SmallDemons Releases “Collections” Feature for Storyverse
November 19, 2012 | 3:27 pm
By Colleen T. Reese
We’ve written about SmallDemons before, but for those of you unfamiliar with the application, SmallDemons aggregates cultural references made in books and uses them to aid in book discovery. Users contribute references, passages and images, as well as rank and create topics in a user-generated, user-controlled, wiki-format.
These references make up what is called the “Storyverse,” or the universe of books, so to speak. The Storyverse is categorized by Books, People, Places, and Things.
So instead of a behaviorist approach to book discovery (i.e., if you like book “A,” you’ll like book “B”), SmallDemons calls for a user to discover books via culture, and to do so actively. (The point being that you can follow references to find new books or, vice versa.)
The new “Collections” feature will allow users to create boards that combine those categories. For instance, if you wanted to create a board about your favorite fiction novels and the Philadelphia coffee shops in which you prefer to read them, you could do so. You could create a Collection of your favorite villains, or your favorite fictional foods; you could even create a Collection of the real-life actors you’d like to see portraying various fictional characters on film.
Creating Collections bridges the gap between merely seeking out cultural interests and cultivating a more complete idea of what those interests really mean. It certainly does add an interesting new layer to book discovery.
After books are broken down into minute details, the Collections feature then regroups them into larger details, constantly converging and divulging—much like culture does in real life.
We’re excited to see how users will interpret this new feature. In the meantime, here are a few screen caps our friends at SmallDemons were gracious enough to provide use with:
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