What are standards? Standards are guidelines produced by various societies on anything from specifications for manufacturing ladders to managing the safety hazards of lasers. The most well-known standards organization is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which often works with smaller organizations to publish their standards.

How do I find a specific standard?

The easiest way is to use the IHS Specs & Standards, searching with organization, number, and/or keywords. Most industry and military standards are included, with full-text.  

 If you want an IEEE standard, go to ScienceServer.

If you don't find a standard in either of these online sources, the library might have it in print.

• If you know the society, try the library catalog, using an "author" search, to obtain the call number for that society's standards. Locate the set of standards in the Reference Collection on the Main Level of the Research Library. Find the index to the set and look up the standard number.
• If you know only the subject area, try the NSSN database online to identify the standard number(s).

What standards does the Library have in print? Some of the institutes and societies for which we have holdings are:

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and member organizations, limited collection:
    REF TA368 .A4x
Annual book of ASTM standards:
    REF TA404.5 .A5
National electrical code:
    REF TK260 .N463

Various other hardcopy collections at the Lab are summarized here.

May I check out standards? Standards do not circulate; however, if none of the above sources have what you need or you need your own copy, it can be ordered from the issuing organization, at any of the local bookstores, by phone from Global Engineering at 800-854-7179 or from Information Handling Services at 800-447-3352, and on the Web. Contact the Library Service Desk for more information (email or 667-5809).