Welcome to the FIRST Technical Library!
The FIRST Technical Library is a service provided by Foundry Industry Recycling Starts Today, Inc. (“FIRST”) to assist in recycling foundry sands and slags. FIRST has gathered third party documents from many different public and private sector sources into a central digital resource. The FIRST Technical Library is a new and evolving resource, so please check back at regular intervals for new additions.
Documents included in the Technical Library have been chosen for their relevance to efforts to achieve the joint U.S. EPA, FHWA and foundry industry goal of increasing the off-site recycling of foundry sands and slags. Individuals desiring general information about foundry products or processes should contact one or more of the metalcasting organizations listed in the Resources section of FIRST’s website.
What types of information are in the FIRST Technical Library?
The FIRST Technical Library is a unique compendium of information pertinent to recycling foundry sands, slags and other process residuals outside of the foundry. More than half of the documents contained in the library are research papers or descriptions of research projects which are included here with the permission of the researchers. Federal and state agency reports are included. Some reports describe other industrial materials or topics where the information is pertinent to recycling foundry byproducts. Some documents were prepared for foundries or other private organizations who have given FIRST permission to post those reports in the public domain.
Although many of the documents assembled here can be obtained individually from other sources, there is no other centralized source for information on recycling foundry sands and slags. (For information regarding internal foundry process reclamation and reuse, please access the library of the American Foundry Society at http://www.afsinc.org )
How are the documents organized?
Each document in the library has been entered into a database that includes the following fields: title; authors; publication year; organizational affiliation of authors; and a source field (for example, an office within a larger organization such as Federal agency). Keywords and abstracts have been developed. All documents are digitized so that they can be downloaded as PDF files by FIRST Members and Subscribers to the Library.
Documents are assigned a CATEGORY code. One of the following Categories is assigned to each document:
- Asphalt
- Beneficial Use – General
- Cement
- Concrete Products
- Environmental
- Flowable Fill
- Geotechnical
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- Highway Construction
- Landfill Construction
- Metalcasting – General
- Regulations
- Slag
- Soils Based Applications
- Other – Miscellaneous uses
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Some documents include information on multiple topics. Those documents are generally assigned to “Beneficial Use-General” or in some cases, to “Highway Construction.”
How do I use the FIRST Technical Library?
SITE VISITORS:
Anyone visiting the FIRST website may enter the Technical Library and view the document database listings. However, you must be a Registered User to read the document abstracts and access the full Search features of the Library.
REGISTERED USERS:
We encourage site visitors to REGISTER as Users in order to help us to serve your needs better. Registered Users can use the full Search capabilities of the database to locate documents and read the document Abstracts. Some documents are publicly available through other sources; others are not.
SUBSCRIBERS:
In order to download and read documents from the Technical Library, you must be a Library Subscriber. Your subscription supports maintenance and regular additions to the Library. Without it, we will not be able to offer the most current information for your use. Annual Subscriptions may be purchased on-line through our secure SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE. There are three levels of Subscriptions available:
GENERAL SUBSCRIPTIONS: Annual Subscriptions to the Technical Library are available to companies and individuals who are interested in background information about recycling foundry sands and slags. Your subscription entitles you to download library documents over the course of a 12-month period.
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: Employees of Federal, state and local government agencies are important partners in increasing the recycling of foundry byproducts. As an industry courtesy, you are eligible for discounted annual Subscriptions to the FIRST library. In order to be eligible for a Government rate subscription, you must register using your government e-mail address.
FIRST MEMBERS: FIRST Members automatically receive annual subscriptions to the Library service, entitling you to unlimited use of the Library search and download capabilities. Some documents are available only to FIRST members. Members also receive a number of other benefits, including access to technical information not available other users; discounted registration fees at workshops; recognition at FIRST-sponsored events and conferences; and invitations to FIRST’s annual Federal Agency briefing. Members also receive advance copies of research papers and other important documents, as well as discounted rates on Conference proceedings. For more information, please go to JOIN FIRST.
Using the Library Search and Sort Features
The default of the Library database is set to show most recently published documents first on the screen so that regular users can most easily find newly published materials. Documents are added on regular intervals, and may be suggested by Members or Subscribers. The database contains features that allow Registered Users to organize the documents in other ways that may best meet their individual needs.
SORTING THE DATABASE
The SORT feature of the Library database organizes the display of the documents on the screen. Under the SORT drop-down menu, chose one of the following characteristics and hit the GO button:
- Title
- Category
- Organization
- Source
- Publication Year
After sorting, hit the REVERSE button to display the documents in reverse order; for example, titles listed in ABC order would then display in ZYX order. Using the Publication Year SORT is a useful way to find the newest documents.
SEARCHING THE DATABASE
Typing terms into the SEARCH feature of the Library database allows Registered Users to search any of the following fields in the database:
- Category
- Keywords – may include state referenced, primary subjects, multiple categories
- Title
- Lead Author
- Organization
- Source
- Publication Year
The full name of organizations must be typed in, with correct spelling, in order for the library search engine to function properly. For example, “University of Wisconsin” will yield a different set of documents than “Wisconsin.”
Registered Users, Subscribers and FIRST Members may use the Search and Sort features of the Library database to read abstracts associated with each document.
Most of the documents in the Technical Library may be downloaded through standard shopping cart software. FIRST Members and paid Subscribers have unlimited download privileges.
Paper copies of special publications may be ordered through the Library shopping cart. An example is “Foundry Sand Facts for Civil Engineers,” which may be purchased individually or in bulk. CD-rom compilations of conferences and workshops organized by FIRST are also available for a surcharge.