TANSTAAFL: in search of the free lunch and no-cost/low-cost full-text archives

Volume 8, Number 6 • June 2000

TANSTAAFL: in search of the free lunch and no-cost/low-cost full-text archives
by Mary Ellen Bates

Presents a guide to nearly free online information services. Includes a table comparing seven online sources on cost, number of sources, depth of archive, and best features. Describes the services and available from Dialog Open Access ($3-5 per article), Dow Jones Publications Library QPass ($2.95/article), Electric Library ($9.95), Financial Times (most articles free; some are $1.50), HighWire Press (most require subscription, NA), Northern Light ($1-2.95), and Powerize ($1-4.95). Recommends Electric Library for newspapers and general news sources; HighWire for medical and life science research; and Dow Jones Publications Library and Northern Light for business searches with powerful search tools. Notes that Financial Times and Powerize provide some free content, and Dialog Open Access offers the widest variety. Adds that only Electric Library requires a monthly fee.