diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8b5b03b..a364dee 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,45 @@
-# multiutil
+[![](https://img.shields.io/badge/made%20by-Cryptid%20Technologies-gold.svg?style=flat-square)][CRYPTID]
+[![](https://img.shields.io/badge/project-provenance-purple.svg?style=flat-square)][PROVENANCE]
+[![](https://img.shields.io/badge/project-multiformats-blue.svg?style=flat-square)][MULTIFORMATS]
+![](https://github.com/cryptidtech/multitrait/actions/workflows/rust.yml/badge.svg)
 
-Helpful traits, types, and functions for constructing multicodec types.
+# Multiutil
+
+Helpful traits, types, and functions for constructing multiformat types.
+
+## BaseEncoded
+
+The `BaseEncoded` "smart pointer" wraps any multiformat type that implements
+the `EncodingInfo` trait also found in this crate. `BaseEncoding` automatically
+handles base encoding the inner value using the [Multibase][MULTIBASE] text
+encoding systems.
+
+## CodecInfo
+
+The `CodecInfo` trait allows a multiformat type to expose its
+[Multicodec][MULTICODEC] value to code that relies on this trait.
+
+## Varuint
+
+This is an implementation of a [variable length, unsigned integer][VARUINT]
+that is common to all multiformat protocols and types.
+
+## Varbytes
+
+This is the combination of a `Varuint` followed by a binary octet array of
+equal length. This is a common way to encode arbitrary binary data so that any
+code can skip over the data if it doesn't know how, nor want, to process it
+
+```
+<varbytes> ::= <varuint> N(OCTET)
+                   ^        ^
+                  /          \
+          count of            variable number
+            octets            of octets
+```
+
+[CRYPTID]: https://cryptid.tech/
+[PROVENANCE]: https://github.com/cryptidtech/provenance-specifications/
+[MULTIFORMATS]: https://github.com/multiformats/multiformats/
+[MULTIBASE]: https://github.com/multiformats/multibase
+[VARUINT]: https://github.com/multiformats/unsigned-varint
diff --git a/src/base_encoded.rs b/src/base_encoded.rs
index c8bfcfa..aa62e18 100644
--- a/src/base_encoded.rs
+++ b/src/base_encoded.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Idnetifier: Apache-2.0
 use crate::{
     error::BaseEncodedError, prelude::Base, BaseEncoder, EncodingInfo, Error, DetectedEncoder,
 };
diff --git a/src/base_encoder.rs b/src/base_encoder.rs
index eba314c..9e12d4f 100644
--- a/src/base_encoder.rs
+++ b/src/base_encoder.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Idnetifier: Apache-2.0
 use crate::{
     base_name,
     error::{BaseEncodedError, BaseEncoderError},
diff --git a/src/base_name.rs b/src/base_name.rs
index a4b7cbd..0292f18 100644
--- a/src/base_name.rs
+++ b/src/base_name.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Idnetifier: Apache-2.0
 use crate::prelude::Base;
 
 /// convert a multibase Base to its string equivalent
diff --git a/src/codec_info.rs b/src/codec_info.rs
index 3a1b449..2bdb885 100644
--- a/src/codec_info.rs
+++ b/src/codec_info.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Idnetifier: Apache-2.0
 use crate::prelude::Codec;
 
 /// This trait exposes the codec information for multicoded types
diff --git a/src/encoding_info.rs b/src/encoding_info.rs
index d0b1ad6..3929b2b 100644
--- a/src/encoding_info.rs
+++ b/src/encoding_info.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Idnetifier: Apache-2.0
 use crate::prelude::Base;
 
 /// This trait exposes the preferred encoding for this multicodec type
diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 7adc0c1..f97f25e 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Idnetifier: Apache-2.0
 /// Errors generated by the numeric type impls
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, thiserror::Error)]
 #[non_exhaustive]
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index f5bc604..41bf299 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Idnetifier: Apache-2.0
 //!
 #![warn(missing_docs)]
 #![deny(
diff --git a/src/serde/de.rs b/src/serde/de.rs
index de8f463..e5b3c82 100644
--- a/src/serde/de.rs
+++ b/src/serde/de.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Idnetifier: Apache-2.0
 use crate::{BaseEncoded, BaseEncoder, EncodingInfo, Varbytes, Varuint};
 use core::{fmt, marker};
 use multibase::Base;
diff --git a/src/serde/mod.rs b/src/serde/mod.rs
index 3841275..56f1b66 100644
--- a/src/serde/mod.rs
+++ b/src/serde/mod.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Idnetifier: Apache-2.0
 //! Serde (de)serialization for ['crate::prelude::Tagged'] wrapped objects
 mod de;
 mod ser;
diff --git a/src/serde/ser.rs b/src/serde/ser.rs
index 23ba4fe..67e3dba 100644
--- a/src/serde/ser.rs
+++ b/src/serde/ser.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Idnetifier: Apache-2.0
 use crate::{BaseEncoded, BaseEncoder, EncodingInfo, Varbytes, Varuint};
 use multitrait::prelude::EncodeInto;
 use serde::ser;
diff --git a/src/varbytes.rs b/src/varbytes.rs
index e231528..9af335f 100644
--- a/src/varbytes.rs
+++ b/src/varbytes.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Idnetifier: Apache-2.0
 use crate::{BaseEncoded, EncodingInfo, Error};
 use core::{fmt, ops};
 use multibase::Base;
diff --git a/src/varuint.rs b/src/varuint.rs
index 5c5b480..18ebeeb 100644
--- a/src/varuint.rs
+++ b/src/varuint.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// SPDX-License-Idnetifier: Apache-2.0
 use crate::{BaseEncoded, EncodingInfo, Error};
 use core::{fmt, ops};
 use multibase::Base;