We are getting very close to having a functional interface for the Prior Art Database. Features in development this week include discussion threads for each reference. This will be an important tool for helping us understand how to better organize information for users, as well as provide an opportunity for contributors to critique the quality or content of an entry. We’re hoping that these spaces can be a way for users to engage one another — perhaps even find others who are interested in the same kinds of information or innovations — and help to build up a community.
Also in the works are improvemets to the visual layout, and experimentation with autocompletion styles. Since many, many users will be contributing information and tagging entries, it’s important to have a tool that suggests tags to keep the tag cloud from dissolving into a million different words for the same idea. This tool will be especially important as we can already see that some creative ideas will be needed in our search for the best way to help users clump useful entries with tags as well as pinpoint very specific entries in the database.
It’s still too soon to begin discussion of beta testing and the volunteers we’ll need for that, but it is very exciting to see that we are on our way.