Engineering 

Try Interlibrary Loan first!

1. Look in WorldCat to see if any library has cataloged the standard you're looking for.
   
2. If so, perhaps it can be obtained through Interlibrary Loan.

Library of Congress (but you must go there to use them).

Call the Library of Congress's Technical Reports and Standards division:

• 202-707-5655
  
• Open Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

IEEE Standards are Online

The IEEE database, called "IEEE Xplore," contains the full text of IEEE journal articles, conference proceedings, and standards published from 1988 to the present.

ASTM Standards Are in the Library

We do not have online access to these, but they are easy to use. These volumes are on C Level in the Science Reference section at TA401 .A525.

1. Look at the online ASTM home page
   
   
2. From the left column, choose STANDARDS, and enter keyword in search box; e.g., "knee"
   
   
3. Click on the standard you'd like to see; e.g., "ASTM F1814-97a(2003) Standard Guide for Evaluating Modular Hip and Knee Joint Components." [Make sure to notice the difference between "active" standards vs. "historical" or "withdrawn."]
   
   
4. On the online page, note the number after "Book of Standards Volume." In this case, it's 13.01.
   
   
5. Each "section" is a broad topic -- section 13 is "Medical Devices and Services," so that's the section that you'll use the most. Within each section are numbers that give the broad topic more specific divisions.
   
   
6. ASTM standards are grouped by broad subject areas in each volume, and then numerically by number within the volume. Go to the print edition and choose Volume 13.01, and then follow the headings at the tops of the pages until you get to F1814 etc. The full standard includes figures and tables.
   
   
   
7. The library buys a new set every three years. If the online page says that there a later standard than the print, you can probably get it through interlibrary loan.