Development of software for a children's online social space

The International Children's Digital Libraries project hosted at the Maryland University has developed a social software program aimed at creating an online children's social community. The front end of the site is a colorful and user friendly environment that allows the user to easily choose the language and type of desired book. The website directs the user to pick the age group appropriate books the user is interested in as well as what the user wants the book to do for them. Meaning do you want the book to make you happy or scared. It allows the user to choose what color or what size the book should be. The user interface is easy to navigate. The designers have done a great job of creating a social environment that is usable by the focus group which is of course children. It was a pleasure to search the catalog for books of all sorts. There are over 1,000 books listed in 158 different languages. The URL is www.icdlbooks.org