Middleburg, VA -- December 17, 2024. Paratext is pleased to announce a substantive enhancement to bird: Base Inventory of Research Databases. The new Browse Publisher function is more than new feature; it is a unique portal to the entire realm of scholarly publishing.
bird, launched in February 2024, is a comprehensive catalogue/index to 8,100+ research databases, spanning 177 academic departments, 34 formats from 2,000 publishers.
Academic library directors predict that 65 percent of library budgets will go toward online databases in the next five years (Ithaka S+R US Library Survey 2022). For libraries managing hundreds of subscriptions and perpetual collections, easy identification of scholarly publishers within bird can't come soon enough.
Who publishes which database? Was the publisher sold, and is the product name the same? Is the library buying the same thing twice? These are just a few of the concerns raised regularly by selectors and strategists evaluating new research material for libraries.
Eric M. Calaluca, President of Paratext, noted that,
"Academic librarians spend uncounted hours wading through emails, attending webinars, and fielding calls from publisher reps. It's an untenable process, one which bird was specifically designed to improve and alleviate. This new module gives selectors and collection strategists the entire universe of database publishers—all in one view."
About bird
bird is produced and published by Paratext, in partnership with Compendium Library Services. Trial use for library personnel is available on request at https://public.paratext.com/bird.
About Paratext:
Founded in 1993, Paratext is an independent database and analytics company based in Middleburg, Virginia. The company is known for their award-winning databases used in libraries all over the world including Eight Centuries, Reference Universe, and United States Masterfile.
About Compendium Library Services:
Compendium Library Services specializes in cloud-based public services solutions, including Desk Tracker and Space Tracker. Compendium was founded in northern Colorado in 2006.