Welcome to the standards research guide! This guide is intended as an introduction to standards e.g. what are standards, search techniques for standards, where to search for standards, and getting access to standards.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) jointly defined a standard as "a document, established by consensus and approved by a recognized body, that provides, for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context." Different organizations, government departments, businesses, and consortia develop standards for a variety of purposes.
Standards Organizations by Type (Example)
Engineering Rules global standard setting since 1880 by Finding an applicable standard can feel like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack. In order to find a standard, try the following:
The library has access to the full-text standards for ASCE and IEEE. The table below lists where to search for the standard expeditiously and where to view the full-text of the standard.
| Standard Developing Organization (SDO) | Search by topic or keywords | Search by title to view the standard |
| American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) | asce.org | ASCE Library |
| Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE) | IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA) | IEEE Xplore |
As a catch-all or start, the following websites/interfaces can be used to find applicable standards using a keyword search:
If you need an individual copy of a standard outside of IEEE Xplore and ASCE, fill out the Google form at https://forms.gle/BttcSFegLQjborVt7. Depending on if access to the standard is needed by a single individual or multiple people, access will be needed on Techstreet Enterprise or Engineering Workbench.
