Getting a Standard from the Library
Getting a Standard from Somewhere Else

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Standards establish rules or measures (either minimum or optimum) for a quality or level of performance.

• Many organizations issue standards.
• The type of standards they develop is related to the kind of work that they do.
   

These are some of the major organizations that create and/or sell standards:

• ASTM International (formerly American Society for Testing and Materials) -- Standards for materials, products, systems, and services; for example, "ASTM F 1338 - 91(2007) Standard Guide for Main Propulsion Medium Speed Marine Diesel Engines Covering Performance and Minimum Scope of Assembly," and "ASTM F 1280 - 90 (reapproved 2008) Standard Guide for Training the Emergency Medical Technician (Basic) to Perform Patient Examination Techniques."
   
• ANSI (American National Standards Institute) -- Oversees the creation, promulgation, and use of thousands of guidelines across business, including acoustical devices, construction equipment, dairy and livestock production, and energy distribution. ANSI itself does *not* issue standards, but accredits programs that assess conformance to standards, such as the ISO 9000 (quality) and ISO 14000 (environmental) management systems.
   
• East View -- This company collects standards, and allows browsing and searching of the State Standards of the Russian Federation ("GOSTy"), in English or Russian.
   
• IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) -- Standards in electrical engineering and electronics, such as "Standard test specifications for gas-tube surge-protective devices."
   
• IHS (formerly "Information Handling Service") -- IHS sells many kinds of standards. Whether or not you want to buy from IHS, it's always helpful to have another place to search for standard numbers that you may be looking for.
   
• ISO (International Organization for Standardization) -- ISO is "the world's largest developer and publisher of international standards. ...[ISO standards give] specifications for products, services and systems, to ensure quality, safety and efficiency."
   
• Standards.gov -- This branch of NIST offers "background materials and useful links for locating information about the use of standards in government." Their focus is on how federal agencies use standards.