diff --git a/Changes.md b/Changes.md
index 410809d3..ea403fc3 100644
--- a/Changes.md
+++ b/Changes.md
@@ -1,5 +1,44 @@
 # Change log
 
-# 0.5.0
+## 0.6.0
+
+### Removed support arrow in favor of arrow2
+
+Drop support [arrow][] in favor of [arrow2][]. Arrow2 is a smaller, faster to
+build implementation of the Arrow format that follow semver. It is also used by
+[polars][]. That said most of the implementation is pretty generic and [arrow][]
+support could be added. To convert arrow2 arrays into arrow arrays and record
+batches see the [arrow2-to-arrow][] example.
+
+### More flexible support for Rust / Arrow features
+
+`serde_arrow` now supports many more Rust and Arrow features.
+
+- Rust: Struct, Lists, Maps, Enums, Tuples
+- Arrow: Struct, List, Maps, Unions, ...
+
+### Removal of custom schema APIs
+
+`serde_arrow` no longer relies on its own schema object. Now all schema
+information is retrieved from arrow fields with additional metadata.
+
+### More flexible APIs
+
+In addition to the previous API that worked on a sequence of records,
+`serde_arrow` now also supports to operate on a sequence of individual items
+(`serialize_into_array`, `deserialize_form_array`) and to operate on single
+items (`ArraysBuilder`).
+
+## Support for dictionary encoded strings (categories)
+
+`serde_arrow` supports dictionary encoding for string arrays. This way string
+arrays are encoded via a lookup table to avoid including repeated string values.
+
+## 0.5.0
 
 - Bump arrow to version 16.0.0
+
+[arrow]: https://github.com/apache/arrow-rs
+[arrow2]: https://github.com/jorgecarleitao/arrow2
+[polars]: https://github.com/pola-rs/polars
+[arrow2-to-arrow]: ./arrow2-to-arrow
diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md
index 23c7a8ce..4023f47e 100644
--- a/Readme.md
+++ b/Readme.md
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 | [[API docs]](https://docs.rs/serde_arrow/latest/serde_arrow/)
 | [Changes](Changes.md)
 | [Example](#example)
+| [Performance](#performance)
 | [How does it work?](serde_arrow/Implementation.md)
 | [Status](serde_arrow/Implementation.md#status)
 | [Development](#development)
@@ -19,10 +20,7 @@ cumbersome to use directly. This package, `serde_arrow`, tries to bridge this
 gap by offering a simple way to convert Rust objects into Arrow objects and vice
 versa.  `serde_arrow` relies on the [Serde](https://serde.rs) package to
 interpret Rust objects. Therefore, adding support for `serde_arrow` to custom
-types is as easy as using Serde's derive macros. 
-
-See the [implementation notes](serde_arrow/Implementation.md) for details on how
-it is implemented. This package is optimized for ease of use, not performance.
+types is as easy as using Serde's derive macros.
 
 [arrow2]: https://docs.rs/arrow2/latest/arrow2/
 [polars]: https://github.com/pola-rs/polars
@@ -77,7 +75,18 @@ import pandas as pd
 pd.read_parquet("example.pq")
 ```
 
-# Development
+## Performance
+
+See the [implementation notes](serde_arrow/Implementation.md) for details on how
+it is implemented.
+
+This package is optimized for ease of use, not performance. Depending on the
+complexity of the types, a performance penality of 4x - 7x compared to manually
+building the arrays can be expected. More complex types incur a smaller
+performance penalty. See the [benches](serde_arrow/benches/arrow2.rs) for
+details.
+
+## Development
 
 All common tasks are bundled in the `x.py` script:
 
@@ -89,7 +98,7 @@ python x.py precommit
 Run `python x.py --help` for details. The script only uses standard Python
 modules can can be run without installing further packages.
 
-# License
+## License
 
 ```text
 Copyright (c) 2021 - 2023 Christopher Prohm
diff --git a/serde_arrow/Implementation.md b/serde_arrow/Implementation.md
index a12c5147..dc0b22ac 100644
--- a/serde_arrow/Implementation.md
+++ b/serde_arrow/Implementation.md
@@ -147,10 +147,7 @@ let val_field = fields.iter_mut().find(|field| field.name == "date").unwrap();
 val_field.data_type = DataType::Date64;
 
 // only required if the datetime objects are serialized as strings
-val_field.metadata.insert(
-    STRATEGY_KEY.to_string(),
-    Strategy::NaiveStrAsDate64.to_string(),
-);
+val_field.metadata = Strategy::NaiveStrAsDate64.into();
 ```
 
 Currently only datetime objects are supported.
diff --git a/serde_arrow/Quickstart.md b/serde_arrow/Quickstart.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f3fe9482
--- /dev/null
+++ b/serde_arrow/Quickstart.md
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+# Quickstart guide
+
+**Contents**
+
+1. [Working with date time objects](#working-with-date-time-objects)
+2. [Dictionary encoding for strings](#dictionary-encoding-for-strings)
+3. [Convert from arrow2 to arrow arrays](#convert-from-arrow2-to-arrow-arrays)
+
+## Working with date time objects
+
+When using `chrono`'s `DateTime<Utc>` or  `NaiveDateTime`, the values are per
+default encoded as strings. To stores them as  `Date64` columns, the data type
+has to be modified.
+
+For example
+
+```rust
+#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+struct Record {
+    val: NaiveDateTime,
+}
+
+let records: &[Record] = &[
+    Record {
+        val: NaiveDateTime::from_timestamp(12 * 60 * 60 * 24, 0),
+    },
+    Record {
+        val: NaiveDateTime::from_timestamp(9 * 60 * 60 * 24, 0),
+    },
+];
+
+let mut fields = serialize_into_fields(records, Default::default()).unwrap();
+```
+
+The traced field `val` will be of type `Utf8`. To store it as `Date64` field,
+modify the data type as in
+
+```rust
+let val_field = find_field_mut(&mut fields, "val").unwrap();
+val_field.data_type = DataType::Date64;
+val_field.metadata = Strategy::NaiveStrAsDate64.into();
+```
+
+## Dictionary encoding for strings
+
+To encode strings with repeated values via a dictionary, the data type of the
+corresponding field must be changed from `Utf8` or `LargeUtf8` to `Dictionary`.
+
+For an existing field this can be done via:
+
+```rust
+field.data_type = DataType::Dictionary(
+    // the integer type used for the keys
+    IntegerType::UInt32,
+    // the data type of the values
+    Box::new(DataType::Utf8),
+    // serde_arrow does not support sorted generating sorted dictionaries
+    false,
+);
+```
+
+To dictionary encode all string fields, set the `string_dictionary_encoding` of
+`TracingOptions`, when tracing the fields:
+
+```rust
+let fields = serialize_into_fields(
+    &items,
+    TracingOptions::default().string_dictionary_encoding(true),
+)?;
+```
+
+## Convert from arrow2 to arrow arrays
+
+Both `arrow` and `arrow2` use the Arrow memory format. Thanks to this fact, it
+is possible to convert arrays between both packages with minimal work using
+their respective FFI interfaces:
+
+- [arrow2::ffi::export_field_to_c](https://docs.rs/arrow2/latest/arrow2/ffi/fn.export_field_to_c.html)
+- [arrow2::ffi_export_array_to_ce](https://docs.rs/arrow2/latest/arrow2/ffi/fn.export_array_to_c.html)
+- [arrow::ffi::ArrowArray::new](https://docs.rs/arrow/latest/arrow/ffi/struct.ArrowArray.html#method.new)
+
+A fully worked example can be found in the [arrow2-to-arrow][] example of the
+`serde_arrow` repository.
+
+[arrow2-to-arrow]: https://github.com/chmp/serde_arrow/tree/main/arrow2-to-arrow
diff --git a/serde_arrow/src/arrow2/schema.rs b/serde_arrow/src/arrow2/schema.rs
index 4fb7e3f8..d52571de 100644
--- a/serde_arrow/src/arrow2/schema.rs
+++ b/serde_arrow/src/arrow2/schema.rs
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ impl FieldBuilder<Field> for MapTracer {
 /// # use serde::Serialize;
 /// #
 /// use serde_arrow::{
-///     arrow2::{serialize_into_fields, experimental::find_field_mut},
+///     arrow2::{serialize_into_fields, experimental},
 ///     schema::{Strategy, TracingOptions},
 /// };
 ///
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ impl FieldBuilder<Field> for MapTracer {
 ///     TracingOptions::default(),
 /// ).unwrap();
 ///
-/// let dt_field = find_field_mut(&mut fields, "b.dt").unwrap();
+/// let dt_field = experimental::find_field_mut(&mut fields, "b.dt").unwrap();
 /// dt_field.data_type = DataType::Date64;
 /// dt_field.metadata = Strategy::NaiveStrAsDate64.into();
 /// ```
diff --git a/serde_arrow/src/lib.rs b/serde_arrow/src/lib.rs
index 2ce38739..5257c6c5 100644
--- a/serde_arrow/src/lib.rs
+++ b/serde_arrow/src/lib.rs
@@ -34,8 +34,9 @@
 //! # fn main() { }
 //! ```
 //!
-//! See [implementation] for an explanation of how this package works and its
-//! underlying data model.
+//! See the [quickstart guide][docs::quickstart] for more examples of how to use
+//! this package. See the [implementation notes][docs::implementation] for an
+//! explanation of how this package works and its underlying data model.
 //!
 //! # Features:
 //!
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@
 //! # Status
 //!
 //! For an overview over the supported Arrow and Rust types see status section
-//! in the [implementation notes][implementation]   
+//! in the [implementation notes][docs::implementation]
 //!
 mod internal;
 
@@ -82,10 +83,7 @@ pub mod base {
 /// # use serde_arrow::schema::{STRATEGY_KEY, Strategy};
 /// # let mut field = Field::new("my_field", DataType::Null, false);
 /// field.data_type = DataType::Date64;
-/// field.metadata.insert(
-///     STRATEGY_KEY.to_string(),
-///     Strategy::UtcStrAsDate64.to_string(),
-/// );
+/// field.metadata = Strategy::UtcStrAsDate64.into();
 /// # }
 /// # #[cfg(not(feature="arrow2"))]
 /// # fn main() {}
@@ -100,7 +98,13 @@ pub mod schema {
     pub use crate::internal::schema::{Strategy, TracingOptions, STRATEGY_KEY};
 }
 
-#[doc = include_str!("../Implementation.md")]
-// NOTE: hide the implementation documentation from doctests
-#[cfg(not(doctest))]
-pub mod implementation {}
+/// Documentation only modules
+pub mod docs {
+    #[doc = include_str!("../Implementation.md")]
+    #[cfg(not(doctest))]
+    pub mod implementation {}
+
+    #[doc = include_str!("../Quickstart.md")]
+    #[cfg(not(doctest))]
+    pub mod quickstart {}
+}
diff --git a/serde_arrow/src/test/arrow2/round_trip.rs b/serde_arrow/src/test/arrow2/round_trip.rs
index fd546582..372259d9 100644
--- a/serde_arrow/src/test/arrow2/round_trip.rs
+++ b/serde_arrow/src/test/arrow2/round_trip.rs
@@ -12,10 +12,7 @@ use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
 use crate::{
     arrow2::{deserialize_from_arrays, serialize_into_arrays, serialize_into_fields},
-    internal::{
-        event::Event,
-        schema::{Strategy, STRATEGY_KEY},
-    },
+    internal::{event::Event, schema::Strategy},
     test::arrow2::utils::{collect_events_from_array, field},
 };
 
@@ -40,10 +37,7 @@ fn dtype_date64_naive_str() {
 
     let val_field = fields.iter_mut().find(|field| field.name == "val").unwrap();
     val_field.data_type = DataType::Date64;
-    val_field.metadata.insert(
-        STRATEGY_KEY.to_string(),
-        Strategy::NaiveStrAsDate64.to_string(),
-    );
+    val_field.metadata = Strategy::NaiveStrAsDate64.into();
 
     println!("{fields:?}");
 
@@ -97,10 +91,7 @@ fn dtype_date64_str() {
     let mut fields = serialize_into_fields(records, Default::default()).unwrap();
     let val_field = fields.iter_mut().find(|field| field.name == "val").unwrap();
     val_field.data_type = DataType::Date64;
-    val_field.metadata.insert(
-        STRATEGY_KEY.to_string(),
-        Strategy::UtcStrAsDate64.to_string(),
-    );
+    val_field.metadata = Strategy::UtcStrAsDate64.into();
 
     let arrays = serialize_into_arrays(&fields, records).unwrap();
 
diff --git a/serde_arrow/src/test/arrow2/schema_events.rs b/serde_arrow/src/test/arrow2/schema_events.rs
index 0748ac63..8b330dc7 100644
--- a/serde_arrow/src/test/arrow2/schema_events.rs
+++ b/serde_arrow/src/test/arrow2/schema_events.rs
@@ -466,10 +466,7 @@ fn struct_tuple() {
         ]),
         false,
     );
-    expected.metadata.insert(
-        STRATEGY_KEY.to_string(),
-        Strategy::TupleAsStruct.to_string(),
-    );
+    expected.metadata = Strategy::TupleAsStruct.into();
 
     assert_eq!(field, expected);
 }