Database of the Week - New Feature!

In an effort to showcase the many wonderful databases Chesnutt Library has to offer, the librarians in the Reference Department will be posting brief reviews of the databases. Each week will feature a different database. We hope this gives FSU students, faculty, and staff a small glimpse into the many resources at Chesnutt Library. We welcome any comments or suggestions on any of our posts.

Our first Database of the Week is Project Muse.


"Project Muse is an online collection of several hundred titles in the arts, humanities and social sciences from 60 university and society presses. Muse journals cover many fields of study including literature, history, politics and policy studies, economics, education, film, religion and women's studies."

Like most databases Project Muse allows both Basic and Advanced searching. The Basic screen has one search box with ten search fields: All Fields w/Text (default), All Fields except Text, Article Text, Article Title, Article Author, LC Subject, Journal, Author reviewed, and Title reviewed. The search engine automatically defaults to searching journals subscribed to by Chesnutt Library but you can search ALL journals. Results can be sorted by relevance, date, or journal (alphabetical).

The Advanced screen contains four search boxes to allow for multiple field searches. Project Muse allows you to limit your search by Type (Article, Review, Poetry, Fiction or Drama), by Date, or by Journal Title.

Some Notable Features:

• Articles are in both HTML and PDF formats
• Results can be saved for export to Endnote, Refworks, Email or Printer-Friendly version
• Email results include full citation with the url for the full-text article
• Library of Congress subject headings included with results
• Email Alerts
• RSS feeds

What I Think:

Project Muse has a simple interface and is easy to navigate. One of its most useful features is its Search History button. I was continually modifying my search strategies to get better results. It worked great. Some Articles contain thumbnail pictures, but by clicking on the thumbnail you get a clearer, bigger picture with excellent detail. Its individual journal feeds provide the latest four issues of selected journals plus upcoming titles - also an excellent feature. This database is highly recommended for students and faculty conducting research in the humanities, arts and social sciences.

Linette Neal, Reference Librarian