A standard (or "specification") attempts to assure consistency and compatibility among similar products or processes.

Standards are usually written by government bodies, professional/industrial organizations, or business; thus some standards are government-mandated while others are voluntary.

From ANSI:

A standard is 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.

In layman's terms, you can think of a standard as an agreed-upon formula for the best way of doing something.

Use the following library e-resources to find standards and technical information:

The UW-Stout Library has standards in the library collection and provides access to online versions.  Some of the physical standards are located in the Main Collection and can be checked out, and others are located in the UW-Stout Library Reference Collection on first floor.  These do NOT checkout, and can be used in-building only.

To find standards, check Search@UW under both the name of the issuing agency and its initials. Popular examples include ASME, ISO, ANSI, IEEE,etc. If you know the name of the standard, or the standard number, use that.

To Narrow Results:

After a search on the left-hand side under "Refine My Results" look for "Resource Type"  and click "Standards"

Get Standards @ UW-Stout Library!

A UW-Stout Library Collection Development and Acquisitions (CDA) service for students, faculty, and staff that provides access to standards for your class or your research.  The UW-Stout Library will purchase a physical copy of the standard, if available, and a one-use PDF version for your personal research use.  These single-use PDF standards cannot be shared with others, or uploaded to Canvas.  Instructors and faculty, please direct students to the physical standard in the UW-Stout Library's Reference Collection located on the first floor of the library. 

Please contact, Collection Development Librarian, Cory Mitchell for details, or to request a standard. 

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology Information Service (formerly the National Bureau of Standards) will provide free lists of standards from a key-word index and will supply names of agencies from which copies can be obtained. Much of their data is available under the Standard Reference Data Program.

A standards citation is generally composed of three parts: (1) the sponsoring agency's name or a code, (2) an identifying publication number, and (3) the year adopted or re-affirmed (often only the last two digits). Examples:

• ANSI/ASME  B1.1-2003 (means American National Standards Institute / American Society of Mechanical Engineers; B1.1 is the standard number for: Unified Inch Screw Threads--UN and UNR Thread Form; 2003 is the year in which it was adopted)
• ANSI/ISO 12100-1 2007 (means American National Standards Institute/International Standards Organization; 12100-1 = Safety of Machinery - Basic Concepts, General Principles for Design. Part 1: Basic Terminology, Methodology, adopted in 2007)
• BSR/AHRI Standard/ASHRAE/ISO 13256-1-1998 (R201x) (means Board of Standards Review/American Heating and Refrigeration Institute Standard/American Society for Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineering/International Standards Organization 13256-1 = Water-source heat pumps - Testing and rating for performance Part 1: Water-to-air and brine-to-air heat pumps, adopted in 1998 (Reaffirmed in 201x)