From the ASME (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers): "A standard can be defined as a set of technical definitions and guidelines, “how to” instructions for designers, manufacturers, and users. Standards promote safety, reliability, productivity, and efficiency in almost every industry that relies on engineering components or equipment. Standards can run from a few paragraphs to hundreds of pages, and are written by experts with knowledge and expertise in a particular field who sit on many committees". and "Standards are a vehicle of communication for producers and users. They serve as a common language, defining quality and establishing safety criteria. Costs are lower if procedures are standardized; training is also simplified. Interchangeability is another reason. It is not uncommon for a consumer to buy a nut in California for a bolt purchased in New Jersey."
From the ISO (International Organization for Standardization): Think of standards "as a formula that describes the best way of doing something. It could be about making a product, managing a process, delivering a service or supplying materials-standards cover a huge range of activities".
From the NIST:
Standards documents are identified by a series of letters and numbers that can be mystifying. Each component has a meaning that will give you important information about the document, who issued it, and when.
Here are a few examples:
ASTM F963-08
ASTM = ASTM International, the standards developer responsible for this standard
F963 = The alphanumeric identifier for this standard
08 = this standard was approved in 2008
ANSI/ASSP Z244.1:2016(R2020)
ANSI = this standard was approved by ANSI; it is an American National Standard
ASSP = American Society for Safety Professionals (ASSP), the professional society that developed this standard
Z244.1 = The alphanumeric identifier for this standard
2016 = The year of approval
R2020 = The 2016 standard was reaffirmed as an American National Standard in 2020. No changes are made to a standard when it is reaffirmed or reapproved.
ISO/IEC 9798-1:2010
ISO/IEC = Joint Standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the standards developers responsible for this standard
9798 - The numeric identifier for this standard
-1 = Indicates there is more than one part to the standard (multiple documents) and this is Part 1
2010 = The year of approval
If you need the full text of a standard from an organization that Clemson doesn't have a subscription to (ANSI, ISO, IEC, etc.) you may request that we purchase a copy of the standard via Interlibrary Loan/ILLIAD:
NOTE: You can SEARCH in these databases, but Clemson does not have a subscription to these standards, so you will not be able to access full text. If you need the full text of one of these standards (ASME, ANSI, ISO, IEC, or another standards organization), you may request that we purchase a copy via Interlibrary Loan:
Older standards that have been purchased in print over the years are available as part of the Cooper Library collection; most of these have been issued by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), or affiliated organizations. These older print standards are located on the 5th floor of Cooper Library, call number TA368 .A512. They are filed in alpha-numeric order, first by the name of the issuing organization, and then by the number. (i.e. ansi Z 49.0 and ANSI/ISA-S84). Unfortunately, individual standards are NOT listed in the Library catalog.