Category: Reference Universe
The birds now have a nest
29 October 2024 by Eric Calaluca
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(read more)
The birds are singing...
03 April 2024 by Eric Calaluca
“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.(read more)
Things I Learned En Route to Looking Up Other Things
10 June 2021 by Eric Calaluca
“Get a thorough insight into the index, by which the whole book is governed and turned, like fishes by the tail.” – Jonathan Swift This final installment of our trilogy on Focused Browsing (see our previous posts) advances the position that browsing scholarly indexes to specialized encyclopedias reveals new research pathways. Indexes can lead you down paths you never knew existed. A director of a large research library told me “when librarians get a(read more)
Researching at Altitude
19 April 2021 by Eric Calaluca
This post is the second in a three-part series that began with Meandering the Stacks in March 2021 and concluded with Things I Learned En Route to Looking Up Other Things in June 2021. - Ed. “The comparative perspectives provided by multiple specialized encyclopedias provide an assurance of quality that does not attach to Wikipedia articles. Again, this is not to criticize the latter for what they do; it is rather to point out that other important research options for(read more)
Meandering the Stacks
03 March 2021 by Eric Calaluca
This post is the first in a three-part series that continued with Researching at Altitude in April 2021 and concluded with Things I Learned En Route to Looking Up Other Things in June 2021. - Ed. “Classified bookstacks allow researchers to find through recognition what they don’t know what to ask for…focused browsing provides deep access via recognition in a way that digitized libraries of the very same text do not. ” 1 There’s much to(read more)
New Cambridge Titles Added to Reference Universe
06 October 2020 by Paratext Editorial
Paratext has deployed metadata and links for 883 additional Cambridge University Press reference titles—including the Cambridge Companions—to the Reference Universe service. Users will receive relevant results from the new CUP title list automatically when they perform a search in Reference Universe. To ensure your patrons are seeing all your CUP content within the service, please update your holdings information soon through our portal. (read more)
New Scholarly Reference Material from Edward Elgar Publishers
09 September 2020 by Paratext Editorial
Paratext has added 160 new major reference titles from Edward Elgar, a comparatively new publisher represented within Reference Universe. Edward Elgar has expanded dramatically in recent years, publishing 400 book and journal titles annually. Their list of 7,000 total titles focuses on business, law, the social sciences, and the emerging disciplines where these fields intersect. The article level metadata for these new titles (listed below) are now integrated into Reference(read more)
Adding Paratext Search to Your Library’s Website – A Guide
13 February 2020 by Paratext Editorial
With a little HTML and CSS know-how, adding our widget code to your existing library webpage is as easy as 1-2-3. Need a refresher? Not to worry, we’ve got you covered! Read on to learn where to add the code and how to customize the widget to match your library website style. These instructions will detail how to add the Eight Centuries widget code to a library website. However, fear not if you are a U.S. Documents Masterfile or Reference Universe customer: the steps are exactly the(read more)
Add Paratext Search Functionality to Your Library’s Website
06 February 2020 by Paratext Editorial
Did you know that you can quickly add access to Paratext products directly to your library’s website? We’ve done all the hard work for you: just drop our widget code into your web page wherever desired. Widgets are available for all subscribers, no matter the product: The History Widget allows you to provide patrons with easy access to Eight Centuries via a single search box placed anywhere within your site—even in your LibGuides. Similarly, the(read more)
Discovering Medieval Florence and the Donati through Subject Encyclopedias
19 June 2018 by Eric Calaluca
My interest in specialized subject encyclopedias predates Reference Universe. I was assigned a weekly task in my high school library of re-shelving books. It turns out that our school librarian had made a substantial investment in what were—at the time—an emerging genre: specialized subject encyclopedias. The idea of broad general encyclopedias dates to the eighteenth century. However, the publication of specialized subject encyclopedias expanded dramatically in the 1970s(read more)
New Offerings from Edward Elgar and IGI Global
29 May 2018 by Paratext Editorial
IGI Global and Edward Elgar Publishing continue to produce impressive major reference titles within their respective areas of expertise. With 43 new titles from IGI Global and 20 from Edward Elgar, Reference Universe: 1975-2019 has increased its core introductory content in law, economics, environmental policy, and information technology. These additions bring the total number of IGI Global Major Reference Works(read more)
Latest Offerings from Edward Elgar and IGI Global in Reference Universe
12 February 2018 by Paratext Editorial
IGI Global and Edward Elgar Publishing continue to produce impressive major reference titles within their respective areas of expertise. With 22 new titles from IGI Global and 311 from Edward Elgar, Reference Universe has increased its core introductory content in law, economics, environmental policy, and information technology. These additions bring the total number of IGI Global Major Reference Works in Reference Universe to 506 and 1315 from(read more)
New Cambridge University Press Content in Reference Universe
10 January 2018 by Paratext Editorial
Cambridge University Press is the oldest publishing house in the world (1534) and continues to produce high quality scholarly publications in all research areas. Paratext added 631 additional Major Reference Works, including the famed Cambridge Histories to the vast introductory metadata of Reference Universe: 1975-2018. You can view the full list of the recently added Cambridge University Press titles, here. (read more)
Paratext Celebrates 25 Years of Research, 1993-2018
05 January 2018 by Eric Calaluca
Paratext celebrates 25 years of research database applications. “When Paratext began, the most significant 'disruption' came with the industry-wide pre-occupation with CD-ROM as a storage/delivery medium. At the time, CDs were rapidly replacing print and microfiche as the preferred delivery mechanism for large-volume research content,” according to Eric Calaluca, Paratext founder. “The expectation that CD publishing would lower costs was quickly(read more)
New Major Science and Technology Content from IGI Global
30 March 2017 by Paratext Editorial
IGI Global is a leading international academic reference publisher in information science, business science, medical information science and engineering science. This week, Paratext added more than 270 additional Major Reference Works, with an emphasis on IGI Global’s contributions to STEM studies, to the vast introductory metadata of Reference Universe: 1975-2017. This new addition of nearly 16,000 article level links to the 273 most(read more)
The Latest Cambridge University Press Content in Reference Universe
30 March 2017 by Paratext Editorial
Cambridge University Press is the oldest publishing house in the world (1534) and continues to produce high quality scholarly publications in all research areas. Paratext added 700 additional Major Reference Works, including the famed Cambridge Histories to the vast introductory metadata of Reference Universe. (read more)
New Major Reference Content from OUP Now in Reference Universe
20 October 2016 by Paratext Editorial
Oxford University Press remains at the vanguard of authoritative and creative major reference publishing. As such, it has established a singular profile within Paratext’s Reference Universe, the unified online resource for searching; augmenting; weeding; and utilizing Major Reference Works. This week, Paratext has supplemented the OUP profile with an additional 1.7 million article level links to 263 new Oxford Major Reference titles. 555 reference titles(read more)
New See Similar Titles Feature in Reference Universe
18 May 2016 by Paratext Editorial
Your Major Reference Collection contains unique data. The benefits are for all researchers, but particularly for advanced and graduate students looking to refine theses topics. In order to expand the value of this more expanded query, Paratext has launched a redesigned Reference Universe with enhanced features, most specifically a See Similar Titles feature, using proximity of Library of Congress Classification to reveal titles otherwise missed. (read more)
Modifications to Reference Universe for Web and Public Service Administrators
04 February 2016 by Paratext Editorial
Paratext has launched a newly designed interface for Reference Universe. Along with the redesign, two new enhancements have been deployed: Program Changes * See Nearby Titles is now a programmed feature accessible at nearly all areas of the search architecture. This feature allows researchers to "Walk the Shelves" of both legacy print content and E-Reference titles, so other relevant content not necessarily returned in their specific search is revealed. * A new Hot Key(read more)
Reference Collection Analysis now Live
08 January 2016 by Paratext Editorial
New Inventory and Analysis Tools for your Major Reference Works Many library administrators are being pressed to inventory, relocate and/or weed their collection of Major Reference Works. But these expensive, non-circulating titles present a unique challenge. Where to start? The Reference Universe Collection Analysis module is now online--an extension of Paratext’s Reference Universe Usage Platform. This new module allows you to: Assess the coverage of your e-Reference titles(read more)
"Reference Universe and Web of Science"
15 October 2015 by Paratext Editorial
“Two databases for identifying initial overview articles deserve particular emphasis, Reference Universe and Web of Science. (pg. 2) Thomas Mann spent more than 30 years as a reference librarian at the Library of Congress, acquiring unparalleled skills in helping researchers discover new connections, pathways and higher-quality resources. The latest edition (May 2015) of his Oxford Guide to Library Research is the best overview of major research resources, both print and(read more)
Paratext Launches New Resource Usage Platform
26 February 2015 by Paratext Editorial
Paratext is pleased to announce our new Resource Usage Platform. You can measure statistics on terms, titles found, most popular queries, and which data sources are being utilized. The platform is available for 19th Century Masterfile, Public Documents Masterfile, and Reference Universe. Observe how your reference collection is being utilized: Discover how e-resources and print usage compares. Use for deeper analysis for coordinating research programs and objectives. Use(read more)
IGI Global Titles Now Integrated Into Paratext's Reference Universe
10 June 2014 by Paratext Editorial
IGI Global and Paratext announce that thousands of additional links to nearly 150 IGI Global reference titles are now accessible via Paratext’s Reference Universe service. Reference Universe is the only database that provides both collection-level scope and index-level analysis of major reference works. All of IGI Global’s current works, including encyclopedias, multi-volume book collections, as well as single and two-volume handbooks of research, will now be(read more)
Cambridge Books Online now accessible via Paratext's Reference Universe
25 March 2014 by Paratext Editorial
Paratext announces that thousands of links to nearly 400 Major Reference Works from Cambridge Books Online will be integrated into Paratext’s Reference Universe service. Cambridge University Press’ coverage of all disciplines, at the highest scholarly level, further enhances the mission of Reference Universe, bringing the finest introductory content into the hands of researchers. Read the full press release here. (read more)
SAGE Reference Titles now integrated into Reference Universe
15 March 2014 by Paratext Editorial
SAGE and Paratext are pleased to announce that thousands of additional links to nearly 400 SAGE Reference titles have been integrated into the Reference Universe service These award-winning titles join the nearly 45,000 represented within Reference Universe, the only research database that provides both collection-level scope and index-level analysis of Major Reference Works. Read the full press release here. (read more)
Elsevier Major Reference Works now in Reference Universe
01 April 2013 by Paratext Editorial
Paratext is proud to announce that thousands of links to nearly 250 Major Reference Works from Elsevier’s ScienceDirect will be integrated into Paratext’s Reference Universe service. Elsevier’s Major Reference Works provide foundational content that gives cross-disciplinary perspective to researchers, librarians, teachers and students worldwide. “Elsevier’s Major Reference Works provide reliable and rigorous foundational content to undergraduate, advanced,(read more)
Find Your Oxford Collection with Reference Universe
26 March 2013 by Paratext Editorial
As you may already know, access to Oxford’s sizeable collection of online reference titles recently underwent some changes. The Oxford Reference Online and Oxford Digital Reference collections were combined into one platform – Oxford Reference to make for a more intuitive research experience for users. Even better, over 200 of these valuable online reference titles are included in Reference Universe, enabling even greater discovery(read more)
eBooks Now More Visible in Reference Universe
18 February 2013 by Paratext Editorial
The way your library users have been doing research has been changing for some time. You see it every day, eBooks are becoming dominant in modern search habits. Reference Universe remains the only collection level discovery resource focused specifically on Major Reference Works. Enriched metadata for over 10,000 Electronic Reference titles as well as over 30,000 of your library’s legacy print holdings are now online. With new, larger eBook icons incorporated(read more)
Over 350 New Major Reference Works added to Reference Universe
18 December 2012 by Paratext Editorial
Content for new Major Reference titles from Gale, Oxford and Blackwell will soon be added to Reference Universe. This new update adds over 170 new titles–with deep analytics for E-versions as well as their print equivalents. This includes resources from Gale Virtual Reference Library,Wiley Online Library and Oxford Reference. Over 45,000 titles are now part of the(read more)
160 New Credo Titles Now Searchable in Reference Universe
25 April 2012 by Paratext Editorial
Reference Universe has now expanded to include even more titles from Credo Reference. This most recent update, which brings in 160 additional Credo Reference titles, includes leading publishers such as SAGE UK, Princeton University Press and Elsevier. Credo’s General Reference is a multi-disciplinary database focused on the most popular academic research subjects. These authoritative reference resources cover history, medical(read more)
Increased Discovery for more Taylor & Francis Titles Through Reference Universe
16 March 2012 by Paratext Editorial
Detailed data to over 40 Major Reference Works from Taylor & Francis have just been integrated into Reference Universe. This major enhancement, covering works predominantly in science and technology, includes links to the E-editions at Taylor & Francis Online, as well as the corresponding data for detailed analysis of the print editions. Taylor & Francis is a leading international academic publisher with a reputation for exceptional scientific(read more)
Even More Oxford and Wiley Titles Searchable In Reference Universe
06 March 2012 by Paratext Editorial
Over 80 new titles from Oxford University Press and Wiley now join the almost 45,000 reference titles now more accessible through Reference Universe. The most comprehensive resource for greater discovery of authoritative reference works just keeps growing. The new titles now included cover a range of subjects. Current customers will now have greater access to: Encyclopedia of Dead Sea Scrolls, Oxford University Press Encyclopedia of Drug Metabolism and(read more)
Reference Universe a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title of 2012
17 January 2012 by Paratext Editorial
Paratext is honored to announce that Reference Universe has been chosen as one of the CHOICEOutstanding Academic Titles of 2012. Reference Universe is one of the select few titles chosen out of the over 7,000 that were reviewed by CHOICE in 2011 to be recognized for their excellence in scholarship and the significance of their contribution to the field. According to CHOICE, the editors apply several criteria to reviewed titles including: overall(read more)
82 Additional Reference Titles from Wiley Now Linked via Reference Universe
01 December 2011 by Paratext Editorial
Reference Universe customers subscribing to the Wiley Online Library will now find 82 new titles from this invaluable resource included in Reference Universe. The Wiley Online Library brings many of the quality resources Wiley-Blackwell has long been known for into an easy to use online platform. The award-winning reference content included in the Wiley Online Library covers life, health, social and physical sciences, and the humanities. As one of the(read more)
By Popular Request, Grove Art Online and Grove Music Online Now in Reference Universe
08 November 2011 by Paratext Editorial
Paratext is pleased to announce that detailed metadata from Grove Art Online and Grove Music Online from Oxford University Press are now integrated into Reference Universe. Many current Reference Universe libraries tell us that these titles are among the most heavily used within their library. Their inclusion within Reference Universe ensures increased accessibility to some of the most authoritative articles on art and music available. Grove Art(read more)
E-Reference Context and Discoverability in Libraries
05 October 2011 by Paratext Editorial
Between her blog No Shelf Required and her book of the same name, Sue Polanka of Wright State University has been helping librarians understand the growing shift towards e-books and embrace the opportunities they present within traditional collection development activities. Her most recent contribution on the subject, E-Reference Context and Discoverability in Libraries: Issues and Concepts has just been released by IGI Publishing. It brings together the ideas of(read more)
The Librarian-Controlled Reference Universe Administrative Module Now Available
22 September 2011 by Paratext Editorial
The Reference Universe Administrative Module is now available! In response to our most common request from users, the Administrative Module will greatly simplify the update process in Reference Universe. Reference Universe users can now: Immediately make additions/deletions to your Reference Universe profile as new titles are added to or weeded from your collection Keep up to date on reference titles your library may not yet have Easily(read more)
Integrating Reference Universe into your Library's New Discovery Service
12 August 2011 by Paratext Editorial
Your library may be considering (or have already acquired) a new ‘discovery service’ for your library to simplify searching and open up your content. That’s good. Wouldn’t it be better to also see your reference collection represented in these services with the kind of detail you now see within Reference Universe? Paratext is pleased to announce that some integration has already taken place, and more is to come. There are two ways to(read more)
Sharpe Online Reference Content Added to Reference Universe
26 May 2011 by Paratext Editorial
Paratext is pleased to announce that all of the reference works from the Sharpe Online Referencecollection have been added to the nearly 50,000 scholarly subject encyclopedias and other scholarly reference titles accessible via the Reference Universe service. Sharpe Online Reference (SOLR) includes the titles that make up the U.S. and Global History and Culture collections. SOLR brings together award-wining subject coverage, the convenience and flexibility(read more)
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