Robbins Library Notes

Last fall, I wrote about the database, Project MUSE, which houses electronic versions of the many academic journals published by the Johns Hopkins University Press.

I received, last week, a notice from one of my library colleagues, announcing a new feature that has been recently been added to the Project MUSE records:

Project MUSE introduces linked subject headings

Users of Project MUSE articles and Tables of Contents in our recently-launched new format may have noticed an additional feature -”clickable” subject headings for each article, allowing fast and easy connections to related content in Project MUSE. Built upon the rich controlled vocabulary classification of all MUSE articles and reviews with Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) by our in-house professional cataloging staff, this new functionality quickly connects scholars to additional relevant content to enhance their research.

Linked subject headings are a powerful discovery tool for users. Following a subject heading link brings the user to an alphabetical listing of all current subject headings utilized for MUSE articles, with the selected heading as the entry point in the list. The researcher may then view additional articles that share the same subject heading, or peruse further articles with related headings. The list of subject headings is annotated with the current number of MUSE articles and reviews to which that heading is assigned.

One of the many benefits of the linked subject headings is the ability to refine a research topic when articles with a more specific focus are needed. Conversely, the linked subject headings can guide a user to articles with a broader approach when the assignment requires a more general discussion of the research topic.

MUSE has always assigned LC subject headings to articles to help users identify the topics discussed within an article and in turn, to select articles most suitable to their research. Now, by simply clicking on a subject heading, users can move from subject to subject, article to article, exploring topics and articles related to their search topic.

All MUSE articles and Tables of Contents produced since mid-April 2008 offer the new linked subject headings functionality; as older content is converted to the new format, the feature will also become available for archival articles, reviews, and Tables of Contents. Please direct any questions or comments about MUSE’s linked subject headings to Customer Support at   HTML Version | PDF Version

Library of Congress Subject Headings: