WEBSITES

DATABASES

IN THE LIBRARY

WEBSITES

Automobiles	Comparison Shopping	Consumer Protection
Cost of Living/CPI	Credit Reporting	General Information
	Digital TV Information

 

     Automobiles

• Edmund's Automobile Buyer's Guide (www.edmunds.com)
• Fuel Economy Comparisons (www.fueleconomy.gov)
• Greener Cars (www.greenercars.com)
• Hemmings Motor News (www.hemmings.com)
• Intellichoice (www.intellichoice.com)
• Kelley Blue Book Car Prices (www.kbb.com)
• Microsoft CarPoint (autos.msn.com)
• NADA Used Vehicle Appraisal Guides (www.nadaguides.com)
• National Highway Transportation Safety Administration Recall Database (www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/index.html)

 

Comparison Shopping

• Appliance Efficiency Database http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/appliances/index.html
• Consumer Guide (www.consumerguide.com)
• Consumer Search (www.consumersearch.com)
• Consumer World (www.consumerworld.org)
• Consumers Union/Consumer Reports (www.consumersunion.org)
• Energy Efficiency (ACEEE) (www.aceee.org)

Consumer Protection

• Protecting Yourself from Frauds and Scams Bibliography

     Cost of Living/Consumer Price Index

• Consumer Price Index (www.bls.gov/cpi) - There is no CPI for Boise, but this site does link to index numbers for the region.
• Cost of Living comparisions (U.S. cities) (www.datamasters.com)
• ACCRA Cost of Living (www.coli.org) - There is a charge for this information online, however, the library has a subscription to the ACCRA Cost of Living Index publication.  Ask for it at the 2nd floor reference desk.

     Credit Reporting

 

• Annual Credit Report (www.annualcreditreport.com) - AnnualCreditReport.com is the official site to help consumers to obtain their free credit report.
• Equifax (www.equifax.com)
• Experian (www.experian.com/consumer/index.html
• TransUnion (www.transunion.com/index.jsp) - previously known as TUC.
• MIB Group, Inc. (http://www.mib.com/html/consumer_protection.html) -  request information about your insurance ratings.

    General Information

• Bankrate.com  - guide to mortgage rate and other financial rate calculations 
• Better Business Bureau  (www.boise.bbb.org)
• Consumer.gov - your resource for consumer information from the federal government, including the well-known Pueblo, Colorado site
• ConsumerPrivacyGuide.org  - tips to protect your privacy
• Guide to Federal Government Sales - is linked to the Pueblo, Colorado site at www.pueblo.gsa.gov
• Idaho Attorney General's Consumer Protection Unit (www2.state.id.us/ag)

SUBSCRIPTION DATABASES

  Visit our Database page to search thousands of magazines, journals, newspapers and books to locate and read articles online.

IN THE LIBRARY

Boise Public Library has a Consumer Table on the 3rd floor. The current issues of consumer magazines, vehicle cost guides and evaluations, and subject indexes may be found there.  

At the Consumer Table, you can research your subject in these indexes:

• The back of each issue of Consumers' Research magazine and Consumer Reports magazine.  Consumer Reports articles older than 3 months also may be available in the Thomson Gale General OneFile database.  
• The annual Consumer Reports Buying Guide includes an four year index to the magazine, as well as a separate index to the Buying Guide itself.

Other places to look:

• The green Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, located on our Index Table.
• Periodical indexing through our Subscription Databases. 
•     Search Tips:  if you get too many citations, try using the keywords purchasing and evaluation with your subject word to narrow your search.  And remember that in Thomson Gale, the most recent articles are listed first.  

It is important to us that you find what you need to make informed consumer decisions.  Because consumer information is subjective and needs your own evaluation to be meaningful, we do not provide consumer evaluations by phone, fax, or email.  You must decide which information source is right for you.  We can help you identify resources concerning your product and our staff is always happy to help you research your product when you come to the library.  THE LIBRARY ALSO HAS COMPUTERS TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR RESEARCH.

If you need assistance, please call the Documents and Periodicals Desk at 384-4023.

Last Updated:07/21/2008 Author:JD