diff --git a/Data/Library.hs b/Data/Library.hs
--- a/Data/Library.hs
+++ b/Data/Library.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings,TemplateHaskell, BangPatterns #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE BangPatterns #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE DeriveDataTypeable #-} 
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-} 
+{-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell #-} 
 module Data.Library 
 ( Library
 , ItemId
@@ -14,15 +17,19 @@
 , new
 , unsafeGetItem
 , getItem
+, getItemMaybe
+, showError
+, isDir
 -- , testItems
 )
 
 where
-import Data.Text (Text)
+import Data.Text (Text, pack)
 import Data.IntSet (IntSet, insert)
 import qualified Data.IntSet as IS
 import Data.Sequence (Seq, (|>))
 import qualified Data.Sequence as Seq
+import Data.Data (Typeable)
 import Data.Time.Clock (UTCTime)
 import Data.Library.UUIRI (UUIRI, iri, uuid, toUUIRI)
 import Control.Applicative ((<$>), (<*>))
@@ -38,7 +45,6 @@
 -- | A Library is just a rebranded Seq
 type Library = Seq LibraryItem
 
-
 type ItemId = Int
 
 empty :: Library
@@ -117,6 +123,11 @@
                      in case item of 
                             Deleted -> Left $ ItemNotFound i
                             _ -> Right item
+
+-- | getItem tailored to return an Error if the 2nd argument is Nothing
+getItemMaybe :: ItemId -> Maybe Library -> Either Error LibraryItem
+getItemMaybe i (Just l) = getItem i l
+getItemMaybe _ Nothing = Left InvalidContainer
 --- // ---
 -- HELPERS
 itemOpInDir :: (Int -> IntSet -> IntSet) -> LibraryItem -> LibraryItem 
@@ -154,7 +165,7 @@
     , itemDateModified :: !UTCTime
     , itemParent       :: !ItemId -- root dir has parent = 0
     , itemType         :: !(Either Directory UUIRI)
-    } 
+    } deriving (Typeable)
 
 {-
 testItems t = 
@@ -217,11 +228,16 @@
 -- | Some errors that might occur
 data Error = InvalidDestination ItemId
            | ItemNotFound ItemId
+           | InvalidContainer
            | MovingRoot
+           deriving(Eq, Ord, Typeable)
 instance Show Error where
     show (InvalidDestination i) = "Invalid destination with id " ++ (show i)
     show (ItemNotFound i) = "Item with id " ++ (show i) ++ " not found"
     show MovingRoot = "Cannot move root directory"
+
+showError :: Error -> Text
+showError e = pack $ show e
 {-
 newFileTextIO :: Text -> Text -> IO FileText
 newFileTextIO n c = do
@@ -229,5 +245,6 @@
     return $ newFileText n t c
 -}
 
+$(deriveSafeCopy 0 'base ''Error)
 $(deriveSafeCopy 0 'base ''Directory)
 $(deriveSafeCopy 0 'base ''LibraryItem)
diff --git a/dirfiles.cabal b/dirfiles.cabal
--- a/dirfiles.cabal
+++ b/dirfiles.cabal
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 -- documentation, see http://haskell.org/cabal/users-guide/
 
 name:                dirfiles
-version:             0.1.0.4
+version:             0.1.0.8
 -- synopsis:            
 description:         Simple datatype to represent a library with files and folders
 license:             BSD3
@@ -27,5 +27,6 @@
                ,    unordered-containers >=0.2 && <0.3
                ,    safecopy >=0.8 
                ,    hblock >=0.1 
+
   -- hs-source-dirs:      
   default-language:    Haskell2010