diff --git a/series/collector.go b/series/collector.go
index b983ce5..d2a65d7 100644
--- a/series/collector.go
+++ b/series/collector.go
@@ -18,23 +18,28 @@ import (
 )
 
 // MetricValueRenderer takes an event and writes the output to a
-// buffer. This makes it possible to use the metrics system with
-// arbitrary output formats and targets.
+// buffer. This provides the ability to add support arbitrary output
+// formats and targets via dependency injection.
 type MetricValueRenderer func(writer *bytes.Buffer, key string, labels fun.Future[*dt.Pairs[string, string]], value int64, ts time.Time)
 
 // Collector maintains the local state of collected metrics: metric
 // series are registered lazily when they are first sent, and the
 // collector tracks the value and is responsible for orchestrating.
 type Collector struct {
+	CollectorConf
+
+	// synchronized map tracking metrics and periodic collection operations.
 	local adt.Map[string, *dt.List[*tracked]]
 	loops adt.Map[time.Duration, fun.Handler[*tracked]]
 	pool  adt.Pool[*bytes.Buffer]
 
+	// broker is for cases where there are more than one output
+	// system. the broker is backed by the publish deque, but we
+	// use the deque directly when there's only one output.
 	broker  *pubsub.Broker[MetricPublisher]
 	publish *pubsub.Deque[MetricPublisher]
 
-	CollectorConf
-
+	// lifecycle an error collection.
 	ctx    context.Context
 	cancel context.CancelFunc
 	wg     fun.WaitGroup
@@ -125,9 +130,6 @@ func (c *Collector) Close() error {
 	return c.errs.Resolve()
 }
 
-func (c *Collector) Push(events ...*Event)   { c.Publish(events) }
-func (c *Collector) Publish(events []*Event) { dt.Sliceify(events).Observe(c.PushEvent) }
-
 func (c *Collector) Stream(
 	iter *fun.Iterator[*Event],
 	opts ...fun.OptionProvider[*fun.WorkerGroupConf],
@@ -135,6 +137,9 @@ func (c *Collector) Stream(
 	return iter.ProcessParallel(fun.Handle(c.PushEvent).Processor(), opts...)
 }
 
+func (c *Collector) Push(events ...*Event)   { c.Publish(events) }
+func (c *Collector) Publish(events []*Event) { dt.NewSlice(events).Observe(c.PushEvent) }
+
 func (c *Collector) PushEvent(e *Event) {
 	if e.m == nil {
 		return
@@ -194,7 +199,7 @@ func (c *Collector) Iterator() *fun.Iterator[MetricSnapshot] {
 			}).Operation(ec.Handler()).Go().Once(),
 		).IteratorWithHook(erc.IteratorHook[*tracked](ec)),
 		// transformation function to convert the iterator of
-		// tracked
+		// trackedMetrics to metrics snapshots.
 		fun.Converter(func(tr *tracked) MetricSnapshot {
 			last := tr.lastMod.Load()
 			return MetricSnapshot{Name: tr.meta.ID, Labels: tr.meta.labelstr(), Value: last.Key, Timestamp: last.Value}
diff --git a/series/converter.go b/series/converter.go
index d7f7444..145c6e8 100644
--- a/series/converter.go
+++ b/series/converter.go
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ func hasMetrics[T extractableMessageTypes](in T) (isMetric bool) {
 	case fun.Future[Event], fun.Future[*Event], fun.Future[[]Event], fun.Future[[]*Event]:
 		return true
 	case map[string]any: // also mesage.Fields
-		dt.Mapify(ev).Values().Process(fun.MakeProcessor(func(in any) (err error) {
+		dt.NewMap(ev).Values().Process(fun.MakeProcessor(func(in any) (err error) {
 			isMetric, err = isEventTyped(in)
 			return
 		})).Ignore().Wait()
@@ -196,17 +196,17 @@ func hasMetrics[T extractableMessageTypes](in T) (isMetric bool) {
 			return
 		})).Ignore().Wait()
 	case []dt.Pair[string, any]:
-		dt.Sliceify(ev).Iterator().Process(fun.MakeProcessor(func(in dt.Pair[string, any]) (err error) {
+		dt.NewSlice(ev).Iterator().Process(fun.MakeProcessor(func(in dt.Pair[string, any]) (err error) {
 			isMetric, err = isEventTyped(in.Value)
 			return
 		})).Ignore().Wait()
 	case []*dt.Pair[string, any]:
-		dt.Sliceify(ev).Iterator().Process(fun.MakeProcessor(func(in *dt.Pair[string, any]) (err error) {
+		dt.NewSlice(ev).Iterator().Process(fun.MakeProcessor(func(in *dt.Pair[string, any]) (err error) {
 			isMetric, err = isEventTyped(in.Value)
 			return
 		})).Ignore().Wait()
 	case []any:
-		dt.Sliceify(ev).Iterator().Process(fun.MakeProcessor(func(in any) (err error) {
+		dt.NewSlice(ev).Iterator().Process(fun.MakeProcessor(func(in any) (err error) {
 			isMetric, err = isEventTyped(in)
 			return
 		})).Ignore().Wait()
diff --git a/series/metric.go b/series/metric.go
index b3f2a0e..1b195ef 100644
--- a/series/metric.go
+++ b/series/metric.go
@@ -12,10 +12,19 @@ import (
 	"github.com/tychoish/fun/risky"
 )
 
+// MetricType determines the kind of metric, in particular how the
+// state of the metric is tracked over the lifetime of the
+// application.
 type MetricType string
 
 const (
-	MetricTypeDeltas    MetricType = "deltas"
+	// MetricTypeDeltas represents an integer/numeric value that
+	// is rendered as deltas: the difference since the last time
+	// the metric was reported.
+	MetricTypeDeltas MetricType = "deltas"
+	// MetricTypeCounter represents an incrementing metric that
+	// increases over the lifetime of the process' lifespan. When
+	// reported, the total value of the counter is displayed.
 	MetricTypeCounter   MetricType = "counter"
 	MetricTypeGuage     MetricType = "gauge"
 	MetricTypeHistogram MetricType = "histogram"
@@ -75,7 +84,7 @@ func Histogram(id string, opts ...HistogramOptionProvider) *Metric {
 func (m *Metric) Label(k, v string) *Metric       { m.labels.Add(dt.MakePair(k, v)); return m }
 func (m *Metric) MetricType(t MetricType) *Metric { m.Type = t; return m }
 func (m *Metric) Annotate(pairs ...dt.Pair[string, string]) *Metric {
-	m.labels.Populate(dt.Sliceify(pairs).Iterator())
+	m.labels.Populate(dt.NewSlice(pairs).Iterator())
 	return m
 }