Free Access to Consumer Reports (and More)

Written by Nickel - 6 Comments

I never make a major purchase decision without doing a bit of background research. Thus, I was pleased to learn awhile back that I could get free online access to ConsumerReports.org (as well as a large number of other publications) through my local library’s web site. As it turns out, many other public libraries do the same thing. In my case, I simply go to the library website, select “Online Resources,” login with my name and library card number, and then click to select the EBSCO MasterFILE (there are a number of other online reference databases available, as well). The only limitation is a 90-day embargo on content — in other words, the three most recent issues are unavailable. While it may take a bit of poking around to figure out how to do this in your area, it’s definitely worth checking out.

Published on July 18th, 2005 - 6 Comments
Filed under: Frugality, Online
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About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

  1. Great tip! I’m a huge library user, but I didn’t know I could access so much stuff on-line. In the course of looking for this I also found that my library (in Seattle) has access to the O’Reilly Safari website which offers full-text versions of most of their tech books.

    Thanks!

    Comment by Keith — Jul 18th 2005 @ 1:29 pm

  2. My library also provides access to a “Library Edition” of Morningstar, which provides all of the screeners, reports and the Portfolio X-Ray, but no other content. Still, it’s a wonderful resource to be able to access for free.

    Comment by Greg — Jul 18th 2005 @ 6:37 pm

  3. GREAT POST!!!! You just saved me $35 per year!!!!!

    Comment by FMF — Jul 19th 2005 @ 7:50 am

  4. I noticed that I have access to it as well- thanks for the heads up

    Comment by ~Dawn — Jul 23rd 2005 @ 4:28 pm

  5. Hi,

    Thanks for letting us know.

    My blog readers will thank you.

    Sincerely,
    Johncy Edward

    Comment by Johncy — Jul 25th 2005 @ 10:24 am

  6. Good idea. Thanks for the tip.

    Comment by Jonathan — Jul 25th 2005 @ 4:36 pm

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