You can use INFORMATION_SCHEMA

USE pubs
SELECT data_type FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS 
  WHERE table_name = 'authors' AND column_name = 'au_lname'

>I need to find out the type of a field in a table?
>
>Create Table Dodah
>(
>fctablename CHAR(10),
>fddate Datetime)
>
>How can I find out what type of field fddate is in Transact SQL?
>
>Thanks!
>Donna