MDS-Rely Spring 2026 Brochure - Flipbook - Page 12
LitDB
John Kitchin
LitDB is a tool that allows users to si昀琀
through and curate custom local databases
of scien琀椀fic literature focused on their
user-specified topic. Inspired by the sheer
amount of scholarly resources being made
available online every day and the 琀椀me it
takes to explore them, LitDB provides a
simple and easy-to-use alterna琀椀ve to
tradi琀椀onal online research by op琀椀mizing the
research process with a customizable
database.
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LitDB allows users to supply a research
paper as a jumping-off point. From it, the
tool compiles a local database of the 琀椀tles
and abstracts of each reference, ci琀椀ng
source, and related source 琀椀ed to the
original paper using data from OpenAlex
and Turso. Users can then query the
database with simple terms, receiving the
most relevant sources along with their
rela琀椀vity score. The tool also features vector
search, enabling users to query with longer
natural language phrases and make deeper
connec琀椀ons beyond simple matched terms.
