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Frequently Asked Questions

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If your questions are not addressed here, you are welcome to contact us with your comments and inquiries.

How do you offer this as a free service?
Can I donate money to support your site?
How much do you charge to advertise on your site?

Why is my country or culture is not represented in the World Library?
When will my country be added to the World Library?
My country is active in your World Library, but why does it have so little content?

Will you be offering religious content?

Some of the materials on your site are not politically correct and could be considered offensive, don't you feel that you should remove them?

Why is your version of that song (recipe etc) different than what I grew up with?
How do I submit my (song, recipe, lesson plan etc) for inclusion in the World Library?
I have a childrens song that I wrote, will you post it on your site?

Who owns the rights to the songs on your site?
Can I make copies of these materials to hand out in my classroom or library?
Can I post any of your materials on my own website?
How do I save the songs and videos to my computer or iPod?
The coloring pages aren't working right for me, what should I do?

Who translates for you? Do you have a standardized translation system?
I am a native speaker, would you like me to help translate?

How do I submit my product to be in your store?

How do you offer this as a free service?
The future of Circletime Kids depends entirely on income generated from two main sources: advertising and sales from our online store. Proceeds directly fund office operations, customer service and site maintanence, and of course the research and content assembly required to continue to expand and improve the content of the libray. If you enjoy using Circletime Kids and would like to helping us grow the World Library, please clickon the banenr ads to visit our advertisers, and consider purchasing gifts and other items from our online store.

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Can I donate money to support your site?
Thank you, but due to regulations we cannot accept donations. If you enjoy using Circletime Kids and would like to helping us grow the World Library, please support our advertisers by clicking through the banner ads, and consider purchasing gifts and other items from our online store.

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How much do you charge to advertise on your site?
We negotiate individual contracts with our advertisers, and offer pricing packages to fit any budget. If you would like to advertise with us, please visit our advertising page for more information.

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Why is my country or culture is not represented in the World Library?
We are working as fast and as thoroughly as we can to represent all cultures and countries of the world, and apologize if your country is not yet listed.

As of 2007, there are 193 states generally recognized to be countries, plus many more cultures that we plan to cover in our World Library such as tribal cultures, cultures of the past, groups with disabilities, and others. Much of the cultural content in our World Library "crosses borders" and is appropriate for more than one country, but in general we are beginning by researching cultures in the order of countries whose language is spoken by a percentage of US population, as listed in the results of the 2000 US Census Bureau.

This is just a general way for us to organize our research; when opportunity presents itself to work with a native speaker to record and assemble content for a country we may post that country early, or when popular demand arises such as with countries like Ireland, with which large percentages of the US population identify as their cultural heritage with but are not listed in the census as a language spoken at home.

Language Spoken at Home (U.S. Census 2000) Summary
English only 82.105%
Spanish 10.710%
Chinese (all spoken varieties incl.) 0.78%
French (incl. Patois, Cajun) 0.627%
German 0.527%
Tagalog 0.467%
Vietnamese 0.385%
Italian 0.384%
Korean 0.341%
Russian 0.269%
Polish 0.254%
Arabic 0.234%
Portuguese or Portuguese Creole 0.215%
Japanese 0.182%
French Creole 0.173%
Other Indic languages 0.167%
African languages 0.160%
Other Asian languages 0.152%
Greek 0.139%
Other Indo-European languages 0.125%
Hindi 0.121%
Other Austronesian languages 0.120%
Persian 0.119%
Other Slavic languages 0.115%
Urdu 0.100%
Dutch (and Afrikaans) 0.096%
Gujarati 0.090%
Serbo-Croatian 0.089%
Other Native American languages 0.078%
Armenian 0.077%
Hebrew 0.074%
Mon, Khmer 0.069%
Yiddish 0.068%
Navajo 0.068%
Hmong 0.064%
North Germanic languages 0.062%
Lao 0.057%
Thai 0.046%
Hungarian 0.045%
All other and unspecified 0.055%

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When will my country be added to the World Library?
We are working as fast as we can to represent all cultures and countries of the world, and apologize if your country or culture is not yet listed. We announce upcoming countries and cultures that are being added to the World Library in our Membership Newsletter, please consider signing up to be the first to hear when your country will be added.

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My country is active in your World Library, but why does it have so little content?
As we continue to grow, we often post some content for a particular country but have more research underway or production time scheduled - our general feeling is that "something is better than nothing." Additionally, as some content "crosses borders" and applies to more than one country, we may launch several countries simultaneously using the common content - with one being considerably more content-heavy than the others, as they are further down the production list.

Rest assured that we are working hard to add more content every day, and will have more content up for your culture soon. In the meantime, you can receive customized content updates announcements by becoming a Member.

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Will you be offering religious content?
Our plan is to add an entire library dedicated to religious materials, once we have covered the bulk of the cultures of the world. Many cultures are heavily influenced by religion, and we feel that including religious content is an important historical component, so in the meantime we do include religious content when we feel it is culturally appropriate. However, we are not a political or religious organization, and do not endorse or favor any particular religion.

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Some of your content is not politically correct and could be considered offensive, don't you feel you should remove it?
One dilemma we face when archiving traditional material is the fact that centuries ago, even decades or years ago, there were very different attitudes and social conventions regarding race, gender, marriage, violence, and many other isses that we struggle with as a society.

We made the decision very early on not to censor or "PC-ify" the content on this site and are committed to archiving the materials as they have been handed down through the generations, even when the content may be considered offensive to some. We made this decision with the interest of historical accuracy in mind, and do not endorse the actions or attitudes in the content.

This site is provided as a resource for parents, teachers and caregivers, and it is your responsibility to decide which material is appropriate for your own children. We hope that even though some material may not be to your liking, it still is an interesting source of historical information, a window to the world of previous generations, and serves as a reminder of the challenges we face together as a society.

In many cases when there is subject matter that is considered not acceptable by today's modern standards, we will offer a "modernized" alternative that you can choose to sing with your child. Feel free to submit your content if you have additional alternatives to these songs and other content, we value your input!

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Why is your version of that song (recipe etc) different than what I remember?
With traditional songs and recipes that have been passed down through families and generations, it is very common for different versions to emerge over time, all equally "authentic." Also, as with mythology and storytelling, songs and food can vary from region to region, even within the same country (or town!).

We do post alternate lyrics when we find that there are several commonly known versions, after carefully choosing what we feel is the most universal version to record and post as the "main" piece - and then flag that song for revisiting in the future after we have completed the first round of content assembly for all cultures on our worldwide list.

We welcome your content submissions - if you would like to submit an alternate version of our content that you are more familiar with, please do so! We will very likely post it for others to enjoy.

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My country is listed, but not the song I was looking for - will you be adding it?
We try hard to include most "commonly known" traditional songs from each culture or country as we add it to our World Library, but of course we miss some. This is why we rely on our membership to submit their feedback and content submissions - please let us know if we missed a song or other by submitting it for consideration or otherwise letting us know so that we can add it in the future.

One other reason your song may not be included is if it is not as common as you may believe, or if the song is not in the public domain and copyright is an issue.

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How do I submit my (song, recipe, lesson plan etc) for inclusion in the Library?
We welcome your submissions!
Please visit our Submissions page for information on how to send us your content ideas.

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I have a song that I wrote, will you post it on your site?
No, at this time we only post songs that are considered "traditional" and have been passed down through generations and are in the public domain.

However, we encourage you to participate in the Circletime Kids Community and make your song available through that venue!

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Who owns the rights to the songs on your site?
You do! Or, more accurately, we all do. The lyrics and melodies for the traditional childrens songs found on this site are all in the public domain.

However, video and sound recordings are protected separately from musical compositions, and never enter into the public domain - so despite the fact that the songs we use are public domain and anyone can record them, we do own the copyright for the actual audio / video recordings that we make.

Under current law, musical compositions and written works enter into the public domain if either of the following conditions apply:

• The work was created and first published before January 1, 1923, or at least 95 years before January 1 of the current year, whichever is later
• The last surviving author died at least 70 years before January 1 of the current year

As a side note, the classic song "Happy Birthday to You" has a particularly interesting copyright history and status - notorious for being so expensive to license for commercial use that motion pictures rarely include it, this song is due to enter the public domain in the year 2030. We all anxiously await that fateful day.

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Can I make copies of your coloring pages (lyrics, coloring pages, etc) to distribute in my classroom or library?
Please do! We hope that you will find our site very helpful in your daily interaction with your children, and encourage you to print and use our materials.

You may make up to 250 copies of up to 50 individual items on our site per year without requesting permission - so long as you are using it for educational purposes and not providing it for sale, posting it online, distributing electronically, or otherwise benefitting financially from our copyright protected content. However, first please first carefully review the below guidelines which are also listed in our terms of use, which you implicitly agree to when you use this site.

PLEASE DO:

• make up to 250 copies of up to 50 individual content items on this site per year for personal or educational, non-commercial purposes
• distribute copies of our content in your daycare, classroom, library or other educational environment
• make copies available to the parents or caregivers of the children in your care
• email or supply LINKS to our content for others to view and download directly from our site
• contact us to request permission if you would like to make more copies than outlined above

  DO NOT :

• In any way post, email or otherwise directly electronically distribute our content
• Sell, offer as incentive or bonus, or otherwise profit commercially from our content
• In any way alter the content, including the removal of any copyright information
• Use our content in any way that could be harmful or offensive to others
• Produce greater than 250 copies of any one item or copy more than 50 inividual items per year without first contacting us for express permission

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Can I post any of your materials on my own website?
No. Our terms of use clearly state that you may not post in part or whole, email, or otherwise electronically distribute or copy any content from this site.

However, please feel free to LINK to us from your site, or send links to our content via email to your contacts - and we are in turn happy to add your site to our links page if it is a resource that we believe would benefit our members. To request a link exchange with your site or blog, please visit our links page and fill out the form there.

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How do I save the songs and videos to my computer or iPod?
At this time we do not have our video content configured for download. If you would like to watch our videos using a format other than watching online, please consider purchasing our Circletime Kids DVD's which contain the traditional childrens songs and videos you see on this site as well as other great bilingual content, and can be viewed using any DVD player.

For iPod enthusiasts - we plan to offer PodCasts of our video features in the near future. Stay tuned!

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The coloring pages aren't working right for me, what should I do?
Our coloring pages are formatted to print on letter-sized (8.5"x1") paper on most desktop printers. If you are having trouble opening these documents or printing them out, try upgrading to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still have printing issues, check your printer settings (your margins may be set too large, you may be out of ink, etc) or consult with your printer manufacturer.

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Who translates for you? Do you have a standardized translation system?
As dialects and grammar structures shift regionally and over time, translation is and always will be an art form and not a science; but we do our best to provide you with the most accurate translations possible.

We always try to use native speakers to provide translations of our songs and content. After receiving their translations, we ask other translators to review and give their input, in an attempt to provide the more accurate translations possible.

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I am a native speaker, would you like me to help translate?
We rely heavily on volunteers to grow our library and are always happy to hear from people who would like to help out.

If you would like to volunteer your translation services, and are a native speaker who has performed professional translations before, we would love to hear from you!

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How do I submit my product to be in your store?
Our store contains all sorts of cultural products from across the globe, many handcrafted by individual artisans, and we are always on the lookout for unique products that work well with the multicultural spirit and overall aesthetic of our store.

If you make a product that you think would make a great addition to the Circletime Store, please contact us with a detailed description (including images) of your product and company information, including any locations where the product is already to market, and we will be happy to take a look.

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