Where to Find Free Online Magazines and White Papers

by: Christian Wu

The advent of the internet has changed the way people go about their daily lives. It also changed how people do business and it also gave easy access to different information by way of interactive media. There are now millions of websites containing all kinds of information for any topics and subject any person can think of. As many companies go paperless, people who have access to the internet can now read online magazines and download white papers.

Online access to magazine subscriptions and digital white papers

Online magazines are electronic versions of the typical magazine. In most cases, the online versions contains pretty much the same content and information as the conventional magazines while some have different contents and contents that are only available online or vice versa. While there are magazines that offer free subscription, there are also those who charge a minimal fee. For some people, subscribing to online magazines are a cheaper alternative and is more practical as most are supplemented with other features such as mailing lists, dynamic contents, links to other related topics and online chat.

White papers on the other hand are reports that are written by academics and industry professionals who are experts in their fields. White papers talk about a varied subject such as data management, network security, politics, management, directory services, frame relay, finances, and other topics. It often include case studies of real world exploration on various subjects as well as charts and graphs, photographs, and a list of resources such as names of companies, industry experts, universities, associations, websites, and other white papers. They can be found in many websites and most can be viewed free, while some are quite long and requires to be downloaded and read with the use of other special software.

These publications are especially helpful to companies in making business decisions such in a case where they are looking into investing in a new technology as they often provide examples on best practices, e-commerce methods, practices to avoid and some papers often describe what an expert’s position is regarding a topic.

Free access to information and magazine subscriptions

There are thousands of free online resources. These resources are varied with numerous categories ranging from business to marketing and the automotive industry.

Trade Pub is a website that offers free magazines such as Profit magazine, a publication that is distributed to more than 110,000 C-level executives and provides business leaders with a road map on turning their technology investments into top and bottom line advantages. Overdrive is a publication that serves primarily commercial truck owner-operators and small fleet owners, as well as company drivers. Their editorial focus helps owner-operators and small fleet owners be successful in managing businesses. One can also request free access to white papers such as Oracle’s "Business Agility: Strategies for Midsize Organizations" or Perceptive Software’s "Going Green? Choose ECM."

So what qualifications do I need to receive a free subscription?

The publishers are solely responsible for determining the specific requirements needed to receive their publications free of charge. Generally, one or more of the following is required:

1. your work requires you to be informed and up-to-date about the subject matter covered by the trade publication,

2. you need information about the types of products that are advertised or discussed in the trade publication, and/or

3. you evaluate, recommend and/or purchase types of products that are advertised or discussed in a trade publication.

Publishers are interested in specific job titles and job functions, but may also evaluate and determine qualification based on other criteria asked in their qualification form. Additionally, publishers' criteria may change from time to time, based on their overall demographic needs and requirements.