Reference at Newman Library

Tag: Project MUSE

Problems with New Project MUSE Interface

In January, Project MUSE rolled out a new interface that now looks like it’s got a few quirks and missing functions.

“Find it” Icon and Link Icon

As noted on my January 6 post about the new interface, Project MUSE doesn’t make it possible for libraries to include an icon for their link resolver, so for us here in CUNY, the connection to SFX is via the link labeled “Find it! @ CUNY.” It’s now apparent that the link to SFX only appears on the search results pages; article records inexplicably fail to offer the SFX link.

What makes the disappearance of the SFX link from article record pages worse is that the pages offer a confusing set of login options at the bottom (none of which are any use to Baruch users) and the pages show on the top right corner a legend for Project MUSE access icons that might on first glance seem to suggest that we do have access (when in fact we really don’t). This screenshot shows the problematic sections of article record pages:

“Saved Citations” Feature Doesn’t Work (Yet)

Although the top right corner of the screen suggests there is a way to have “Saved Citations,” I couldn’t see a way to save anything. I assume this functionality is coming eventually. Here’s a screenshot of the “Saved Citations” feature as it appears right now:

Filter to Search Beyond Baruch’s Subscription Toggles Off

13 Feb. 2012 update: this filter problem now fixed

There is a checkbox on the left side of the search page for “Access” that lets you expand your search beyond “Only content I have access to.” If you run an expanded search and move back and forth between your search results page and article record pages, you’ll see that the checkbox setting you made gets undone and your search results page just shows the more restricted search to “Only content I have access to.”

I’ve reported these issues to Project MUSE and will let you know when they’ve been fixed.

New Project MUSE Interface

This week, Project MUSE launched a major new overhaul of the interface (read the official press release). The most notable element of the new interface is that ebooks from university presses are now part of the site’s indexed content.

As in the case of JSTOR, we have not subscribed to all the collections in this database. Unlike JSTOR, the default search mode to search all of the content (as opposed to the default of only searching what you have licensed). When users search Project MUSE, they’ll see all sorts of content that we might not have in Project MUSE. SFX, though, is set up in Project MUSE, so users should look for a “Find it @ CUNY” link next to such items (sadly, the interface doesn’t allow us to have that text link accompanied by our usual Find It icon. Here’s a screenshot of what the SFX link looks like on  a search results page:



If you want to limit your search to just the content that is immediately available to us in full text within Project MUSE, the only way to do that is AFTER you have run a search in a checkbox that appears on the left side of the search results page. Here’s a screenshot: