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Reference Materials
Government Documents
State Codes
Journals
Databases
Internet Resources
The Marvin K. Peterson Library has an extensive collection of resources for fire science and fire safety research, including codes and regulations, statistics, information on fire prevention, arson prevention, building construction, emergency response, and hazardous materials. This guide is a starting point that presents a selection of resources, both ours and the Internet sources we list. Use our catalog to find more resources, and search the Internet -- carefully and critically -- for additional websites. Other library guides, such as Chemistry, Engineering, Federal Law, Connecticut State Law, Government Documents, and Occupational Safety & Health may also be useful. For a good overview of library research and resources, take the Virtual Reference Tour. You can also come to the Information Desk for assistance with your research, call us at (203) 932-7189 or e-mail us. For help writing papers, consult the Center for Learning Resources Writing Lab in Maxcy Hall.
Note: This online guide contains direct links to databases and websites. To locate any of the sites listed if you have printed out this guide, simply type in the name of the site in Google or another search engine to get to the site you want.
Library Home Page
Go to the Peterson Library home page and take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with it. If you start at the UNH website, click on Library in the top middle. All the links for accessing library materials and services are on the left of the library home page. The most important are the ones for the Catalog, Databases, Journals, and library Guides, but a quick look at all will be time well spent.
Use the catalog to find circulating and reference materials, including books, audio-visual holdings, government documents, and periodical titles. (For periodical articles, see the Journals section.) Our catalog uses the Library of Congress (LC) classification system and subject headings. LC assigns call numbers (letters and numbers) according to the book's primary subject. Many fire science materials will have T, TH, or TK call numbers but others will be found elsewhere in the collection as well as in our government documents department.
Quick catalog search tips:
- Truncate with "?": combust? will bring up combustibility, combustible, combustion,
etc.
- Put phrases in " ": "fire prevention" or "smoke detector" or "hazardous materials"
- Sort results by Publish date descending to get newest items at the top of the list.
- Click on the Bibliographic tab to determine the LC subject headings for an item
and then click on those headings as links to additional material with the same
subject.
- Always click on the Linked Resources tab to check for electronic access for single
items. In multiple-result searches, a URL box at the right of the screen is a
reminder to do this.
Look for more tips at the bottom of the catalog search page, see Using the UNH Library Catalog (OPAC), or take our interactive Online Library Catalog Tutorial.
Automatic Sprinkler Systems Handbook. Ref. TH9336 .A88 1999
Bretherick's Handbook of Reactive Chemical Hazards. Vols. 1 & 2. Ref. T55.3 .H3 B73 1999
CHRIS (Chemical Hazards Response Information System). 4 vols. Ref. T55.3 .H3 C34 1999
Also online from the U.S. Coast Guard.
Emergency Response Guidebook. "A guidebook for first responders during the initial phase of a dangerous goods/hazardous materials incident". From the U.S. Department of Transportation. Ref. T55.3 .H3 E45. Some sections online from the Office of Hazardous Material Safety.
Encyclopedia of Fire. David E. Newton. Ref. TP265 .N48 2002
Fire Protection Guide to Hazardous Materials. Ref. T55.3 .H3 N38 1997
Fire in the United States. Ref. TH9503 .F48. Library has 1978, 1982, 2001; other eds. also online including the 2004 edition. A co-production of FEMA, USFA & National Fire Data Centers providing statistics on fires in the U.S. by type, location, fatalities, etc.
Hazardous Materials Response Handbook. Ref. T55.3 .H3 H4245 1997
Life Safety Code Handbook. Ref. TH9445 .P8 L5 2006. Includes the text of the code.
unlike many of the handbooks above which are current only for the year published.????????????
NFPA 1 Uniform Fire Code Handbook. Ref. KF3975 .N3 W52h 2006
NFPA Fire Prevention Code Handbook. Ref. TH9182 .N47 2000
National Electrical Code Handbook. Ref. TK260 .N464 2005. Includes the electrical code.
National Fire Alarm Code Handbook. Ref. TH9271 .NJ4 1999
National Fire Codes Subscription Service. Ref. TH9111 .N376. 15 vols. Volume 15 is a master index. Looseleaf, updated regularly to contain most current versions of all NFPA codes.
Note: The state codes are often based on an older versions of standards and codes, with updates and supplements issued by state agencies.
SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. Ref. TH9145 .S46 2002
World Trade Center Building Performance Study. 2001. Investigation into the destruction of the World Trade Center. Ref. TH441 .U5 2002. [Perm. Reserve] Ask at the Circ. Desk.
The Marvin K. Peterson Library has participated in the Federal Depository Library Program since 1971, selecting about a third of federal publications in areas that support our curriculum, including material from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), CDC (Centers for Disease Control), EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), and the Department of Homeland Security. All currently received documents, and many of the older ones, will be found through library catalog searches. Many resources are available online; click on Linked Resources to check for the online availability of a particular item. For catalog items with the U.S. Gov't Docs location that are not online, come to the Information Desk for staff assistance.
For more information on government resources, consult How to Find U.S. Government Documents, also available in print at the Information Desk.
Codes consist of current statutes (laws), as well as regulations. The current State of Connecticut codes also refer to other standard references, such as the BOCA and NFPA codes. This information has been compiled in publications that are kept on Permanent Reserve in the library - ask for them at the Circulation Desk. The State of Connecticut's Department of Public Safety's Division of Fire, Emergency & Building Services posts information about the fire safety and building codes on the web. Click on the Fire Marshal and Building Inspector links for more information. The Fire safety code is available in several pieces from the Fire Marshal link. It is also available in the library:
Connecticut State Fire Safety Code. [Perm. Reserve] Ref. KF3975.A15 N37. To be used with the 1997 NFPA Life Safety Code. Ref. TH9445.P8.L5 2006. Earlier editions in the circulating stacks. The 1997 edition is on permanent reserve, since it is referred to as part of the current State of Connecticut Fire Safety Code. Check the State Fire Marshal page for developments with the Code.
State of Connecticut Building Code. [Perm. Reserve] Ref. KFC813.C7 2000. Includes the statutes, administrative regulations, and third party texts referred to in the statutes.
Uniform Fire Codes. Western Fire Chiefs Association. Ref. KF3975.Z95 I58 2000
Periodical articles from magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals are a valuable source of information in all research fields. The Journals link on the home page is a listing of most of the periodical titles, current and historical, to which you have access through the library, including print, and microform materials in the library, as well as periodicals available electronically. Use Journals link to find:
- Single journals or articles: If you have the citation to an article, type the title of the journal into the top search box. Results will show which databases contain the journal electronically and give you a list of available issues to search through. Available UNH library holdings are also given to enable you to find and/or copy the article in the library. Most of our print periodicals are on the lower level. Ask for current newspapers and microform assistance at the Circulation Desk.
- Lists of journals by keyword or subject: Use the top search option, with the drop-down box set to ‘Title contains all words' and search with title keywords like fire or public safety. You can also use the lower drop-down search box and select subjects and the listed subcategories. This method identifies periodicals in a field and allows you to browse current issues, either online or in the library.
- If you need a list of articles on a subject, use the journal indexes found in this guide in the Databases section. For more on searching for periodical articles, consult our library guide on Finding Articles.
The following is a list of our major fire science journals, hyperlinked for easy access and browsing:
Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters
Connecticut Fire Bulletin. Current year only. Paper
Fire Chief
Fire Engineering
Fire Protection Engineering
Fire Safety Engineering
FIRE.gov. Freely available federal online journal
Firehouse
Journal of Applied Fire Science
Journal of Fire Protection Engineering
Journal of Fire Sciences
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
NFPA Journal
WNYF (With New York Firefighters)
Access all our electronic resources through the Databases link on the library home page and enter your UNH 16-digit ID number on the proxy screen. Choose from the alphabetical list of database names, an annotated list which describes the databases, and the subject listing which groups them by topical area. The links below will take you to ones here useful for fire science.
Whether your subject is a person, company, product, brand, or an industry, the most efficient way to find articles by subject is to use an index that searches the contents of many journals at one time. Increasingly, electronic indexes like the ones listed below offer the full text of the article as well as the citation and abstract. In addition, our journal-linking service will frequently offer you ‘Find full text' links to other databases or tell you the availability of periodicals in the library. Our electronic journal indexes are listed below. For tips on getting the most out of the databases listed below, take our interactive Database Searching Tutorial.
ELECTRONIC JOURNAL INDEXES - FINDING ARTICLES
ABI/Inform Complete. Composed of ABI/Inform Global, ABI/Inform Dateline, ABI/Inform Trade and Industry and Hoover's Company Records. Abstracts and many full text of articles from international business, industry and management journals, as well as Hoover's company profiles and capsules.
Academic OneFile. A source for peer-reviewed, full-text articles from the world's leading journals and reference sources. Contains extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, and social sciences.
Berkeley Electronic Press (bepress). Peer-reviewed journals, working papers and other scholarly information offered for downloading (with free registration). Includes journals in the fields of law, public affairs, health and medicine, and science and technology.
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature). Authoritative resource for nursing and allied health professionals, students, educators and researchers.
Criminal Justice Periodicals Index. Indexes academic and trade publications on the topic of criminal justice. Of interest for topics such as arson.
Emerald Fulltext Journals. Includes journals in engineering and materials science.
Engineering Village. A comprehensive multidisciplinary database of engineering information, containing references to thousands of engineering journals and conferences, but no full text. Includes Techstreet Standards, a database of industry technical standards and specifications (no full text).
Expanded Academic ASAP and General OneFile. Multidisciplinary databases providing citations, abstracts and many full text articles from popular and academic journals, magazines and newspapers.
GeoRef. Provides citations and abstracts to geological and allied literature, including fire protection.
Health and Wellness Resource Center. Concentrates on current medical news and information. Includes an online encyclopedia, various dictionaries, directories of health providers and associations, and links to web sites and government databases.
HeinOnline. HeinOnline has four major library collections: Law Journal Library, Federal Register Library, Treaties and Agreements Library, and the U.S. Supreme Court Library.
LegalTrac. An index of more than 1,400 titles including law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals and international legal journals.
LexisNexis Academic. A general purpose database that provides the full text of journals and newspapers from around the world. The Legal tab takes you to the full text of legal periodical literature, case reviews, statutes and regulations, the option to search by topic, by jurisdiction (federal or state), by case name, and to Shepardize legal materials. The Statistical module allows you to search over 30,000 statistical tables from the U.S. Government, trade and professional organizations, and international tables, covering most topics.
ProQuest Newspaper Collection. Includes full text for the following newspapers: The Boston Globe (1980-current), Christian Science Monitor (1988-current) Hartford Courant (1992-current), Los Angeles Times (1985-current), The New York Times (1980-current), Wall Street Journal (1984-current), and Washington Post (1987-current). The ProQuest Historical Newspaper Collection covers these same newspapers for earlier dates, but must be searched separately from the newspaper collection.
PsycINFO. The online version of Psychological Abstracts, which is published by the American Psychological Association and has indexed the international psychological literature since 1887. A citation in this database will link to full text in APA journals in the PsycARTICLES database and non-APA journals in the Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. These databases include articles on the psychology of arsonists, bombers, trauma effects etc.
Science Reference Center. Included in this database are reference books, journals, biographies, and images. Topics covered: biology, chemistry, earth, space, the environment, health & medicine, physics, and technology.
OTHER USEFUL DATABASES
Encyclopedia of Science and Technology Online (McGraw-Hill). Includes articles on fire technology.
ENGnetBASE. CRC's online collection of engineering handbooks. Search by chapter, by title, or across the entire collection.
FIREDOC. A freely available database of fire science-related literature provided by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology's Building and Fire Research Laboratory.
FirstSearch. Provides access to popular databases such as Dissertations from North America and Europe, BasicBIOSIS, and many more. Available in the library only. Ask to be logged in at the Information Desk.
FORENSICnetBASE/LawENFORCEMENTnetBASE. From CRC Press, this is an essential resource for those studying forensic science techniques or needing case studies. Get the full text of vital reference books in the forensic sciences and criminal justice. Read chapters such as "Fire Investigation," "Chemistry and Behavior of Fire" and "The Chemistry and Physics of Combustion."
Handbook of Chemistry and Physics Online. The online version of this standard reference from CRC press.
Homeland Security Digital Library. This freely available federal database provides access to U.S. policy papers, presidential directives, and national security documents, as well as theses and reports from academic institutions and local and state organizations.
IRIS (Illinois Researcher Information Service). A database of funding, grant and scholarship opportunities in all fields. Includes useful links to other sites, as well as providing online guides to grant writing. See our guide for more detail.
Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. Search for information about the chemical industry and related fields dealing with environmental, health and legal topics.
Knovel Library. Links to K-Essentials with resources like Critical Tables, International Critical Tables, Smithsonian Physical Tables, Thermochemistry of Chemical Substances and also provides access to Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library, comprised of full-text handbooks and other publications.
Science.gov. Free topical federal gateway to many government agency databases and publications. OSTI.gov also accesses unpublished research, known as grey literature.
ScienceDirect Web Editions. An index to books, journals, reviews, conference proceedings, videos published by Elsevier.
Scirus. An Internet search engine designed to retrieve scientific information. Free to all.
Wiley InterScience. An index to the publications of John Wiley & Sons, which includes hundreds of leading scientific, medical and technical journals. Full text access for journals to which the library subscribes.
Much government information is available online, and the following list of useful web sites lists U.S. web sites first, followed by private organization and general sites. Most include organized links to other online resources.
♦ Federal Agencies and Resources
Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Search the A-Z site index, or click on links to ‘Emergency Preparedness and Response,' or search the site by keyword. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) includes factsheets, ToxFAQs & the HazDat database. CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Chemical Safety page includes information on MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) dealing with chemical hazards.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Link to ‘First Responders' for links to grant information, training, the National Response Plan online (also available in print in our Documents collection and online from our Library Catalog), equipment standards (from NIOSH, NFPA & ANSI), the Emergency Management Institute for training, and more. Among the links provided are: WISER, Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders to assist with hazardous materials incidents, from the National Library of Medicine; and, Disaster Help including links to Red Cross fact sheets.
Department of Transportation. Office of Hazardous Materials. Information on grants, security, regulations, permits, education, and more.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Search the site, or, from the list under key topics, click on links to emergencies, pollutants/toxic substances, and others.
FedStats. Provides access to sources of statistical information by agency or by topic.
Firesafety.gov. The federal government's gateway to information on fire safety across departments, with links to statistics, other fire safety material, consumer protection information and other web sites.
GPOAccess. The Government Printing Office home page provides access to the full text of the US Code, Federal Register, public and private laws and other resources. Use the A-Z link, browse topics and other links from the drop-down boxes on the home page.
National Institute of Standards and Technology Building and Fire Research Laboratory. Look for the following links across the top or bottom of the page for fire tests/data, software/models, publications, and the Firedoc databsase.
Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) Fire Safety. Click on the links to other pages, such as chemical safety, emergency response and others.
U.S. Fire Administration. Part of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA). Site includes links to publications online and data.
USA.gov. The federal government's gateway to information on the Internet. A useful starting point if you do not have a specific department in mind.
♦ Fire Protection Associations and Institutions
ASTM International. The American Society for Testing and Materials, now ASTM International.
Fire Safety Institute. A "not-for-profit information, research and educational corporation that focuses on innovative approaches to fire safety science and engineering"--from the web site. Resources from commercial and government sources.
Interactive Learning Paradigm Incorporated. Commercial site linking to online material safety data sheets and chemical information. Includes tutorials on this topic, and links to Internet.
International Association for Fire Safety Science
International Association of Fire Chiefs. Has an organized set of links to online resources. Includes links to sites of the Western Fire Chiefs Association, International Association of Arson Investigators, and more.
International Code Council. Develops codes for building safety and fire prevention. A formal consolidation, in 2003, of BOCA (Building Officials and Code Administrators), ICBO (International Conference of Building Officials), and SBCCI (Southern Building Code Congress International).
National Association of State Fire Marshals
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). We have their looseleaf subscription service in our reference collection, which is updated regularly and includes their codes, standards and guidelines. Use the index in volume 15. Ref. TH9111
Society of Fire Protection Engineers. Look for the drop-down box, which has links to other associations, including links to resources on firefighter ethics.
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. Fire Protection Division. This "independent, not-for-profit" organization tests and certifies products.
Western Fire Center, Inc. A private accredited company making and testing fire fighting equipment and methods.
Any Questions? Come to the Information Desk, call us at 203-932-7189 or e-mail us.
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