Disaster & emergency management

Emergency Response Tools

Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders (WISER) from the National Library of Medicine (NLM)

A system to help emergency responders identify and respond to hazardous materials incidents. Contains information on information on hazardous substances, including substance identification support, physical characteristics, human health information, and containment and suppression advice.

Available via the Web as WebWISER or as a standalone application for PCs and PDAs -- free download here.

Article Databases

• Academic Search Complete (EBSCO)
  Multidisciplinary full-text database.
• ABI/Inform Global (ProQuest)
  General management and business database that indexes several key journals in disaster and emergency management.
• CBCA Complete (ProQuest)
  Covers Canadian business and current affairs; includes some newspaper sources.
• Google Scholar
  Searches scholarly literature across disciplines and sources.
• PAIS International (ProQuest)
  Covers global public policy, social issues, demography, environmental studies, general social sciences.
• ProQuest Research Library (ProQuest)
  Multidisciplinary database
• PubMed
  Citation database of the National Library of Medicine in the U.S. Thousands of references on disaster and emergency preparedness and response.
• Scopus
  Multidisciplinary database with coverage of disaster and emergency managment topics. Includes citation searching functions.
• Social Sciences Full Text (EBSCO)
  Coverage of both applied and theoretical aspects of the Social Sciences.

Core Journals and Trade Publications

• Australasian journal of disaster and trauma studies
• Campus Law Enforcement Journal
• Campus Safety Magazine
• Canadian Security Magazine
• Disasters
• Disaster Management & Response DMR
• Disasters: Preparedness & Mitigation in the Americas
• Disaster Prevention and Management
• Disaster Recovery Journal
• Global Environmental Change
• Natural Hazards
• Natural Hazards Informer
• Natural Hazards Observer
• Risk Management

Grey Literature Sources

• IGO Search
  Custom Google search of websites of over 3000 IGOs for reports and other publications. Maintained by the Union of International Associations (UIA).  
• Carleton University's Find Canadian Government Publications on the Web
  Searches across Canadian government websites with the option to limit to federal, provincial, or municipal information.
• Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health
  Searches freely available online resources related to disaster medicine and public health. Resources include expert guidelines, factsheets, websites, research reports, articles, and other tools aimed at the public health community.

Associations, Organizations, Research Centres

The websites of professional associations, organizations, and research centres are excellent sources for engaging in discussions, maintaining current awareness, and accessing grey literature such as reports, working papers, fact sheets, conference proceedings, and training materials.

• AIHA: American Industrial Hygiene Association
• ASIS: American Society for Industrial Security
• CCEP: Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness
• CCOHS: Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
• CRHNet:Canadian Risks and Hazards Network
• IAEM: International Association of Emergency Managers
• IACLEA: International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators
• NEMA: National Emergency Management Association
• PAHO: Pan American Health Organization - Area on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief
• Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado

Government Websites

• Emergency Management BC
• Environment Canada
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (United States)
• Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services
• Public Health Agency of Canada
• PSEPC: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada
• Sécurité publique Québec

Newspaper Articles

• Canadian Newsstand  (ProQuest)
  A searchable full-text database of major Canadian daily newspapers. Major titles include Calgary Herald (1988-), Edmonton Journal (1989-), Halifax Daily News (1990-), Montreal Gazette (1985-), National Post (1998-), Ottawa Citizen (1985-), Toronto Star (1985-), Vancouver Sun (1987-).
• CBCA Complete (ProQuest)
  Covers Canadian business and current affairs; includes some newspaper sources.
• Factiva
  Canadian and international news sources. Search by date, newspaper, author, keyword, subject.
• Lexis-Nexis
  Local and international news and legal sources.
• PressDisplay
  Browse recent newspapers from around the world as if you were browsing their print counterparts.