Mission
The NFPA Research Library & Archives researches the world’s literature for information, captures and illuminates NFPA’s history through our archives, and connects members to our content through our industry-leading NFPA Ontology to help the NFPA community save lives and reduce loss.
Research
The NFPA Research Library contains all NFPA published print materials including, each edition of NFPA codes, standards, NFPA Journals, current books, and handbooks. Collections also include books and journals pertinent to the fire, first responder, electrical communities, and other business of the Association. Increasingly, research materials are electronic which have licensing restrictions. These resources will be shared with Members and the public as permissions allow.
Archives
The NFPA Research Archives contains historic photographs, film, artwork, reports, rare books, NFPA publications, and artifacts tied to the history of NFPA and of firefighting. The holdings can be categorized in three tiers that define the scope and level of archival vigilance.
- The products of, and the business workings of, the Association
- Materials directly referenced by, or foundational to, the products of NFPA
- Historic fires and firefighting of a general nature, not specific to code development
NFPA Ontology
The NFPA Ontology is an industry-leading semantic model that is designed to help autoclassify key concepts within NFPA’s content resources. Applying consistent language (taxonomy keywords and topics) serves to link and relate meaning within NFPA’s structured and unstructured content. The ontology will be used in response to business needs, such as increasing findability, enabling filtering, and highlighting related information.
Services offered to NFPA members and the public
Research services
- Research services on demand
Reserve right to charge public up to $150/hour
- Access the Library catalog
Staff may see more than Public
- Photocopies of NON-NFPA Books
Limited by copyright law
- Photocopies of NFPA materials and publications
Limited by copyright law
- Copies of withdrawn codes, not in catalog
Free PDF watermarked "Withdrawn"
- NFPA reports and Fire Investigations
Some images are restricted
Archives
- Copy archival print materials and images
If permissions allow, without harming the original, and within copyright
- Visit the archives
Supervised
- Directly research microfilm
In the library, supervised
Records Management