Hi'ya folks,
Often, when I am doing web research, I come across scholarly article abstracts that sound fascinating. However, I cannot gain access to them without first having a membership with the online library that hosts the article. Do you know of any online libraries that do not require a paid membership or alliance with an academic institution?
Do you know anyone that goes to college. My university had a mess of databases. I used to hand out my log in like candy. :)
You may want to see if your local public library offers database access through a statewide program or some sort of consortium. In Pennsylvania we have something called AccessPA which offers many databases that include scholarly articles for free with a library card. There are also 2 libraries that are considered state resources and anyone in the state can get a library card from that library and have access to additional databases and services that are not part of the Access program.
Have you tried Google Scholar?
Otherwise, my experience also is that most articles or databases require a fee. I have joined one because it contained enough articles that I wanted. I am currently writing a dissertation, so I have access to many articles through my school's database, but some are not contained there.
Many colleges have visitor's access to their databases. You usually have to actually go to the library and can use a visitor's computer that does not require a password/account for use. I know that UW libaries have them and so do the Seattle Community Colleges. Your public library may also subscribe to certain journals and offer full text access.
Google scholar often comes up with full text results for older articles.
You could "borrow" an access code from a student for off campus access - I personally would never give anyone my access information since it also allows that person to access my academic portal and mess with my registration, financial aid and such. Everything is online nowadays.
Apart form the fact that this is not quite "right". Downloading subscription content from a scientific journal by "borrowing" someone else's access code is no different from illegally downloading music...
