It's easy enough to find apps, websites and online artwork to enjoy, but you may have a harder time tracking down the digital genius behind those things.
If you like lyrics to a song, you can check out the credits to see who wrote them. If you're a fan of a movie, you can look up the director on IMDb. And now, if a web project captures your interest, you can find more information about its tech creator using an online database called Makerbase.
Launched on Tuesday as part as the first-ever White House Demo Day, Makerbase allows users to search for apps and websites that have caught their eye, and will provide background on the tech creators and the other work they have done.
Created by Anil Dash and Lifehacker founder Gina Trapani, Makerbase is sort of a tech-world combination of IMDb and LinkedIn, enabling people to connect with these creators and track their careers.
The "makers" have their own profiles, and there are also individual profiles for popular projects like Paul Ford's What is Code?, which includes all the people who worked on it.
Along with tech creators, Makerbase also includes the hosts of podcasts, so that listeners can finally put a face to the voice.
Once you log in with Twitter, you will find profiles of tech creators, projects, apps and even works of art. This can help you find, say, who designed Pinterest, or who developed a popular mobile app.
Makers of things on the Internet can create their profiles by clicking on the "Create this Maker" or "Create this Project" tab on the homepage. The database automatically takes information from Twitter or the App Store to help you fill in all the details.
Much like Wikipedia, Makerbase is user-edited, allowing anyone who signs in to edit or add to the content. Anyone can contact the makers, making this database a great way to network.
"Aside from the skills of learning how to code or design, one of the biggest gaps for any underrepresented community is to break into that network. What Makerbase does is make that visible so that anybody can find their way in," Dash told The Verge.
Dash and Trapani built the database for the tech world back in January. Since its beta testing, Makerbase has gained over 100 users.
