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E-book subscription service Scribd has revealed a “reimagined way to digitally browse and discover books”, which has the result of providing every reader with “their own personalised bookstore”.
Scribd’s new "browse experience" will allow people to browse at a high level, in categories such as fiction and literature, and also at a niche level, with categories like "biographies of outlaws".
The service will also include personalised staff picks and guest curated collections by authors.
Jared Friedman, co-founder and c.t.o. of Scribd, said: “Our goal with the new browse experience was to retain the same human touch that we have come to love about personal recommendations from a trusted friend, but use the power of technology to extend it to our catalog of over 500,000 books.
“The result is as if we’ve built every reader their own personalised bookstore, with the human touch readers love, that they are now able to carry around in their back pocket."
Scribd created its new system by using its in-house team to curate tens of thousands of detailed tags about books, covering subjects, locations, time period and aesthetic qualities.
Using these tags, Scribd has created collections such as “private eye mysteries set in LA” and “Arthurian legends”.
Readers are shown various collections based on their reading activity. A reader who has read a mystery thriller and a travel book about Scandivania would be shown the “Nordic noir” collection of 21 Scandinavian crime novels.
The new browse tools replace BISAC, a cataloguing system which Scribd called “dated”.
Trip Adler, co-founder and c.e.o. of Scribd, said: “Scribd’s subscription model does wonders for book discovery, because it eliminates so much of the friction that usually exists to begin reading a good book.
“Meanwhile our new browse feature alone is a huge step forward for book discovery. Ultimately we believe it’s the combination of the subscription model with our innovative book discovery offering that will create a magical experience for readers, and this is just the beginning of more to come.”
The new browse experience is available now on Scribd.com and will be available in the mobile apps over the coming weeks.