BookSense.com Offers Improved Search Tool

In an ongoing effort to improve BookSense.com and make it more bookseller and consumer friendly, its bookstore search capabilities have been consolidated and enhanced.

The BookSense.com hub site now prominently features two check boxes: "Accepts Gift Cards" and "Has a website," both of which can be utilized in simple zip code searches, as well as in advanced searches. Checking the "Accepts Gift Cards" box will return a list of all stores that sell and redeem Book Sense Gift Cards. In the past, a separate search was required to find stores that participated in the Gift Card program.

Users who check the "Has a Website" box will be presented with a list of all stores in the Book Sense program that list a website address. Prior to this change, only those stores that participated in the BookSense.com program had websites listed.

"The main difference is now consumers and booksellers are able to search in a streamlined manner," said ABA BookSense.com Director Len Vlahos. "The old search style was much more fractured. This new search will be much clearer to consumers and will help them find the right store quickly."

The advanced search feature enables consumers to enter several criteria to narrow down their results. New to the advanced search is the ability to search for stores by specialty. By using these new features together, consumers can conduct more complex searches -- for example, all children's bookstores in California that participate in the Book Sense Gift Card program and have a website.

In addition to these improvements, BookSense.com will soon be updating daily any bookstore profile changes. ABA member booksellers can change their store's profile or add additional information, including a URL, through the Update Your Member Profile page on BookWeb.

Questions about Member Profiles should be addressed to info@bookweb.org; questions about BookSense.com should be addressed to staff@booksense.com.