First Magazine Published in America: 1741

The first magazine published in America appeared in 1741. Unfortunately, it only lasted three months. And now, in the 21st century (according to the American Society of Magazine Editors), there were over 24,000 magazines published in the US in 2010.  Of course, a large portion of that number probably are very specialized, and therefore have low circulation. But, that shows that there is still an interest in magazines in this country.

Personally, I love magazines. I love the pictures, the articles, the information -- and, yes, even the gossip -- that can be found in magazines. To me, it's a great way to get news and other information that might not be covered in a newspaper or on television.

In my house we subscribe to four magazines, two of which are weeklies. If I had more time (and money), I would probably subscribe to a lot more! But there are plenty of magazines that I can look at, and even check out, here at Monroeville Public Library. And if we don't have it, another library in the county might and I could request it.

Also, our online databases provide full text of many magazines -- some that are available in our library, but many that aren't. All you need is a current Allegheny County Library card. One of the most popular magazines to look at through the database is Consumer Reports. You can search full-text articles back to 1991. The database to use for most magazines is MasterFILE Premier. Once you are in the database, you can search the database just like you would our catalog. But here, you can limit your search to specific magazines, i.e. Consumer Reports. Personally, I've used this quite a lot to find out information about new  appliances and new cars.

Click here for a step-by-step instruction on how to access an article in Consumer Reports.


-- Post by Tracy