Terms
Terms of Use
The terms for using BLOOM and contributing to it, written plainly and meant to be fair.
These terms describe how BLOOM works and what you agree to by using it. They are written in plain language and are not legal advice. By using the site you accept them; if you do not agree with them, please do not use the site.
Using BLOOM
You are welcome to read, search, download, and adapt what you find here, within each resource's license (see below). Use the site in good faith: do not try to break it, overload it, scrape it abusively, work around the access rules, or use it to harass anyone or to post unlawful, infringing, or harmful content. Browsing and leaving field notes need no account; contributing a resource or serving as a peer reviewer does. BLOOM also hosts communities of practice where members post and discuss; take part respectfully and constructively, and the same good-faith and no-harassment expectations apply there.
Accounts and eligibility
An account is an e-mail address you sign in with through a one-time link. To contribute a resource or peer-review one, BLOOM asks for a quick check that you work in education, such as an institutional e-mail, an ORCID, or a vouch from an editor. Keep your sign-in e-mail secure; you are responsible for what is done through your account. Tell me if you think your account has been misused.
What you contribute, and the license
When you contribute your own work to BLOOM, it is shared openly. The default is the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY 4.0), and you can instead choose another open license that suits your work, such as a different Creative Commons license or, for a tool or piece of code, an open software license like MIT. You keep authorship of what you make; the license lets others use, adapt, and share it with credit to you. By submitting a resource you confirm that it is yours to share, or that it is already openly licensed in a compatible way, and that sharing it here does not break anyone else's rights. If your work includes someone else's material, make sure that material is properly licensed and credited. Whatever the license, it is shown on the record, and that stated license is the one that governs reuse.
BLOOM mostly catalogues resources by linking out to where they already live, and a link-out keeps whatever license it already carries, which can range from an open license to all rights reserved. Always check the license shown on the record before reusing something. When BLOOM instead keeps its own hosted copy of someone else's work, that copy is limited to openly licensed or public-domain material. Separately, the words and design of the BLOOM site itself are licensed CC BY 4.0, and the site's code is released under the MIT license. The small tools in the Tool Shed are openly licensed too, free to use and adapt under the license noted on each one.
Editorial review and credit
BLOOM is a hand-curated collection; editors decide what is published. Content enters in one of two ways. When you submit a resource, it arrives unpublished and lands in an editor's queue; an editor reviews it (checking its licensing, its credit, and its accessibility) and then either publishes it, with credit to you, requests changes, or declines it. Nothing you submit goes public without editor approval. Publishing is not automatic, and reviewing takes a little time; the aim of the gate is quality and trust, not gatekeeping for its own sake. Separately, an editor may add a record directly and publish it, for example to catalog an openly licensed resource that already exists elsewhere.
A record is credited to its author: by their BLOOM account, by another member, or by name when the author has no account yet (an “unclaimed original”). Co-creators and teams can be credited together. If a record is credited to you by name and you later join BLOOM, you can claim it; an editor approves the claim and links the record to your profile.
Peer review is a separate, optional credential (a badge and an acceptance letter for your dossier), not a requirement for a resource to appear. A record can be public while review happens, or held back until it is accepted; that is the author's choice.
Removing content
I may decline, edit for clarity or accessibility, unpublish, or remove a contribution, for example if it does not fit BLOOM, if its rights or licensing turn out to be unclear, if it is reported as infringing, or if it breaks these terms. Where I can, I will tell you why. If you believe something on BLOOM infringes your rights, let me know through the contact form and I will look into it promptly.
Your own account and content
You can edit your profile, change its visibility, or ask to delete your account at any time (see the Privacy page for how). Openly licensed work you have already contributed and that has been published may stay available under its license, with credit, even after your account is closed; if that is a concern, tell me and we will work it out.
No warranty
BLOOM is a passion project, offered as is and as available. I work to keep it accurate, accessible, and online, but I cannot promise it will be uninterrupted, error-free, complete, or fit for any particular purpose. The resources here are shared to be useful, not as professional advice; use your own judgment, especially in teaching and assessment. To the extent the law allows, I am not liable for losses arising from your use of the site, including any inaccuracies or omissions in the information here.
Other sites BLOOM links to
BLOOM links to and embeds work hosted elsewhere, such as contributors' own sites, videos, and tools. Those are run by other people under their own terms and privacy practices, and I cannot vouch for or control them.
Changes to these terms
If these terms change, I will update this page and move the “last updated” date. Continuing to use BLOOM after a change means you accept the updated terms.
Contact
Questions about these terms can be sent through the contact form. See also the Privacy page.