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Introduction to FireWordsConsistent terminology is critical to efficient communication. The lexicon of any particular field of study is established over many years in its literature, textbooks, and training material. The field of wildland fire science is relatively young; there are no standard textbooks with an exhaustive glossary of technical terms. In the literature we find inconsistent terminology -- several terms to define the same concept, and several concepts sharing the same term. It is often difficult to determine the intended meaning of many wildland fire science documents without benefit of a glossary for that particular document; this leads to difficulty assembling knowledge drawn from a variety of sources, and slows the flow of information and concepts.
There are several glossaries of wildland fire management terms. Each has one or more of the following drawbacks (click to expand):
FireWords is a hyper-linked, searchable, indexed, annotated and illustrated, electronic glossary of wildland fire science terminology. It is a living document; new terms will be added as need indicates and funding allows. FireWords will be available as a compiled HTML Help document for use on a Windows PC, as well as in WebHelp format, which can be used in any web browser on any computer platform (Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, etc.). Also, for use when the user does not have access to a machine with FireWords installed, the WebHelp version of FireWords will be served over the Internet at www.firewords.net. |