Locating Standards at the MSU Libraries

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines standards as, "a document, established by a consensus of subject matter experts and approved by a recognized body that provides guidance on the design, use or performance of materials, products, processes, services, systems or persons."

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) defines a standard as "a document that provides requirements, specifications, guidelines, or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes, and services are fit for their purpose."

Standards create a common language that engineers can use to improve quality, safety, interoperability, efficiency, and trade for products, processes, and services.

A lack of standards can create unsafe situations or reduce the efficiency of production or trade. Here are some examples of standards improving safety, interoperability, and trade.

The 1904 Great Baltimore Fire: a lack a compatible of firehose couplings left many fire departments unable to help fight the fire.

Standardization of American railroad gauge: in the first half of the 1800s multiple rail gauges proliferated in the U.S. This made shipments between gauges difficult. The Pacific Railway Act of 1863 specified standard gauge for the transcontinental railroad and over the next twenty some years most other railroads adopted standard gauge.

The use of standards in the creation of the Internet: Prior to the adoption of TCP/IP, the various computer networks didn't have a standard way to communicate with each other. The creation of HTTP in 1991 created the backbone for the World Wide Web. Both of these protocols contributed to the Internet as we know it now.

There are three main types of standards:

• Design: a set of requirements and guidelines for the generation of a product.
• Performance: not about how something is made, but instead refers to how something should perform under specific conditions.
• Process or service: recommendations for how to go about a process or activity.

Standards can be either voluntary or mandatory. Most standards are voluntary and are used because they increase interoperability, ease of manufacturing, improve trade or safety. The government does not mandate that industries follow voluntary standards. Mandatory standards are enforced by government agencies and are usually adopted because of safety concerns. An example of mandatory standard is a city building code.

Identification numbers

The names of standards are typically long and include acronyms and numbers. Standard identification numbers have the same four elements:

• The issuing Standard Development Organization (SDO) who publishes the standard
• The standard number
• The year of publication or revision
• The title of the standard

The document

Not all standards have the same format, but they do usually have a similar structure. Here are the main parts of most standards:

• Scope: similar to an abstract, this section is useful for understanding what the standard is about.
• Definitions/terminology: key terms used within the standard are defined in this section.
• Conditions for use: information about what environments a product can be used in for safe performance. 
• Requirements: this contains the details about what is required by the standard.
• Testing: procedures for conducting tests to assess performance and/or types of equipment needed to perform those procedures.
• References/Referenced Documents: other standards incorporated into the standard. This section could help you identify additional or alternative documents you may want to use.
• Annexes/Appendices: supplementary information related to meeting the standard. There are both normative standards that point to other standards or procedures that describe requirements, and informative annexes that provide guidance or clarification about the standard.