Introduction
Standards and specifications are documents that describe and/or recommend a set of rules and conditions for how materials and products should be manufactured, defined, measured, or tested. Standards are used to establish minimum levels of performance and quality and optimal conditions and procedures for the purpose of ensuring compatibility of products and services from different sources. Specifications tend to have more limited applications than standards and generally establish requirements for materials, products, or services. Standards and specifications may be issued by voluntary technical or trade associations, professional societies, national standards bodies, government agencies, or by international organizations.
The PSE Library has only a limited number industry standards and specifications in its collection. See Standards available at UCD for those that we do currently have access to. Please search either the Harvest: UCD Davis Catalog or the Melvyl (usually by the title of the standard or specification) to determine whether we own standards from other standards organizations such as AASHTO, ANSI, ASCE, ASHRAE, ASME, ISO, etc.
Most standards organizations have websites that allow you to search and order standards directly from the publisher. There are a number of more comprehenisve standards indexes available for searching and ordering as well.
IHS Demand Driven Standards pilot
Announcing a Demand Driven Standards pilot with IHS (Information Handling Service)
Need an industry standard for your research, teaching, or a project? The IHS Standards Expert (https://login.ihserc.com/login/erc?) database searches about 1.6 million standards from 370 technical societies worldwide.
The UC Davis Library will now purchase print copies of standards for UC Davis affiliated faculty and researchers for the library’s collection and make them available to you.
- There is no charge to the requester.
- Delivery times can vary, but should take 7 working days or fewer.
- You will be notified when the standard is available for use in the collection.
Please keep in mind that we do already provide full-text online standards from ASTM, IEEE, and ASABE and also have current print editions from a handful of other societies and standards bodies. If you aren’t sure if we already have access to a standard, please feel free to send an e-mail to Bob Heyer-Gray at rheyer@ucdavis.edu.
Searching and ordering through the IHS Standards Expert database does require registration. Step by step instructions are available athttp://guides.lib.ucdavis.edu/IHS_setup. You are not required to request standards through the IHS interface and/or if you happen to already know what standard you need, you can either request using the following order form or by contacting Bob Heyer-Gray directly at rheyer@ucdavis.edu.
PSE Blog post on the pilot:
ANSI University Outreach Program
Faculty interested in getting copies of ISO or IEC Standards for use in the classroom can now get copies for students via the ANSI University Outreach Program.
- Faculty select specific ISO or IEC standards and complete and return the University Outreach Pilot Project enrollment form.
- ANSI sends an e-mail to the faculty member with a unique URL and password for their students to access the standards online and ANSI provides faculty with the University Outreach Pilot Project License Agreement for distribution to all students given access to the free standards.
- Faculty distribute URLs, passwords and the License Agreement to their students.
- Faculty contacts ANSI with any additional requests for resources.
- As they become available, ANSI will contact faculty with additional teaching resources.
- At the end of the semester faculty participate in a brief evaluation of the pilot.
To learn more about access to complimentary standards, the University Outreach Pilot Program, or a copy of the enrollment form, please send a message to Bob Heyer-Gray (rheyer@ucdavis.edu).
Standards available at UCD
AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials)
- AASHTO specifications include Standard Specifications for Transportation Materials and Methods of Sampling and Testing PSE Reference TE200 .A615 2015; AASHTO Provisional Standards PSE Reference TE200 .A53 2013; Roadside design guide PSE Media TE228 .A49 2011; AASHTO LRFD bridge design specifications PSE Reference TG310 .A43 2012; and Standard specifications for highway bridges PSE Reference TG310 .A6 2002 among others, please check Harvest catalog.
- AATCC (American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists)
- Current Test Methods and Procedures are available via the AATCC Technical Manual Shields TP890 .A25. Earlier years and discontinued Methods are available from UCD/NRLF TP890 .A25
- ACI (American Concrete Institute)
- Most recent edition of ACI manual of concrete practice is available at PSE TA682 .A5. Earlier print volumes are avaialble from UCD/NRLF TA682 .A5.
- AISC (American Institute of Steel Construction)
- AISC specifications can be found in the Steel construction manual in PSE Reference TA684 .A5 2011.
- ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers)
- Web access to current ASABE standards requires UCD IP. Current paper copies are available at PSE Reference S671 .A41. Earlier versions in print are available from UCD/NRLF S671 .A41.
- ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers)
- We should have a fairly complete set of current ASCE standards and provisions. Search library catalog by the standard/provision title.
- ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials)
- Online access to all ASTM standards (active, historic, and withdrawn) covering a broad range of engineering disciplines (aerospace, biomedical, chemical, civil, environmental, geological, health and safety, industrial, materials science, mechanical, nuclear, petroleum, soil science, and solar engineering). Standards are searchable by keyword or standard number, with full text access to all standards in either PDF or HTML format. ASTM Standards and Engineering Digital Library also includes online access to journals, e-books, manuals and symposia papers published by ASTM. 2011 standards, also available in print at PSE Reference TA401 .A68. Previous years available in print from UCB/NRLF TA401 .A53.
- AWWA (American Water Works Association)
- Most recent edition of Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, available at PSE Reference QD142 .A5. Ealier years are available at PSE & Shields QD142 .A5.
- ICC (International Code Council)
- PSE Reference K3538 .I68 2014, this set includes: [v. 1.] International building code — [v. 2.] International residential code — [v. 3.] International fire code — [v. 4.] International energy conservation code — [v. 5.] International plumbing code — [v. 6.] International mechanical code — [v. 7. ] International private sewage disposal code — [v. 8.] International fuel gas code — [v. 9. ] International property maintenance code — [v. 10.] International zoning code — [v. 12.] International existing building code — [v. 13.] International Code Council performance code — [v. 14.] International wildland-urban interface code — [v. 15.] International swimming pool and spa code.
- International Telecommunication Union Recommendations
- Free web access to all currently approved ITU standards.
- IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
- Web access to current IEEE & ANSI/IEEE approved standards requires UCD IP.
- NISO (National Information Standards Organization)
- Web access to all currently approved ANSI/NISO standards.
- SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers)
- Current SAE standards are available via the SAE Handbook, PSE Media TL5 .S6 2008. Earlier years are available at PSE TL5 S6.
- UBC (Uniform Building Code)
- Replaced by International Building Code,see ICC above.
Standards Searching and Indexing
- ASSIST-Quick Search provides direct access to Defense and Federal specifications and standards available in the official DoD repository.
- Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)s Scientific and Technical Information Network
- Provides access to citations of unclassified unlimited documents that have been entered into DTICs Technical Reports Collection from December 1974, as well as the electronic full-text of many of these documents.
- Document Center
- Global Engineering Documents
- ILI Standards & Specifications (requires registration)
- NSSN: A Global Resource for Standards
- Techstreet