Sunday November 21st, 2010 Consumer Reports

Unfortunately, I am not the greatest decision maker in the product purchasing department. I tend to just grab and go with no thought of exactly what or what brand I am buying, anything to get out of the store as quick as possible. Of course, after a time I will find out that I have purchased complete garbage or have vastly overpaid which results in ridicule from my family and friends as the laughing stock of shopping.

When faced with the decision to purchase a product, do you usually just fly by the seat of your pants and make decisions with your gut with little factual knowledge about a product or do you like to make an informed decision by conducting research and gathering information from unbiased sources? If you are the latter or have desires to be like that than I have a great resource for you: Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization which provides readers with detailed reviews, rates and comparisons of a wide range of consumer products, from very large ticket items to everyday household goods. Thunder Bay Public Library has a number of Consumer Report publications for library users, from yearly buying guides and specialty publications to a monthly periodical. In addition, one can access every magazine article since 1985 electronically through the TBPL website.

To better assist you in making those informed choices on which protein drink to buy or if I look better with or without my amazing beard (HA!), each month Consumer Reports comes out with informative articles on virtually every type of product. Also, the magazine has a Canada Extra section in the middle of each month’s issue; this section includes Canadian pricing and availability information concerning the products showcased within.

Now, my absolute favourite Consumer Report resources are found within the TBPL Virtual Collection. The Virtual Collection is a series of electronic databases which house an astonishing amount of information available either at the library or from the comfort of your own home (provided you have minor things like internet access, a computer, a library card and fantastic posture….well maybe not fantastic posture in this instance). A great database to use is MasterFILE Premier. Once inside, you can choose the publication tab and type in Consumer Reports. You will then be shown four separate Consumer Reports publications all available digitally: Consumer Reports, Consumer Reports Buying Guide, Consumer Reports on Health and Consumer Reports Travel Letter. After choosing one of the four Consumer reports publications, you can easily browse through each individual issue or you can search within all or some of the issues for a specific type of product. Articles are shown in PDF format, complete with photographs and charts, and can be read, printed, saved and/or emailed.

The yearly buying guide issued by Consumer Reports can also be found in print at your library branches along with other item specific publications. Individual report publications centering around subjects such as electronics, health, diet, child rearing and vehicles are all available for loan.

Now, equipped with all this information and resources, you can rest assured that my rotten friends and family members will have no choice but to cease making fun of my buying powers and focus on other things in life, like making fun of my golf swing or my fishing technique or the way I walk……….Jeesh!

Derek Gradner, Library Technician