What makes our repository different from other bibliographic resources?

The repository brings together a broad range of work by academics, journalists, public intellectuals, and practitioners. In addition to widely available books, articles, and videos, it includes materials that are rarely found in public or research libraries.

The collection will also continue to expand to include reports, working papers, and other forms of “gray literature”—valuable materials that are often overlooked or difficult for the general public to find.

How is the repository organized?

Many resources are organized into four distinctive collections originally named by the late Lowell Christy, founder of The Forum:

• Rediscovery (Re-membering) 
  Historical accounts of democracy and related ideas, institutions, and movements.
• Re-thinking 
  Works that revisit the history of democracy while offering new interpretations of its meaning and development.
• Re-imagining
  New ideas about how democracy might be understood, renewed, or used to envision a better society.
• Re-building
  Proposals for improving institutions, strengthening democratic life, and addressing social and public problems.

Each of these collections also includes an Oldies but Goodies section featuring older works that remain relevant today.

Additional collections reflect the particular interests of Forum members. Current topics include Collective Intelligence, Corruption, Cybernetics, Expertise vs. Populism, Federalism, Tyranny, and Warned Us—a collection of earlier works that offer insight into present-day challenges.

Each of these collections also includes an Oldies but Goodies section featuring older works that remain relevant today.

Additional collections reflect the particular interests of Forum members. Current topics include Collective Intelligence, Corruption, Cybernetics, Expertise vs. Populism, Federalism, Tyranny, and Warned Us—a collection of earlier works that offer insight into present-day challenges.

What does each entry include?

Each item includes a complete bibliographic reference to the book or video, etc., and, in many cases, a summary. Some entries also include tables of contents, AI-generated summaries of varying lengths, links to book reviews or author interviews, and notes from Forum members highlighting especially relevant ideas. A small number include more extensive summaries similar to short book reviews.

Most entries are also assigned subject tags or keywords, often provided by publishers. The Forum has added several of its own tags to highlight areas of special interest, including Civility, Collapse, Resilience, and Virtues, each identified by color in the public library.