donator can also write a short message into the book. Online, the donator registers the book with general information about the book, like title and author. The donator can also register a location where the book is currently located.

Identifications are made using a unique identifier and a secret. The unique identifier is used to identify the book, the secret is used to make sure only a person who has the book can register a new location.

Central functionality

• Overview Map
  • Display all books on a map with current location.
  • Click on a book to display the book view.
• Book View
  • Display all catches for a book.
  • Click on a location to display the catch details.
  • Add a new catch.
• Search
  • Search for books by title, author, or unique identifier.
  • Display the search results on a map.
• Add a new book
  • Register a new book with title, author, unique identifier, and secret.
  • Show an example of a welcome message to be written into the book.
• Location Picker
  • Select a location on a map and radius for security.

Terminology

• Book: A book that is registered with Globook.
  • Title: The title of the book.
  • Author: The author of the book.
  • Message: A message written by the donator to be displayed online.
  • Unique identifier: A unique identifier for the book.
  • Secret: A secret for the book, used as a password for registering.
• Donator: The person who donates a book to Globook.
• Reader: The person who reads a book and passes it on to another person.
• User: Either a donator or a reader. Collect IP addresses and other information about the user? No registration wanted.
• Catch: A catch is the act of registering a new location for a book.
  • Location: The location of the catch
  • Radius: The radius of the location. No exact location wanted.
  • Message: A message written by the reader.
  • Date: The date of the catch.
• Logbook: Database table holding all catches for all books.

Web application

The application is a one-page web application with Flask and Vue that allows a user to register a location of a physical object, especially a book, by clicking on a leaflet map and entering the unique identifier and secret.

Globook API

The Globook API is a RESTful API that provides access to the Globook database. The API is written in Python using the Flask framework.

Further ideas

• Don't show all books on the overview map.
  • Closest books to the user's location.
  • Books that have been caught recently.
  • Books that have been caught far away.
  • Books that have travelled a long distance.
  • Random books.

Not TODO list

Feel free to implement any of these ideas.

• Registration of users.
• Email notification system for new catches of a book.
• Add a QR code to the book, linking to the book's page on Globook. Who would want to glue a QR code into a book? Certainly not me.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See the LICENSE file for more information.