diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..12023c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+*~
+Makefile.deps
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4a7ee1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------      
+#                                                                               
+#  Copyright (c) 2021 Rajit Manohar
+#  Copyright (c) 2021 University of Groningen - Ole Richter                                           
+#                                                                               
+#  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or                
+#  modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License                  
+#  as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2               
+#  of the License, or (at your option) any later version.                       
+#                                                                               
+#  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,              
+#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of               
+#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the                
+#  GNU General Public License for more details.                                 
+#                                                                               
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License            
+#  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software                  
+#  Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,                           
+#  Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.                                                 
+#                                                                               
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------
+TARGETACT=
+
+SUBDIRS=
+
+include $(ACT_HOME)/scripts/Makefile.std
+
+-include Makefile.deps
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2f0ff67..dd867f6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
-# act_dataflow_lib_classic
+# The classical dataflow template library for mixed signal neuromoric processors 
 
-the classic dataflow library for generating event systems
\ No newline at end of file
+
+the library will be installed in `$ACT_HOME/act`. This path is part of the default search path for any ACT tool.
+
+this ibrary depends on stdlib
+
+The comments in the `.act` files have some basic documentation.
+
+## Installation
+
+Set `$ACT_HOME` to the root of your ACT installation, and then run `make install`