National Service Center for Environmental Publications

 

    

    You can search, retrieve, download, print, and order EPA technical, scientific, and educational materials free of charge! This is great for any student, faculty, and researcher who has any questions about a wide variety of EPA material. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the perfect tool with the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) as the central repository and distribution center for EPA publications.

What is the NSCEP?

The National Service Center for Environmental Publications serves as the EPA's repository and distribution center. Located in Cincinnati, Ohio, the NSCEP holds "an inventory of 5,000 current EPA publications available to the public free of charge." There are "more than 42,000 documents distributed monthly." As the NSCEP continues to release documents, the publication feeds are updated based on content areas of interest. There is also a new title list of newly received agency documents available. 

The NSCEP offers a Featured Publication on their homepage. Currently, the publication is "Action Steps for Sun Protection." 

Searching & Browsing

Although the NSCEP has an immense amount of collections in their database, they provide multiple ways to search and browse their information in a quick and convenient way. There are three search options available. 

Simple Search is the first and "easiest way to quickly search the NSCEP collection." This type of search uses all the terms in the search bar and excludes any "stop words" which are common words like "very" and "was." The NSCEP also provides a guide that explains this search option in detail.

Advanced Search is the second option offered. This search differs than the Simple Search because it allows users to specify how the key words are used and their "relationship." 

Advanced Search offers five different modes of searching:

1. Cloud Search
2. Boolean Operators
3. All Words
4. Any Words
5. Exact Phrase

Field Search is the final option offered by the NSCEP. It uses the NSCEP metadata fields which contain a "limited amount of information that specificity describe the contents of the document." This search field is the best option if someone already knows something about whatever document they are looking for. If you have the specifics of the resource, Field Search is perfect!

Let's do a search example for "fracking." Using simple search, 91 results, all in PDF form, pop up! By simply clicking on the title, the PDF becomes available.

Ordering & Printing

Every resource offered by the NSCEP is available as a PDF, multipage TIFF, and unformatted text. If they are available as a hardcopy, there will be a "order a hardcopy" option. To order, add it to your private library and fill out the order form on that page. To print any document, get it as a PDF and use the appropriate printing function on your software.

See also the EPA National Library Network page which links to NSCEP and the EPA National Library Catalog.

More Resources

Other Order Methods

NSCEP offers other order methods besides the private library feature; they are explained here.

NSCEP Metadata

Learn more about metadata here.

NSCEP FQA

NSCEP has complied a list of frequently asked questions to make available.

U.S. EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency

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