Resources by format

Standards not available from the sources below will be ordered and paid for by the library. The following guidelines apply:

• In general, you should request the item through Interlibrary Loan, using the special standards button on the ILL request page, BUT,
• If you want the item placed on Reserve, please place your order through your college librarian so the item can be added to the library collection.
• Most of the time the standard will become your property, but the library retains the right to place any purchased item in the collection.
• Only faculty and grad students may request standards.
• Limits of $1,000 / requester / calendar year will apply

ASME standards are available as a request through interlibrary loan. Virginia Tech has selected holdings of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code in hardcopy at TJ290 A52 on Reserve.

Earlier versions not available in ASTM Compass can be found in print in the Annual book of ASTM standards.

An IEEE standard is a document authored under the IEEE-standards Association standards Development Process from Project Authorization Request through to IEEE-standards Association Standards Board Approval. However, there are other standards distributed via IEEE Xplore, namely C63, C136, etc. standards, that are Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) standards, and which do not follow the definition outlined above. An ASC standard is a document authored by a standards developing organization other than the IEEE, for which the IEEE holds secretariat responsibility.

Military specifications (and other standards) can be searched through the IHS Standards Store. This IHS database indexes standards from many organizations worldwide. We no longer have a subscription to this database, so you won't be able to download full-text standards unless you pay for them yourself. Instead, you can use this database to verify standards information to request via interlibrary loan.

In general, full-text standards are not available free on the Web. The following links provide information on standards, as well as searchable indexes.

ANSI - American National Standards Institute

This is the coordinating body for standards in the U.S.

Codes and Standards

Sponsored by ASME, this site offers information on ME related standards.

Global

A commercial provider of industry standards.

IEEE standards info

Info about IEEE standards, the IEEE standards process, and the status of IEEE standards.

ILI

A commercial provider of industry standards.

ISO - International Standardization Organization

Information about ISO, as well as a searchable catalog.

ITU - International Telecommunication Union

List of standards currently in force, as well as forthcoming recommendations.

National Institute of standards and Technology (NIST)

Affiliated with the U.S. Department of Commerce, primarily concerned with measurement standards.

NISO - National Information standards Organization

Provides standards about information retrieval, metatdata, etc. in free PDF format online!

​Online standards documentation

A compiled list of various online standards resources.

OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration

A searchable resource of OSHA related standards and regulations.

TechStreet

Commercial standards supplier.

UL standards - Underwriters Laboratories

UL standards adopted by the American National standards Institute. Individual standards are listed under Underwriters' Laboratories as a corporate author. Select standards of safety are also available.

W3C - World Wide Web Consortium

W3C contributes to efforts to standardize Web technologies by producing specifications (called "recommendations") that describe the building blocks of the Web, such as HTML and XML.