Finding Fire Science materials in the COD Library
This guide will help you find books, videos, articles and websites about fire science topics. You'll need a COD Library card to access subscription materials and E-books.
If you need additional help, come to the Library Reference Desk or Ask A Librarian.
Books
The Library has a variety of current materials about the technical aspects of fire science in both print and electronic format.
The best way to start searching the Library Catalog is to do a keyword search for words that describe your topic. Try to choose specific keywords. You may need to experiment with keywords to find ones that work for your topic. Once you find some items, you can use subject headings to find other items that cover the same topic.
Call Number Ranges
Use these call number ranges to browse the General Collection and the Reference Collection.
| TH9111 - TH9449 | Fire Extinction |
| TH9119 - TH9128 | Fire Fighters |
| HV8079 / TH9180 | Fire Investigation |
| TH9119 - TH9157 | Fire Prevention |
Also try specific technologies such as "fire sprinklers," or "fire resistant materials," or "fire stream tables."
E-books
The Knovel Library contains a small but excellent selection of e-books on technical aspects of fire sciences and fire engineering.
Reference Materials
For fire codes, electrical codes and safety standards, consult this online resource: NFPA Codes Online. You'll need a current library card to access the NFPA from off-campus.
Article Databases
The Library has a large collection of article databases for locating articles. For fire science, try both the general databases and the business databases. Associates Program Source Plus and Business Source Complete are the best for fire science topics.
Here is a selection of magazines, journals and trade publications in the Library on Fire Science related topics
Websites and Images
There are several tools available for searching the Internet. Using a variety of tools is always a good rule of thumb when looking for information on the web. Google is a great resource but also try some of the other tools on the Library's Search the Web pages.
Its important to evaluate the information from websites. When reviewing information, ask the following questions:
- How old is this material? Is there a date of publication? Is the material out-of-date?
- Who wrote this information? Is the company or person who sponsors the website reputable?
- Is the website trying to sell you something?
- Is the information biased? Does it seem like the author is just giving his/her opinion? Is the author making a one-sided argument? (not offering an alternate point-of-view?)
- Is the information backed up with facts that you can confirm using other sources?
Here's a small selection of quality websites for fire science topics: