The Investigation Process Research Resource Site
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INVESTIGATING
INVESTIGATIONS

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State-of-the-Art of
investigations, through
investigation process
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Launched Aug 26 1996.

 

Reviews of Books

Since Amazon.com and other book vendors have started to add book reviews to their web pages, the value of this section has been slightly but not totally diminished. Views presented here are from individuals who are involved with investigations, and not just casual readers or book promotiers.

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN by John N. Maclean, William Morrow and Company, New York, NY (1999) ISBN 0-668-14477-2. Describes a mountain forest fire, and the investigation that followed, problems and all. See review.(1999)

YOUNG MEN AND FIRE, by Norman Maclean, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, (1992) ISBN: 0226500616. A writer spends 14 years trying to reconstract how 11 firefighters died in a mountain fire "blowout" in 1949, in part because the original investigations were inadequate.See review(1992)

A Glimpse of Hell: The Explosion On The USS Iowa And Its Cover-up, by Charles C. Thompson II, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York NY 1999 ISBN 0-393-04714-8 Explores the accident and the investigations that followed. Lots of problems described. Go to Review ( L Benner)

SAFEWARE: System Safety and Computers - A Guide to Preventing Accidents and Losses Caused by Technology, by Nancy Leveson, Addison Welsley Publishing Company, Reading MA Hardcover - 680 pages (April 1995) ISBN: 0201119722.
The book examines what is currently known about building safe electromechanical systems and looks at the accidents of the past to see what lessons can be applied to new computer-controlled systems. Go to Review

Explosion aboard the IOWA, by Richard L, Schwoebel, Ph.D. Annapolis, Naval Institute Press, 1999. ISBN 1-55750-810-0 301 pp. (including 7 appendices). Discusses details of investigation of explosion aboard battleship. Go to review. Submitted by I. Rimson.

OBSERVATION STILL MATTERS, How to Increase Your Powers of Observation by Ronald L. Mendell, CLI Describes his view of the process of observation, and how investigators can improve their observational skills. Discusses five ways to organize data, and ways to improve people observation skills. Go to review. (Submitted by H Chicoine)

GUIDELINES FOR INVESTIGATING CHEMICAL PROCESS ACCIDENTS, 1992 by Center for Chemical Process Safety, of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICHE), New Your, NY USA. ISBN 0-8169-0555-x Focus is on cause determination and prevention. Prepared by a committee, this investigation guide includes a comparison of available investigation systems, and describes rationale for experientially-based choice presented (which happens to be a system developed by one of committee members), presents examples of cases. Go to review.

AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION, 1996, Wood and Sweginnis, Endeavor Books, Casper WY USA ISBN 0-9629524-3-5. Focus is on techniques used in aircraft accident investigation and how selected aviation-related systems function. Describes and documents current techniques for developing description of accident phenomena very comprehensively. Reflects legal investigation concepts and needs, and the conventional wisdom in this field. Go to review.( C O Miller)

THE CHALLENGER LAUNCH DECISION , 1996, Vaughan, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL Revises findings of the Presidential Commission’s investigation in areas of the production of culture, culture production including normalization of deviations into risk taking decisions, interactions influenced by organizational culture, dissociation of assumptions over time and other human behavior insights for investigators. Author describes and discusses investigation process used. Go to review.(L Benner)

INVESTIGATING ACCIDENTS WITH STEP, 1986, by Hendrick and Benner, published by Marcel Dekker, New York/Basel. ISBN 0-8247-7510-4. Introduces research-defining multilinear events sequencing-based investigation system, based on perception that phenomena are processes. Focus is on understanding, describing and explaining phenomena, and the developing and assessing actions to improve future performance. Contains comparative analyses of perceptions of accident phenomenon and investigation methodologies, references to 20+ investigation manuals. Go to review.(by K Kosmuder)

Reviews are invited for:

Aircraft Accident Reconstruction and Litigation ~
Barnes Warnock McCormick, M. P. Papadakis / Hardcover / Published 1996

Aircraft Safety: Accident Investigations, Analyses, and Applications by Shari Stamford Krause 1996

The Traffic-Accident Investigation Manual : At-Scene Investigation and Technical Follow-Up -- J. Stannard Baker, Lynn B. Fricke; Hardcover 1986

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