Technical standards are created in order to ensure that products have specific elements or that processes are done consistently.
For the most part, technical standards are granted by organizations and there are many organizations that grant standards, often in very specific fields. However, there are also several large standards-granting organizations. Standards may also be cross-listed - in other words, the same standard may be used under different numbers in different organizations.
These are not laws, but some laws may point to a specific standard as a requirement. So some standards may be used for purposes beyond their technical aspect.
Ohio State does not provide access to all standards due to the large number of standards organizations and the cost for access. We have access to most current standards from the following organizations. Note that some of these below may be limited to specific year ranges and may not provide access to all standards past and present from that organization.
For all standards organizations not listed above, Ohio State may only have (usually very) limited access - often only to a few select standards rather than all/most. In other words, a specific standard or group of standards from an organization may be available, but the entirity of all standards from that organization are not available. This includes most ISO and ANSI standards.
You can use Libraries Search to search for a standard from any organization listed above. You may want to limit your search to the Library Catalog to avoid articles that address a specific standard. You can search for terms from the title of the standard. For example:
Or if searching for the standard's number, try a search using Any field. Example:
If Ohio State doesn't have a specific standard, here are some things you can do to get what you need:
For class use only, instructors may be able to get access for their class (non-research) use. See ANSI's University Outreach program for options they have for this. Other standards organizations may have similar options.
This is a non-exhaustive list of organizations that create standards. These are provided for information purposes, but many are NOT sources through which Ohio State has access. Many of these require payment for access, although some provide partial/full free access.
See the content to the left for more detailed access options. Note some of these organizations have other content on their site – when possible, the links go directly to standards info.
Many standards are cross-listed as ANSI and/or ISO standards and the ANSI Store sells standards from some other organizations.
Other Organizations:
