While 6,900+ of the databases profiled within bird: Base Inventory of Research Databases are commercial (fee-based), bird also provides profiles of over 2,000 Open Access research databases.

What does this mean to library specialists and advanced users?

It means that, for the first time, a single-stop resource to explore the spectrum of OA research content is at hand—at the same time you explore commercial options as well.

The OA profiles in bird are vast, covering nearly all research disciplines. Here’s a small sample from just the ‘A’s :

Every bird deserves a nest, and so here it is. 

A  year ago, Paratext launched bird: Base Inventory of Research Databases.   The response has been fantastic, and many libraries are now using it to make better decisions about their research database collection.   But a few questions lingered.

How does our library compare with others?  Well, Paratext now has an answer for that--nest.

nest is a new suite of library comparison analytics, built upon the platform of bird. It answers the question, "how do you compare"?

How does our research dB collection compare to peer libraries? To other members of our consortia? To schools of comparable size? Or simply to a library we wish to evaluate? It even shows you title by title: "We have this title, but who else owns it, and who does not?"

In short, nest enhances bird capabilities, offering one-touch peer institution comparisons for real-time benchmarking. 

Library directors, collection strategists and subject selectors now have some powerful tools with which to bring refined context and clarity to their collection decisions.

Paratext will premier nest on November 12 at the Charleston Vendor Showcase--table 88, look for the ‘bird’ banner.   In the meantime, please visit here to learn more.

In addition, small-group demos of nest analytics will begin in mid-November, but space is limited. If interested in dates and times, please drop a note to info@paratext.com 

"Some birds are poets, and sing all summer." 
-- Henry David Thoreau, journals, July 1852.

bird helps selectors, public services librarians, collection analysts and advanced researchers stay current on all research databases.

When you use bird, you know what is out there--and save time spent wandering the web. Here is the latest on recent bird additions:

*  376 new database profiles added since February

As editorial work expands, bird editors have identified additional titles beyond the original 7,500 included in the February launch.

Although most of these titles are parts of series that we had not previously covered, we are monitoring and adding new for 2024 vendor titles, such as Adam Matthew’s Women’s Voices and Life Writing, 1600-1968 and Gale’s Declassified Documents Online, Twentieth-Century British Intelligence: Monitoring the World.

We also have added over 30 new open access titles since February. A few examples are the CaseLaw Access Program (law); the Dave Brubeck Collection (music); Uncrewed Systems & Robotics Database (engineering); and Prices and Wages by Decades (economics).

*  Expansion of Metadata

Titles Included  

This is a major addition to bird which began in January.  This new field tells users What precisely is in this database? 

Increasingly profiles now include  discrete titles, primary source materials, datasets, eBook collections or even A/I services are added.  Most important, each of this listings can be discovered via a bird query.

Similar To

This data permits users a quick comparison with similar resources. This may be of particular value to newer librarians or for those now oversee selection in an area

“It is spring again.  The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”    
— Rainer Maria Rilke.
 

Spring is when birds take center stage. With this in mind, here's the latest on bird: Base Inventory of Research Databases from Paratext. 
 

EBOOK collections now also in bird

The inclusion of eBook collections within bird has been a much-debated issue for our editorial group since the project began in 2021.  

While most academic libraries include eBook collections in their list of database resources, some are simply platforms or other aggregating mechanisms, rather than truly distinctive research datasets.    

After much deliberation, however, the group has concluded that approximately 350 eBook collections satisfy the bird editorial criteria, and are now being added to the 7,500+ dBs included. 

Administrative Module is now available for profile management.

A new Administrative Module for bird was deployed by our technology partners at Compendium Library Services. 

 This module permits whomever library administrators designate a means to easily add, delete or query us about any title. Changes are reflected immediately in the Reference Module for your library, and best of all, no technical or other library personnel are needed.

The system is available 24/7 and keeps pace with any changes to your library's research database profile. 

Insights View is now online 

There is now a graphical means of exploring bird search results, along with Gallery View and List View. 

Insights View allows users to mix and match queries by applicable academic department, as well as by the format of data.

 For example,  Show me the research databases which are part of Management as well as Entrepreneurship curricula, but limit it to Technical Reports and Statistical Datasets.

This new feature permits users to refine research needs, while saving uncounted hours of casting about the ‘infoverse.’

Spring finds many libraries now using bird for all manner of current awareness, resource selection, public reference services as well as collection strategic planning.     

If you are not familiar yet with bird, please visit here.  And Happy Spring. 

Paratext launched bird; Base Inventory of Research Databases last Tuesday at the Charleston Conference, and we were quite encouraged by the enthusiastic response from the attendees who saw it live.    Well, things got even better after the exhibits closed.

During the Charleston Premiers segment later on, 200 attendees at the session were polled and voted bird, the Best Overall New Product and Best Designed New Product!