Patents, standards, and technical reports

What are standards?

Standards are documents which describe methods for manufacturing, measurement, description and testing of materials and products. They cover everything from the simplest screw to the most complex information technology network.

Standards are issued by companies or other organizations both national and international. They are subject to frequent revision. By applying standards, products and services become consistent, compatible, safe and effective. An example of an influential set of standards is the ISO 14000 series of environmental management standards.  

Standards available at McGill Libraries:

Most standards held at McGill Libraries are available in print format only, with the exception of some of the standards listed below. You can find many of Schulich Library's print standards by browsing the Schulich Library Standards Collection. It is only possible to browse the collection through the online catalogue since standards are held behind the Schulich Library service desk. To borrow a standard from this collection, please make note of the item's call number and ask for it at the Schulich Library service desk. If you are not a current McGill student or staff, you may consult standards in the library but not borrow them. Please bring a piece of photo id with you to provide as collateral.

Here is information on standards available at McGill Libraries, listed by the standard issuing body:

• ASTM - Annual Book of American Society for Testing and Materials Standards
  Call number: TA 401 A653, latest edition: 2021 in Schulich Library - Reference Collection, older editions: Schulich - Main Collection.

  You can search the ASTM website in order to determine in which volume a specific standard is located.

• CGSB – Canadian General Standards Board
  Call number: TA368 C342 Collection Centre. The current CGSB catalogue is available online.
• IEEE Standards available online starting in 1988
• ASABE Standards (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers) available online starting in 1999
• International Dairy Federation (IDF) Standards
  Macdonald Campus Library has no.1 (1987)- 
• The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety provides access to a selection of relevant standards from the following organizations. You can access them by clicking on the respective links below and selecting login on the top right-hand side of the screen. No credentials are required:
  • CSA (Canadian Standards Association)
  • CGSB (Canadian General Standards Board)
  • WCB (Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia Standards) 

• The ANSI Incorporated by Reference (IBR) Portal provides access to standards that have been incorporated into the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. It consists of select ISO, IEC and other standards. Individuals need to register and the standards are read/view only.

For other standards, try searching the McGill catalogue with the standard title, number (example: ISO 11885), or issuing body. There are many books about specific standards in the collection but few actual standards.

Where standards are indexed:

• Compendex indexes standards from ASTM International, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), IEEE and the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE).

• The Accuris Store indexes standards from many organizations including the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), ASTM International, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), IEEE, the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) and others.

Locate a standard not at McGill Libraries:

Standards cannot be ordered through interlibrary loan. You may wish to check other local libraries:

• Concordia University Standards Collection
• Recherche par type de documents - Normes (Bibliothèque de l'École Polytechnique de Montréal)
• Full list of other library catalogues

If you would like the staff at McGill Libraries to consider purchasing a standard for the collection, please use the email options on the right-hand side of the page to contact the Schulich Librarians for physical sciences and engineering topics and the Macdonald Campus Librarians for agricultural, environmental science, nutrition and parasitology topics.

If you wish to purchase a standard:
Accuris Store
1-800-332-6077

For information about standards:

Standards Council of Canada
600 - 55 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L5
(613) 238-3222

Some suggested websites:

• Accuris Store
• American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
• American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards
• British Standards Institution (BSI)
• Bureau de normalisation du Québec (BNQ)
• Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB)
• Canadian Standards Association (CSA)
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
• Standards Council of Canada (SCC)