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More Database Handouts: Step by Step with Project Muse

Sometimes popular and general databases are not enough. Learn to search more social science, local, statistical, and education, and dictionary databases step-by-step.

Step by Step with Project Muse

Where to Go

Back to Step by Step for More Databases for Argument, Social Science, and Public Policy Papers.

Have you looked atStep by Step for Finding Books and Using Popular Databases,

Or Step by Step with Science and Technology Databases?

Back to Handouts for You

And of Course...

Search Project Muse

Step by Step with Project Muse

With consolidation, Project Muse returned to the Perimeter College community! Project Muse is mostly full text database that offers journal articles in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Subjects covered include: literary criticism, religion, philosophy, mythology, sociology, psychology, fine arts, and much more.

  1. The most interesting part of any search happens before your fingers ever touch the keyboard. Think about your topic. Most college level paper topics have two ideas. If your paper topic has only one idea, you may want to narrow it down. A good example of a college level paper topic is masks as a part of African art. For this topic, the two main ideas are African art and masks.

    For Project Muse to make the most of your search topic, you need to put its two main ideas together with an AND. The AND is not a word, but a logical operator that combines two important ideas, for example African art AND masks. This is what Project Muse sees when you type in African art AND masks:

    The overlap between the two circles is your search results.

    Boolean search for masks in African art


  2. To search Project Muse, choose your database directly from the A-Z List below the big discovery box on the library web page. Select P, scroll down, and click to open.


    big discovery box on the library web page

  3. Project Muse presents you with a box for your search..

    searching with a single box on Project Muse

    Type each of your search’s main ideas into the left box. Don't forget the AND. Then click the blue and gold magnifying glass button to search.

  4. Project Muse presents you with results in a single list. Most articles come complete with a picture of a journal cover.

  5. You can move among the results with the scroll bar. If you reach the bottom of a long list of articles, Project Muse simply loads more.

  6. To view the HTML or PDF full text of articles, click on the PDF or HTML links. If an article is not part of Project Muse, click the Find It @ GSU, text link.

    reference from Project Muse


  7. Print Project Muse articles using your browser’s Print icon for HTML articles or the PDF Print icon for PDF articles.

  8. Save Project Muse articles by clicking File and Save As in your browser for HTML articles or clicking on the Disk icon and following directions in PDF.

  9. You still can not email Project Muse articles directly from within the database so saving them to a USB drive or to the desktop and then attaching them to email or uploading them to Google Drive or OneDrive are both good strategies.

  10. To revise your Project Muse search, scroll to the top of the window and edit what is in the box.

  11. When you are finished with Project Muse, simply close your browser.