Excellent research resources

About the LRC

The NETC Learning Resource Center has one of the premier collections in the United States dedicated to fire as well as All-Hazards topics for the first responder and emergency management communities. The LRC routinely answers simple requests; e.g., an organization's telephone number and address. In response to more complex inquiries on specific subjects, the LRC will do literature searches, compile bibliographies, and, depending on length and copyright restrictions, provide documentation in the form of reports and articles.

The LRC is open to the general public; however only NETC personnel and students may borrow materials directly from the LRC. If you wish to visit the LRC please call us at least 24 hours in advance at 301-447-1046. This will help expedite your entry thru security. You will not be granted admittance after 5PM (Monday-Thursday) or on the weekend unless you've called us in advance.

The general public can still access the LRC's collection of books and research reports by requesting interlibrary loan through their local library. Audiovisuals, magazines, and general reference materials are noncirculating. Call (800) 638-1821 or (301) 447-1030 for more information. Our fax number is (301) 447-3217 and our email address is netclrc@dhs.gov. Please include your full name, mailing address and phone number in all email messages.

As its name implies, the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) is the index that provides bibliographic access to the collection of the National Emergency Training Center's (NETC) Learning Resource Center (LRC). While the LRC is the on-campus library for the staff and students of the National Fire Academy (NFA) and the Emergency Management Institute (EMI), the OPAC will function for Internet users as a database on fire service, all-hazards and emergency management topics. Its fundamental service to Internet users is one of identification though the OPAC also provides online access to some 14,000 titles . The OPAC identifies published resources on topics of professional interest to fire service and emergency management personnel.

Since the LRC's primary mission is to support the instructional activities of the NFA and the EMI, the OCC reflects that goal. The LRC concentrates on natural and technological hazards but primarily on their social and behavioral sciences aspects. As examples, the LRC has some information on seismology but more on earthquake preparedness; some information on fire protection engineering but more on public fire education. Generally, students at the NFA and EMI are not scientists but practicing emergency managers and first responders. The LRC's collection has been built for these user populations and the OPAC will be most useful to them.

http://www.lrc.fema.gov/index.html