Engineers will often need to locate standards or specifications in the course of their work. A standard is 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 (definition from the ISO/IEC Guide 2:2004).
Standards may be developed by a variety of groups, such as government agencies, technical or trade associations, professional societies or associations, or international or national organizations.
Copies of standards can be difficult to locate. The Engineering Library owns some in print and online, and these are listed in the Melvyl catalog. Selected major sets are also listed in our selected list of Standards at UC Berkeley. If you do not find the standard you need, please contact us for assistance.
| What do you want to do? | Recommended options: |
|---|---|
| Locate a copy of a specific standard |
Major sets in the Engineering Library are:
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| Find an applicable standard by subject |
Try searching:
NSSN: A National Resource for Global Standards For more options, see Indexes and Purchasing Services |
| Get a copy of a standard not in the UC Berkeley libraries | If you are a UC Berkeley engineering student or faculty member and need a standard not in the Library's collection, please talk to us about appropriate options. An Interlibrary Loan might be best or we might acquire a copy for the library's collection. You can contact us in person at our Reference Desk or via e-mail. |
| Learn more about standards | For background information on standards in general, see the FAQs on the World Standards Services Network. This site also links to the websites of many standards organizations. |