EL Research Information Service

The Research Information Service is located at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). (Formerly known as the Fire Research Information Service, or "FRIS"). It is an information resource center and library available to NIST staff, fire protection engineers, scientists, and fire service personnel around the world. The 80,000 document collection represents a vast resource of information on building and fire research related subjects.

The collection is accessible through the on-line bibliographic database FIREDOC.

Changes to the FireDoc Express Service Effective October 1, 2010

The Research Information Service (RIS) has been the primary source of fire science literature for the fire research community for nearly 40 years.  In an effort to ensure that we continue to deliver the most useful and comprehensive fire science literature database possible, the physical records in the library are being digitized.  We expect that digitization will enhance the availability of fire research records to stakeholders around the world. 

In concert with the digitization, we are contributing to the development of a new, online literature search tool.  This tool is being developed with partners from around the globe, including laboratories which produce research reports, industry, government agencies, and publishing houses.  The goal is to maximize the identification of relevant research and provide a mechanism to access the materials from the original sources.  The collaborative nature of the search tool will ensure that new research results will be available to the fire science community more quickly and more completely than in the past. 

A beta-version of the tool is currently available at:http://www.iafss.org/fire-research-engine/

As the current physical records will all be made available digitally, the FireDoc Express service is being discontinued, effective October 1, 2010.  Additionally, the physical collection will be managed by the main NIST Library location in Gaithersburg after January 1, 2011.

We fully expect that adoption of modern technologies and methods will allow us to deliver fire science research in a more comprehensive and satisfactory manner than ever before.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at your earliest convenience.

Jason D. Averill Group Leader, Engineered Fire Safety Group National Institute of Standards and Technology Email:  jason.averill [at] nist.gov (jason[dot]averill[at]nist[dot]gov)

Other Fire Research Resources

• Fire on the Web - These web pages provide links to experimental fire data and mpeg/quicktime movies for fire tests that can be downloaded and/or viewed with a web browser. This award winning site contains additional fire-related resources at EL and elsewhere.
   
• Fire.Gov - On-line news and research information for the Fire Services. 
   

Other Building Research Resources 

• STONEWALL.NIST.GOV - Building Stone of the United States: The NIST Test Wall.
   
• VCCTL - Virtual Cement and Concrete Testing Laboratory.
   
• Electronic Monograph - describes the computational and experimental research of the Inorganic Materials Group in cement, concrete, and general porous materials.
   
• The Office of Applied Economics (OAE) - economic products and services with a focus on improving the life-cycle quality and economy of constructed facilities.
   
• Software - Building research related EL developed software products.
   
• NEHRP - Information on the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program.