The Database of Research Databases
KNOWLEDGE AT YOUR COMMAND
Developed by research librarians, bird® gives subject selectors, collection strategists, graduate and post-doctoral researchers comprehensive analysis of 8,600+ commercial and Open Access resources, spanning hundreds of disciplines. It’s the thorough research needed to make the best-informed recommendations.
CONFIDENCE AT YOUR CORE
bird® delivers authoritative, accurate, and up-to-date intelligence, empowering you to dig deeper and make discerning choices across all subject areas — even those outside your area of specialized bibliographic knowledge.
Unlock Your Collection’s Potential
COLLECTION PLANNING SIMPLIFIED
With bird®, collection leaders stay up to date on resources supporting their priorities. Whether evaluating a faculty request, preparing for a vendor meeting or checking for collection gaps, bird® delivers the advantage.
EACH BIRD QUERY IS MATCHED TO YOUR LOCAL HOLDINGS
Each bird® query simultaneously matches results with your own local database collection, giving context and perspective measured against the full array of available resources. Extensive metadata, resource descriptions, editorial insights and supplier details in bird® profiles make it easy to uncover needed information.
MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS AND DEFEND BUDGET REQUESTS WITH CONFIDENCE
bird® permits all members of the collections and administrative team to act with greater confidence, seeing all resources available, and managing their budgets with greater precision..
Additionally, libraries who also adopt the new nest® comparison analytics features, can verify if any database profiled within bird® is held among peer institutions or even select libraries they choose See more information on nest® here.
Elevate Your Library
ALWAYS AHEAD OF THE CURVE
Efficient library leaders routinely turn to bird® before engaging in discipline-focused discussions with faculty, seeking out new resources to support university priorities, utilizing data to inform strategic choices about resource allocation, and identifying opportunities to showcase the library’s unique collection and contributions to the institution.
MAXIMIZE IMPACT THROUGH BENCHMARKING
With bird® assessing your collection is both quick and accurate. Continually updated resource profiles and metadata help libraries be proactive in spotting new collections and emerging trends across disciplines. It improves library return-on-investment (ROI) by streamlining the research usually required to gain awareness of the full breadth of resources available.
50 YEARS OF REFERENCE PUBLISHING EXPERIENCE
bird® is produced by Paratext (1993), in partnership with Compendium Library Services (2006). 50 years of library reference applications inform bird®, refining research priorities and improving outcomes.
New for 2025!
Paratext announces nest®, a groundbreaking suite of comparative library analytics built upon bird® platform. It takes collection analysis to a higher level than bird® alone..
nest® elevates collection insights by seeing your library’s holdings compared to other libraries — to consortia members, IPEDS peers, FTE, Carnegie Classification, and even specific libraries you wish to evaluate.
nest® offers directors, collection strategists and subject selectors a richer context with which to measure progress; spot emerging trends, identify duplication, and refine library budget decisions. It’s unlike any research library application ever produced.