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General

Q: Why can only head librarians, principals, or district representatives enroll a school in Brain Hive?
A: To simplify control and enhance security.

While every librarian, teacher and student at your school can access and use Brain Hive, the head librarian will have master responsibility for both initial setup and ongoing budget and content management of your school's Brain Hive account.


Q: Does your library replace our existing library or enhance it?
A: Brain Hive rejuvenates your library collection by instantly adding more than 3,000 eBooks.

Brain Hive eBooks can be integrated with library catalogs using MARC records, placing them in the same catalog alongside your existing print and eBook collection.


Q: What's the best path to getting Brain Hive in my school?
A: Set a few minutes aside to set up an account online.

Brain Hive membership is FREE, and it takes less than 15 minutes to get started! One person at your school—your head librarian or principal—can sign up and personalize your school's account. Sign up now or share Brain Hive with your school's head librarian or principal.


​Q: I would like to set up and manage multiple schools in Brain Hive from the district level. Can I do that?
A: District management in Brain Hive has never been easier!

Control the budget, user account, eBook settings, and more for multiple schools with our district level accounts. To get a district level set up, please contact us at 855-554-HIVE or info@brainhive.com. A Brain Hive representative will be happy to create your account.


Q: Do I have the option to purchase the most popular titles that I rent?
A: Definitely.

Most publishers who offer eBooks on demand also make their eBooks available for purchase on an unlimited simultaneous use basis. You will no longer incur checkout rental charges for any eBooks you purchase through Brain Hive.


Q: How can I cancel my subscription?
A: Membership in Brain Hive is free, so there is no subscription to cancel.

You are not tied into a long-term subscription or commitment with Brain Hive.


Q: Which publishers are included in the Brain Hive eBook collection?
A: Our collection includes many of the industry's top publishers and partners.

This is a continually growing community. Please visit Partners and Publishers for the most up-to-date list.


Q: Which eBooks are included in the Brain Hive collection?
A: Brain Hive offers thousands of eBooks, on demand.

Publishers add new titles to our collection each month. Download a PDF now for a list of titles available in our collection.


Q: Will you share my students' information?
A: No. Your students' personal information is safeguarded.

Brain Hive strictly adheres to the policies and guidelines relative to the use of student information as outlined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Policy. Your students' personal information will only be used for legitimate purposes. Student information will not be share with anyone but your school's Brain Hive account administrator.


Q: Can I track information such as which titles are getting checked out, how many titles are getting checked out, who's checking them out, etc?
A: Yes.

Brain Hive offers tremendous data for understanding eBook usage and reading in your school, including what's being read, how often, and for how long. Important reports, such as monthly eBook checkouts, are automatically emailed to the account administrator. A report wizard also makes it easy to generate reports for any time period, with easy data export to Excel or PDF format.


Q: I'd like to try Brain Hive before I commit. Can I get a free trial?
A: Every new member receives 10 free Brain Hive Bucks, giving you an opportunity to try Brain Hive before spending any money or opening the service to your school.

Your school's Brain Hive account administrator may also view and check out any title from Brain Hive for review and evaluation purposes without charge. This allows the account administrator to "kick the tires" while beginning to curate the collection as needed for your school.


Q: Can I donate money toward my school's Brain Hive account?
A: Absolutely! You may donate Brain Hive Bucks to your school by calling 855.554.HIVE.

A Brain Hive customer service representative will help you with making a donation toward pre-paid Brain Hive credit for your child's school.


Q: How do I refer a friend?
A: We make it fast and easy to Share the Buzz!

We love referrals—and when something this sweet comes along, it's best to share. If you know of a school library that would benefit from Brain Hive, please send a referral email now.


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Access

Q: Can students access Brain Hive remotely?
A: Yes, provided the school allows it.

Brain Hive offers access from anywhere an authorized user has an Internet connection, making it perfect for after-school and at-home independent reading and research. Each student and teacher in your school will receive a unique username and password for secure access to your school's personalized Brain Hive account.


Q: How many times can a single eBook title be checked out simultaneously?
A: Brain Hive offers unlimited access to eBooks.

Every eBook title can be checked out by multiple students and teachers simultaneously within your Brain Hive account (limited to the teachers and students within a single school building).


Q: Is Brain Hive available for public libraries?
A: No, Brain Hive is not yet available for public libraries.

We designed Brain Hive to meet the specific needs of schools and school libraries, including their unique instructional environment, lack of eBook availability, technological challenges and budget considerations.


Q: Is Brain Hive available in countries outside the United States?
A: Not yet, but check back soon!

Brain Hive is only available in the U.S., but we plan on expanding The Hive to schools in Canada and other countries in the future.

Q: Accelerated Reader Quizzes are available in Brain Hive. How can I access them?
A: Renaissance Place Real Time customers have free access to AR Quizzes through Brain Hive!

To activate AR Quizzes, enter your Renaissance Place ID (RPID) in the account personalization settings. Once you enter a valid RPID, AR Quizzes will be active for any eBook in Brain Hive with an available quiz. Students will have the option to take the AR Quiz upon completion of reading an eBook. Quizzing hours are set by the school.


Q: Can parents become Brain Hive members for eBook access and checkout from home?
A: Brain Hive membership is restricted to students and teachers in participating K-12 schools.

If you'd like to make Brain Hive available for your son or daughter, please "share the buzz" with your school's librarian and principal, so that they are aware of the great value Brain Hive can offer your child and his or her schoolmates. You may donate Brain Hive Bucks to your school by calling 855.544.HIVE.


Q: How can I ensure that the eBooks available to my students on Brain Hive are appropriate?
A: Brain Hive allows librarians to curate their entire eBook collection, just as they would with a print collection.

The school's Brain Hive account administrator may delete any title from the eBook collection at any time, removing it from the school's account. Or, the account administrator may remove sensitive titles from the school's main eBook collection(s) and add those titles to a custom collection accessible only to select individual students or groups. Either way, you maintain complete control over all the content that is accessible to your students.


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Budget

Q: How much does Brain Hive cost to join?
A: Membership is free, and you only pay for eBooks being checked out.

There are no up-front costs and no long-term commitments. You may join any time, and you only pay for the eBooks your students and teachers are using—just $1 per checkout.


Q: How do I pay for Brain Hive?
A: We offer several flexible payment options.

If you have set funding that must be spent or encumbered, you can pre-pay for Brain Hive credits. The maximum checkouts will never exceed your budgeted or prepaid credits. Youmay also set up a PO, and we'll invoice you monthly based on checkouts and purchases. You set your spending limit. You'll never spend more than you've designated for Brain Hive. Payments can be made with a Visa, MasterCard, or American Express credit card.


Q: Can I set a budget?
A: Yes.

The account administrator will establish a maximum spending limit on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis, during the account personalization process. We will alert you when Brain Hive checkouts are nearing your spending limit. Your budget can be adjusted at any time without penalty.


Q: I know my school won't let me sign up for Brain Hive unless I can restrict charges to a certain dollar amount. Can I do that?
A: Brain Hive lets you set budget limits and tightly control how much you spend.

The account administrator will set a maximum spending limit to match the amount of funding you have to spend on Brain Hive. You may establish a PO and be invoiced monthly based on eBook checkouts until you reach your budget allotment. Or, you can pre-pay for Brain Hive Buck credits in advance, and checkout charges will be deducted as you go. Next school year, you can adjust your spending however you choose. With Brain Hive, your school is always in control of spending, and you'll never be charged for more than the spending cap set within your account.

Q: If I run out of budget before the end of the month, quarter, or year, will my students and teachers still have access to Brain Hive?
A: Yes. Brain Hive is fully functional even when you have no budget remaining for eBook checkouts.

The Brain Hive service continues to be available to search for books, organize your Bookshelves, add ratings, create book clubs, reference saved notes, create custom collections, generate reports, and more. If a teacher or student attempts to check out an eBook and you have no budget remaining, the user will receive a friendly message stating that the title is temporarily unavailable and to check back soon.


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Technical

Q: Is Brain Hive secure?
A: Absolutely.

Brain Hive employs the latest online encryption technology to ensure a safe, secure experience for all users.


Q: Do I need special computer or equipment to access Brain Hive?
A: No. Users must simply be connected to the Internet to access Brain Hive, checkout and read eBooks.

Brain Hive supports multiple web and mobile browsers, including those for PC, Mac and iPad. Please see our Technical Specifications to review minimum technical requirements for optimizing the Brain Hive experience.


Q: How do I get set up with Brain Hive?
A: You can do it online now in less than 15 minutes.

A step-by-step setup wizard makes the entire process fast and easy.


Q: I cannot find my school in your school look-up database? How do I sign-up?
A: Please call 855-554-HIVE and a Brain Hive representative will set-up your account for you.

While we tried to include every U.S. K-12 school in our database, selected school data was not available. We still want you to become Brain Hive members! If you cannot find your school in the sign-up search, please click on the "unable to find your school?" link. Provide some quick basic information to set-up your school's account and hit "submit." A Brain Hive representative will verify this information and send you an e-mail with your school's account information.

Q: Do librarians, teachers and students need special training or skills to use Brain Hive?
A: No. If you're familiar with the Internet, you're ready to use Brain Hive.

With so much for librarians, educators, and students to manage every day, we worked hard to design Brain Hive to be easy as honey pie. With simple buttons, wizard tools, dashboards, and everything you need at your fingertips, you and your students will be reading your favorite eBooks in minutes.


Q: Does Brain Hive work on the Nook® Tablet or Nook® Color?
A: Yes it does!

Using the web browser on your Nook Tablet or Nook Color, be sure that you have cookies and scripting enabled and an active Internet connection. You will have full functionality of your school's Brain Hive™ account including the built in eBook reader.


Q: Will Brain Hive work on my Kindle eReader?
A: Because Kindle is a proprietary eReader of Amazon, Brain Hive is not yet available on the Kindle.

However, Brain Hive is fully functional through any web or mobile Internet browser. It was designed to work on desktop computers, laptops and netbooks, as well as tablet devices with an active Internet browser.

If you want to read eBooks that you've checked out from Brain Hive on an iPad®, you may download our free Brain Hive eReader App from the Apple App Store on iTunes.

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