diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index efd67c0..7ba11ae 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -21,4 +21,4 @@ Config/Needs/website: rmarkdown
 Config/testthat/edition: 3
 Encoding: UTF-8
 Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
-RoxygenNote: 7.3.1
+RoxygenNote: 7.3.1.9000
diff --git a/NAMESPACE b/NAMESPACE
index 4ede74c..e01d848 100644
--- a/NAMESPACE
+++ b/NAMESPACE
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
 
+export(is_sparse_double)
+export(is_sparse_vector)
 export(sparse_double)
+export(sparse_positions)
+export(sparse_values)
 import(rlang)
 useDynLib(sparsevctrs, .registration = TRUE)
diff --git a/R/altrep.R b/R/altrep.R
index bf288c7..9744fea 100644
--- a/R/altrep.R
+++ b/R/altrep.R
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #' Create sparse double vector
 #' 
-#' @param value Numeric vector, values of non-zero entries.
-#' @param position integer vector, indices of non-zero entries.
+#' @param values Numeric vector, values of non-zero entries.
+#' @param positions integer vector, indices of non-zero entries.
 #' @param length Integer, Length of vector.
 #' 
 #' @details
@@ -20,142 +20,131 @@
 #'   sparse_double(c(pi, 5, 0.1), c(2, 5, 10), 1000000000)
 #' )
 #' @export
-sparse_double <- function(value, position, length) {
+sparse_double <- function(values, positions, length) {
   check_number_whole(length, min = 0)
   if (!is.integer(length)) {
     length <- as.integer(length)
   }
 
-  if (!is.numeric(value)) {
+  if (!is.numeric(values)) {
     cli::cli_abort(
-      "{.arg value} must be a numeric vector, not {.obj_type_friendly {value}}."
+      "{.arg values} must be a numeric vector, \\
+      not {.obj_type_friendly {values}}."
     )
   }
 
-  if (any(is.infinite(value))) {
-    offenders <- which(is.infinite(value))
+  if (any(is.infinite(values))) {
+    offenders <- which(is.infinite(values))
     cli::cli_abort(
       c(
-        x = "{.arg value} must not contain infinite values.",
+        x = "{.arg values} must not contain infinite values.",
         i = "Infinite values at index: {offenders}."
       )
     )
   }
 
-  if (is.integer(value)) {
-    value <- as.double(value)
+  if (is.integer(values)) {
+    values <- as.double(values)
   }
 
-  if (!is.numeric(position)) {
+  if (!is.numeric(positions)) {
     cli::cli_abort(
-      "{.arg position} must be a integer vector, \\
-      not {.obj_type_friendly {value}}."
+      "{.arg positions} must be a integer vector, \\
+      not {.obj_type_friendly {positions}}."
     )
   }
 
-  if (any(is.infinite(position))) {
-    offenders <- which(is.infinite(position))
+  if (any(is.infinite(positions))) {
+    offenders <- which(is.infinite(positions))
     cli::cli_abort(
       c(
-        x = "{.arg position} must not contain infinite values.",
+        x = "{.arg positions} must not contain infinite values.",
         i = "Infinite values at index: {offenders}."
       )
     )
   }
 
-  if (!is.integer(position)) {
-    if (any(round(position) != position, na.rm = TRUE)) {
-      offenders <- which(round(position) != position)
+  if (!is.integer(positions)) {
+    if (any(round(positions) != positions, na.rm = TRUE)) {
+      offenders <- which(round(positions) != positions)
 
       cli::cli_abort(
         c(
-          x = "{.arg position} must contain integer values.",
+          x = "{.arg positions} must contain integer values.",
           i = "Non-integer values at index: {offenders}."
         )
       )
     }
    
-    position <- as.integer(position)
+    positions <- as.integer(positions)
   }
 
-  len_value <- length(value)
-  len_position <- length(position)
+  len_values <- length(values)
+  len_positions <- length(positions)
 
-  if (len_value != len_position) {
+  if (len_values != len_positions) {
     cli::cli_abort(
-      "{.arg value} ({len_value}) and {.arg position} ({len_position}) \\
+      "{.arg value} ({len_values}) and {.arg positions} ({len_positions}) \\
       must have the same length."
     )
   }
 
-  if (anyDuplicated(position) > 0) {
-    offenders <- which(duplicated(position))
+  if (anyDuplicated(positions) > 0) {
+    offenders <- which(duplicated(positions))
 
     cli::cli_abort(
       c(
-        x = "{.arg position} must not contain any duplicate values.",
+        x = "{.arg positions} must not contain any duplicate values.",
         i = "Duplicate values at index: {offenders}."
       )
     )
   }
 
-  if (is.unsorted(position)) {
+  if (is.unsorted(positions)) {
     cli::cli_abort(
-      "{.arg position} must be sorted in increasing order."
+      "{.arg positions} must be sorted in increasing order."
     )
   }
 
-  if (len_position > 0 && max(position) > length) {
-    offenders <- which(position > length)
+  if (len_positions > 0 && max(positions) > length) {
+    offenders <- which(positions > length)
     cli::cli_abort(
       c(
-        x = "{.arg position} value must not be larger than {.arg length}.",
+        x = "{.arg positions} value must not be larger than {.arg length}.",
         i = "Offending values at index: {offenders}."
       )
     )
   }
 
-  if (len_position > 0 && min(position) < 1) {
-    offenders <- which(position < 1)
+  if (len_positions > 0 && min(positions) < 1) {
+    offenders <- which(positions < 1)
     cli::cli_abort(
       c(
-        x = "{.arg position} value must positive.",
+        x = "{.arg positions} value must positive.",
         i = "Non-positive values at index: {offenders}."
       )
     )
   }
 
-  if (any(value == 0)) {
-    offenders <- which(value == 0)
+  if (any(values == 0)) {
+    offenders <- which(values == 0)
     cli::cli_abort(
       c(
-        x = "{.arg value} value must not be 0.",
+        x = "{.arg values} value must not be 0.",
         i = "0 values at index: {offenders}."
       )
     )
   }
 
-  new_sparse_double(value, position, length)
+  new_sparse_double(values, positions, length)
 }
 
-new_sparse_double <- function(value, position, length) {
+new_sparse_double <- function(values, positions, length) {
   x <- list(
-    val = value, 
-    pos = position, 
+    val = values, 
+    pos = positions, 
     len = length
   )
 
   .Call(ffi_altrep_new_sparse_double, x)
 }
-
-is_sparse_vector <- function(x) {
-  res <- .Call(ffi_extract_altrep_class, x)
-  if (is.null(res)) {
-    return(FALSE)
-  }
-  
-  res <- as.character(res[[1]])
-
-  res %in% c("altrep_sparse_double")
- }
- 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/R/extractors.R b/R/extractors.R
index c1ce279..c586cd6 100644
--- a/R/extractors.R
+++ b/R/extractors.R
@@ -1,4 +1,28 @@
-.positions <- function(x) {
+#' Information extraction from sparse vectors
+#' 
+#' Extract positions and values from sparse vectors without the need to 
+#' materialize vector.
+#' 
+#' @param x vector to be extracted from.
+#'
+#' @details
+#' for ease of use, these functions also works on non-sparse variables.
+#' 
+#' @examples
+#' x_sparse <- sparse_double(c(pi, 5, 0.1), c(2, 5, 10), 10)
+#' x_dense <- c(0, pi, 0, 0, 0.5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.1)
+#' 
+#' sparse_positions(x_sparse)
+#' sparse_values(x_sparse)
+#' 
+#' sparse_positions(x_dense)
+#' sparse_values(x_dense)
+#' @name extractors
+NULL
+
+#' @rdname extractors
+#' @export
+sparse_positions <- function(x) {
   if (!is_sparse_vector(x)) {
     return(seq_along(x))
   }
@@ -6,7 +30,9 @@
   .Call(ffi_altrep_sparse_positions, x)
 }
 
-.values <- function(x) {
+#' @rdname extractors
+#' @export
+sparse_values <- function(x) {
   if (!is_sparse_vector(x)) {
     return(x)
   }
diff --git a/R/type-predicates.R b/R/type-predicates.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d75599
--- /dev/null
+++ b/R/type-predicates.R
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#' Sparse vector type checkers
+#' 
+#' @param x value to be checked.
+#'
+#' @examples
+#' x_sparse <- sparse_double(c(pi, 5, 0.1), c(2, 5, 10), 10)
+#' x_dense <- c(0, pi, 0, 0, 0.5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.1)
+#' 
+#' is_sparse_vector(x_sparse)
+#' is_sparse_vector(x_dense)
+#' 
+#' # Forced materialization
+#' is_sparse_vector(x_sparse[])
+#' @name type-predicates
+NULL
+
+#' @rdname type-predicates
+#' @export
+is_sparse_vector <- function(x) {
+  res <- .Call(ffi_extract_altrep_class, x)
+  if (is.null(res)) {
+    return(FALSE)
+  }
+  
+  res <- as.character(res[[1]])
+
+  res %in% c("altrep_sparse_double")
+}
+ 
+#' @rdname type-predicates
+#' @export
+is_sparse_double <- function(x) {
+  res <- .Call(ffi_extract_altrep_class, x)
+  if (is.null(res)) {
+    return(FALSE)
+  }
+  
+  res <- as.character(res[[1]])
+
+  res == "altrep_sparse_double"
+}
diff --git a/_pkgdown.yml b/_pkgdown.yml
index 616a3e9..9acf5cc 100644
--- a/_pkgdown.yml
+++ b/_pkgdown.yml
@@ -2,3 +2,12 @@ url: https://emilhvitfeldt.github.io/sparsevctrs/
 template:
   bootstrap: 5
 
+reference:
+  - title: Create Sparse Vectors
+    contents:
+    - sparse_double
+  
+  - title: Helper Functions
+    contents:
+    - type-predicates
+    - extractors
diff --git a/man/extractors.Rd b/man/extractors.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f4e8ff9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/extractors.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/extractors.R
+\name{extractors}
+\alias{extractors}
+\alias{sparse_positions}
+\alias{sparse_values}
+\title{Information extraction from sparse vectors}
+\usage{
+sparse_positions(x)
+
+sparse_values(x)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{x}{vector to be extracted from.}
+}
+\description{
+Extract positions and values from sparse vectors without the need to
+materialize vector.
+}
+\details{
+for ease of use, these functions also works on non-sparse variables.
+}
+\examples{
+x_sparse <- sparse_double(c(pi, 5, 0.1), c(2, 5, 10), 10)
+x_dense <- c(0, pi, 0, 0, 0.5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.1)
+
+sparse_positions(x_sparse)
+sparse_values(x_sparse)
+
+sparse_positions(x_dense)
+sparse_values(x_dense)
+}
diff --git a/man/sparse_double.Rd b/man/sparse_double.Rd
index 919b7aa..739030a 100644
--- a/man/sparse_double.Rd
+++ b/man/sparse_double.Rd
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@
 \alias{sparse_double}
 \title{Create sparse double vector}
 \usage{
-sparse_double(value, position, length)
+sparse_double(values, positions, length)
 }
 \arguments{
-\item{value}{Numeric vector, values of non-zero entries.}
+\item{values}{Numeric vector, values of non-zero entries.}
 
-\item{position}{integer vector, indices of non-zero entries.}
+\item{positions}{integer vector, indices of non-zero entries.}
 
 \item{length}{Integer, Length of vector.}
 }
diff --git a/man/type-predicates.Rd b/man/type-predicates.Rd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc5a19f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/type-predicates.Rd
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+% Generated by roxygen2: do not edit by hand
+% Please edit documentation in R/type-predicates.R
+\name{type-predicates}
+\alias{type-predicates}
+\alias{is_sparse_vector}
+\alias{is_sparse_double}
+\title{Sparse vector type checkers}
+\usage{
+is_sparse_vector(x)
+
+is_sparse_double(x)
+}
+\arguments{
+\item{x}{value to be checked.}
+}
+\description{
+Sparse vector type checkers
+}
+\examples{
+x_sparse <- sparse_double(c(pi, 5, 0.1), c(2, 5, 10), 10)
+x_dense <- c(0, pi, 0, 0, 0.5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0.1)
+
+is_sparse_vector(x_sparse)
+is_sparse_vector(x_dense)
+
+# Forced materialization
+is_sparse_vector(x_sparse[])
+}
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/altrep.md b/tests/testthat/_snaps/altrep.md
index 1a22493..ee435f3 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/_snaps/altrep.md
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/altrep.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
       sparse_double("1", 1, 1)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      ! `value` must be a numeric vector, not a string.
+      ! `values` must be a numeric vector, not a string.
 
 ---
 
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
       sparse_double(NULL, 1, 1)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      ! `value` must be a numeric vector, not NULL.
+      ! `values` must be a numeric vector, not NULL.
 
 ---
 
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
       sparse_double(NA, 1, 1)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      ! `value` must be a numeric vector, not `NA`.
+      ! `values` must be a numeric vector, not `NA`.
 
 ---
 
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
       sparse_double(Inf, 1, 1)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      x `value` must not contain infinite values.
+      x `values` must not contain infinite values.
       i Infinite values at index: 1.
 
 ---
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
     Code
       sparse_double(NaN, 1, 1)
     Condition
-      Error in `if (any(value == 0)) ...`:
+      Error in `if (any(values == 0)) ...`:
       ! missing value where TRUE/FALSE needed
 
 ---
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
       sparse_double(1, 1.5, 1)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      x `position` must contain integer values.
+      x `positions` must contain integer values.
       i Non-integer values at index: 1.
 
 ---
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
       sparse_double(1, "1", 1)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      ! `position` must be a integer vector, not a number.
+      ! `positions` must be a integer vector, not a string.
 
 ---
 
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
       sparse_double(1, NULL, 1)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      ! `position` must be a integer vector, not a number.
+      ! `positions` must be a integer vector, not NULL.
 
 ---
 
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
       sparse_double(1, NA, 1)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      ! `position` must be a integer vector, not a number.
+      ! `positions` must be a integer vector, not `NA`.
 
 ---
 
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@
       sparse_double(1, Inf, 1)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      x `position` must not contain infinite values.
+      x `positions` must not contain infinite values.
       i Infinite values at index: 1.
 
 ---
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
     Code
       sparse_double(1, NaN, 1)
     Condition
-      Error in `if (len_position > 0 && max(position) > length) ...`:
+      Error in `if (len_positions > 0 && max(positions) > length) ...`:
       ! missing value where TRUE/FALSE needed
 
 ---
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@
       sparse_double(1:4, 1:6, 10)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      ! `value` (4) and `position` (6) must have the same length.
+      ! `value` (4) and `positions` (6) must have the same length.
 
 ---
 
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@
       sparse_double(1, 1:6, 10)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      ! `value` (1) and `position` (6) must have the same length.
+      ! `value` (1) and `positions` (6) must have the same length.
 
 ---
 
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@
       sparse_double(1:4, c(1, 1, 5, 6), 10)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      x `position` must not contain any duplicate values.
+      x `positions` must not contain any duplicate values.
       i Duplicate values at index: 2.
 
 ---
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@
       sparse_double(1:100, rep(1, 100), 100)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      x `position` must not contain any duplicate values.
+      x `positions` must not contain any duplicate values.
       i Duplicate values at index: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, ..., 99, and 100.
 
 ---
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@
       sparse_double(c(1, 2), c(3, 1), 5)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      ! `position` must be sorted in increasing order.
+      ! `positions` must be sorted in increasing order.
 
 ---
 
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@
       sparse_double(1, 10, 5)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      x `position` value must not be larger than `length`.
+      x `positions` value must not be larger than `length`.
       i Offending values at index: 1.
 
 ---
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@
       sparse_double(rep(1, 50), seq(25, 74), 50)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      x `position` value must not be larger than `length`.
+      x `positions` value must not be larger than `length`.
       i Offending values at index: 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, ..., 49, and 50.
 
 ---
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@
       sparse_double(1, 0, 5)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      x `position` value must positive.
+      x `positions` value must positive.
       i Non-positive values at index: 1.
 
 ---
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@
       sparse_double(rep(1, 101), seq(-50, 50), 100)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      x `position` value must positive.
+      x `positions` value must positive.
       i Non-positive values at index: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, ..., 50, and 51.
 
 ---
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@
       sparse_double(0, 1, 10)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      x `value` value must not be 0.
+      x `values` value must not be 0.
       i 0 values at index: 1.
 
 ---
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@
       sparse_double(rep(c(1, 0), 5), 1:10, 50)
     Condition
       Error in `sparse_double()`:
-      x `value` value must not be 0.
+      x `values` value must not be 0.
       i 0 values at index: 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10.
 
 # verbose testing
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-extractors.R b/tests/testthat/test-extractors.R
index e6aa5a5..7148971 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-extractors.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-extractors.R
@@ -1,47 +1,47 @@
-test_that(".positions works with altrep_sparse_double", {
+test_that("sparse_positions works with altrep_sparse_double", {
   expect_identical(
-    .positions(sparse_double(1, 5, 10)),
+    sparse_positions(sparse_double(1, 5, 10)),
     5L
   )
 
   expect_identical(
-    .positions(sparse_double(1:3, 5:7, 10)),
+    sparse_positions(sparse_double(1:3, 5:7, 10)),
     5:7
   )
 })
 
-test_that(".positions works with numeric vectors", {
+test_that("sparse_positions works with numeric vectors", {
   expect_identical(
-    .positions(c(1, 6, 4, 2)),
+    sparse_positions(c(1, 6, 4, 2)),
     seq_len(4)
   )
 
   expect_identical(
-    .positions(101:200),
+    sparse_positions(101:200),
     1:100
   )
 })
 
-test_that(".values works with altrep_sparse_double", {
+test_that("sparse_values works with altrep_sparse_double", {
   expect_identical(
-    .values(sparse_double(1, 5, 10)),
+    sparse_values(sparse_double(1, 5, 10)),
     1
   )
 
   expect_identical(
-    .values(sparse_double(1:3, 5:7, 10)),
+    sparse_values(sparse_double(1:3, 5:7, 10)),
     c(1, 2, 3)
   )
 })
 
-test_that(".values works with numeric vectors", {
+test_that("sparse_values works with numeric vectors", {
   expect_identical(
-    .values(c(1, 6, 4, 2)),
+    sparse_values(c(1, 6, 4, 2)),
     c(1, 6, 4, 2)
   )
 
   expect_identical(
-    .values(101:200),
+    sparse_values(101:200),
     101:200
   )
 })