Recorded Reads is a documentation standard designed to conservatively record verifiable encounters with a literary work across physical and digital circulation.
Logos shown throughout this document do not represent endorsement of content, but rather the platforms and systems that are used in the process.
Methodology
Recorded Reads are determined through documented broadside circulation in both digital and physical form.
Circulation data is collected from participating distribution channels and verified circulation records, normalized, and reviewed through human audit before incorporation into the permanent record. Only documented encounters supported by verifiable circulation data are included in the Recorded Reads archive.
Encounters that cannot be supported by verifiable documentation are excluded from the permanent record.
Broadmarks are distributed in a number of ways, including physical international library distribution, virtual display placement, physical regional distribution, digital e-book platforms, audio recordings of live readings, digital repositories, virtual reality assets, and the blockchain.
Chain of Documentation
Distribution records are preserved as part of the chain of documentation supporting each Recorded Reads total. Source records may include platform analytics, circulation logs, repository statistics, distribution records, and other authenticated documentation retained for audit purposes.
Broadside Circulation
Broadside circulation refers to the documented distribution of a poem in broadside form across physical and digital environments. Physical circulation includes printed Broadsides and Broadmarks placed into verified circulation.
Physical distribution of a singular Broadmark is regarded only as “one read”.
Digital circulation includes authenticated public presentation through websites, repositories, publications, and other documented exhibition channels.
An easy way to understand this system is with the metaphor: a poet is standing in a park reading a poem aloud. Hundreds of people walk by and acknowledge the poet. A few hundred stop and listen. Then some of them walk across the park to ask, “Do you have anything else you’ve written?”
Metaphor Application
| Stage | Metaphor | Percent of Readers |
| Verified deliveries | People walking by | 95% |
| Read the first stanza | Heard the first stanza | 68% |
| Read multiple stanzas | Heard multiple stanzas | 60.3% |
| Completed the entire poem | Listened in its entirety | 38.5% |
| Interacted after reading | Spoke to the poet | 5.4% |
AUDITING
The analytics are processed using multiple independent review models to identify inconsistencies before undergoing a human audit, where trained reviewers validate the findings, investigate any exceptions, and confirm the final certification.
This combination of AI-driven analysis and expert human oversight delivers a rigorous, transparent, and reliable verification process.
