Hello and welcome to the Collaboratory!

This website is dedicated to connecting users with creators. You’ll find a lot of content on this site and in various stages of development, so let’s talk about how this works!

Getting Started

Creating a Collaboratory account is free but if you’d like to view the content, you’ll have to subscribe to a plan. If you’d like to jump straight to the subscription page you can go to our subscription page or you can also jump to description of the plans (below).

Once you have subscribed to a plan, you can access works in different stages of publication. Let’s talk about each one:

• The Halls – The Production Halls are sort of like the forge where our creators are making new content. Nothing has been published here (yet) but you can help our creators by making comments and suggestions using our handy comment tool as you watch the work grow and change. It’s a fun way for folks to connect online while also reading new material and giving feedback.
• Project Rooms – Project Rooms are in the next stage of development and are trying to move toward actual publication. Each project “room” is much more focused and the creators put out new content or revisions monthly. Subscribers to a project room can communicate directly with the creator and other subscribers in a unique Signum Discord channel just for that project. Right now our project rooms are separated into two categories: The Press and The Studios, so you can read or watch to your heart’s content here while also providing feedback if and when you feel like it.
• The Library – The Library is where projects go when they are ready for circulation! Circulation means it is in its final form (well, for now) and is published. You can enjoy these works in their finished state and read, watch, or listen as you like.
• The Creator’s Circles – Are you a fan of The Tolkien Professor? Or KnewBettaDoBetta? Well you’re in luck, because you can subscribe to that creator’s works exclusively if you want to keep up with them! These circles give you the opportunity to find out what our folks are working on before anyone else knows about it, and they host circle meetings with their subscribers monthly. The creator’s circle basically gives you exclusive access to their content, plus you get to interact with them in a much more intimate way.

Whew, that was a lot! Okay, let’s talk about your subscription. There are three different subscription levels, so let’s talk about the major differences between them.

• Essential – You will receive access to all works in circulation (that is, everything in the Library), the works in the Halls, and one Project Room. Project Rooms are where our creators are working on something in particular, such as a book or lecture series.
• Premium – Access to all works in circulation (everything in the Library), the Halls, and two Project Rooms.
• Patron – Access to all works in circulation (everything in the Library), the Halls, three Project Rooms, and one Creator Circle. While Project Rooms are for one specific project, Creator Circles include everything that the creator is working on. For example, you could subscribe only to “Exploring Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings” (which is a Project Room), or you could subscribe to Dr. Corey Olsen’s Creator Circle which includes ExJackson but also includes everything else that Corey is working on! Right now Corey has several projects going at once, such as ExJackson, Hip Hop and Tolkien, Exploring the Lord of the Rings Volume 1, and he also posts monthly meetings with his subscribers!

FAQs

What exactly is the “Library”?

The Library is where works go when they have officially been published! This means that creators who have works in our Circulation Library are actually receiving royalties from their work every time you read, listen, or watch their content. Getting work to the final stage of the Library is very exciting and important for our creators!

What do you mean when you say something is “in circulation”?

This simply means that it has been moved to the Library and is in its final phase. While some addendums or updates might come later, the work is finished for now.

What are the big differences between the subscription plans?

The biggest differences are really the number of projects and creators to which you can subscribe. You can learn more about the subscription plans on the subscription plan page .