"When I was young, we couldn't afford much. But, my library card was my key to the world."
- John Goodman -
This article is about the history, function, technology, and future of 
I'd only been on Steemit a month or two before it became obvious to me that the default Steemit User Interface (UI) is the pits.
The way the UI works is completely at odds with the archival qualities of the blockchain technology Steemit is built on.
you are only as good as your last article. And if your readers follow more than a dozen content creators, don't expect they'll see it. Your article has already scrolled off their feed.
As a writer here for the long haul, I find this unacceptable. I want my readers to have easy access to all my content. The payout window may have slammed shut, but my writing still has intrinsic value.
I began developing The Library last November. You can see the first version here:
"A -Periodic Table of Contents- My Blog, circa November, 2016"
I added articles as they were written, but because of the 30-day "edit window," I had to re-issue the library about once a month. You can see subsequent revisions here, here, and here.
This is because with the release of Hard Fork 17, we were supposed to be able to go back and edit older articles. You can read the entire sad story of that debacle in the "COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT" on the Library's Steemit Shelf. The library has not been updated since the end of February...
Welcome to My new and improved Steemit Library. I have been prototyping A "Topical Hierarchical Table of Contents," and it is now "open for business."
This week I published a prototype of my latest "vision" for a Steemit Library. My Library provides convenient access to all my Steemit articles. The Library is a "Steemit Overlay." I am using Steemit itself as a tool to make my articles more accessible to my readers.
If you click on
The "top-level Library file" is a graphic list of "shelves" or Library Topics, with a brief description of each. If you click on a Topic Shelf, you will be taken to an index of all articles related to that topic. From there, clicking on an article title will take you to that article.
When you are on a Library Topic page, you can simply use your browser "Back" button, or you can click on any image to return to the Top Level Library page.
there are also a few links to miscellaneous individual articles.
All Library images are either CC0 Public Domain or original images by
My ultimate aim is for you, my readers, to be able to "drill down" and find articles on whatever topic may be of interest, without having to scroll through my endless, linear Steemit UI front page.
At this point, the tech is very simple. The Library consists of one Steemit file for the Top Level index and a file for each Topic Shelf.
For a while, I also used a redirection service (http://rebrandly.com) to deal (at least in part) with the former problem of non-editable files. If and when I had to replace a file, I changed the link pointer at Rebrandly. I considered Rebrandly a "short-term" solution. Ideally, someone will one day develop a blockchain-based Short URL / Redirection service.
I am using a hybrid of Markdown and HTML within each file. If you want to try this yourself, you can "see how it's done" by using 
I want to know what you think of the whole idea, as well as the layout, selection of tags, and anything else that you think may be helpful.
I hope to develop some more automated tools for gathering and compiling the indices. I also expect that, as articles "pile up," I will go beyond the present "two levels" of content into Library Sub-Topics.
please visit
Please leave your comment or question below. The next time the librarian is in, you will receive an answer.
Thanks for your time and attention.
You are why I'm here on Hive!
I have very eclectic interests and hope, over time, to write about them all.
@creatr's World⬇️CLICK Each Image Below⬇️|
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