diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5e29d2c..a03c782 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -24,22 +24,30 @@ With these simple definitions, powerful workflows are enabled:
 * A package providing data cleansing, manipulation, visualization, or analysis can automatically handle any number of decoupled input table types
 * A tabular file format can have automatic integration with in-memory structures and translation to other file formats
 
+
+# Tables Interface
+
 So how does one go about satisfying the Tables.jl interface functions? It mainly depends on what you've already defined and the natural access patterns of your table:
 
-First:
+## First:
+
 * `Tables.istable(::Type{<:MyTable}) = true`: this provides an explicit affirmation that your type implements the Tables interface
 
-To support `Rows`:
+## To support `Rows`:
+
 * Define `Tables.rowaccess(::Type{<:MyTable}) = true`: this signals to other types that `MyTable` supports valid `Row`-iteration
 * Define `Tables.rows(x::MyTable)`: return a `Row`-iterator object (perhaps the table itself if already defined)
 * Define `Tables.schema(Tables.rows(x::MyTable))` to either return a `Tables.Schema` object, or `nothing` if the schema is unknown or non-inferrable for some reason
 
-To support `Columns`:
+## To support `Columns`:
+
 * Define `Tables.columnaccess(::Type{<:MyTable}) = true`: this signals to other types that `MyTable` supports returning a valid `Columns` object
 * Define `Tables.columns(x::MyTable)`: return a `Columns`, property-accessible object (perhaps the table itself if it naturally supports property-access to columns)
 * Define `Tables.schema(Tables.columns(x::MyTable))` to either return a `Tables.Schema` object, or `nothing` if the schema is unknown or non-inferrable for some reason
 
-The final question is how `MyTable` can be a "sink" for any other table type. The answer is quite simple: use the interface functions!
+## Sinks (transferring data from one table to another)
+
+Another question is how `MyTable` can be a "sink" for any other table type. The answer is quite simple: use the interface functions!
 
 * Define a function or constructor that takes, at a minimum, a single, untyped argument and then calls `Tables.rows` or `Tables.columns` on that argument to construct an instance of `MyTable`
 
@@ -76,3 +84,35 @@ end
 ```
 
 Obviously every table type is different, but via a combination of `Tables.rows` and `Tables.columns` each table type should be able to construct an instance of itself.
+
+## Functions that input and output tables:
+
+For functions that input a table, perform some calculation, and output a new table, we need a way of constructing the preferred output table given the input.  For this purpose, `Tables.materializer(table)` returns the preferred sink function for a table (`Tables.columntable`, which creates a named tuple of AbstractVectors, is the default).  
+
+Note that an in-memory table with a properly defined "sink" function can reconstruct itself with the following:
+
+```julia
+materializer(table)(columns(table)) 
+
+materializer(table)(rows(table))
+```
+
+For example, we may want to select a subset of columns from a column-access table.  One way we could implement it is with the following:
+
+```julia
+function select(table, cols::Symbol...)
+    Tables.istable(table) || throw(ArgumentError("select requires a table input"))
+    nt = Tables.columntable(table)  # columntable(t) creates a NamedTuple of AbstractVectors
+    newcols = NamedTuple{cols}(nt)
+    Tables.materializer(table)(newcols)
+end
+
+# Example of selecting columns from a columntable
+tbl = (x=1:100, y=rand(100), z=randn(100))
+select(tbl, :x)
+select(tbl, :x, :z)
+
+tbl = [(x=1, y="a", z=1.0), (x=2, y="b", z=2.0)]
+select(tbl, :z, :x)
+```
+
diff --git a/src/Tables.jl b/src/Tables.jl
index 435abf6..ea7f8cf 100644
--- a/src/Tables.jl
+++ b/src/Tables.jl
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@ rowaccess(::Type{T}) where {T} = false
 columnaccess(x::T) where {T} = columnaccess(T)
 columnaccess(::Type{T}) where {T} = false
 schema(x) = nothing
+materializer(x) = columntable
 
 # Schema implementation
 """
diff --git a/src/namedtuples.jl b/src/namedtuples.jl
index 45ecebb..8eddfd9 100644
--- a/src/namedtuples.jl
+++ b/src/namedtuples.jl
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ rowaccess(::Type{<:RowTable}) = true
 # a Vector of NamedTuple iterates `Row`s itself
 rows(x::RowTable) = x
 schema(x::Vector{NamedTuple{names, types}}) where {names, types} = Schema(names, types)
+materializer(x::RowTable) = rowtable
 
 # struct to transform `Row`s into NamedTuples
 struct NamedTupleIterator{S, T}
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ columnaccess(::Type{<:ColumnTable}) = true
 # a NamedTuple of AbstractVectors is itself a `Columns` object
 columns(x::ColumnTable) = x
 schema(x::T) where {T <: ColumnTable} = Schema(names(T), _types(T))
+materializer(x::ColumnTable) = columntable
 
 _eltype(::Type{A}) where {A <: AbstractVector{T}} where {T} = T
 Base.@pure function _types(::Type{NT}) where {NT <: NamedTuple{names, T}} where {names, T <: NTuple{N, AbstractVector{S} where S}} where {N}
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index e478327..234eb6b 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -108,6 +108,27 @@ end
     @test isequal(rt, nti2)
 end
 
+@testset "Materializer" begin 
+    rt = [(a=1, b=4.0, c="7"), (a=2, b=5.0, c="8"), (a=3, b=6.0, c="9")]
+    nt = (a=[1,2,3], b=[4.0, 5.0, 6.0], c=["7", "8", "9"])
+
+    @test nt == Tables.materializer(nt)(Tables.columns(nt))
+    @test nt == Tables.materializer(nt)(Tables.columns(rt))
+    @test nt == Tables.materializer(nt)(rt)
+    @test rt == Tables.materializer(rt)(nt)
+
+    function select(table, cols::Symbol...)
+        Tables.istable(table) || throw(ArgumentError("select requires a table input"))
+        nt = Tables.columntable(table)  # columntable(t) creates a NamedTuple of AbstractVectors
+        newcols = NamedTuple{cols}(nt)
+        Tables.materializer(table)(newcols)
+    end
+
+    @test select(nt, :a, :b, :c) == nt
+    @test select(nt, :c, :a) == NamedTuple{(:c, :a)}(nt)
+    @test select(rt, :a) == [(a=1,), (a=2,), (a=3,)]
+end
+
 import Base: ==
 struct GenericRow
     a::Int