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 Library:

• 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 (temporarily unavailable). 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: 
  • 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 IHS Standards 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 Library:

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 wish to purchase a standard:
IHS Canada
1-800-267-8220
240 Catherine Street, Suite 305
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2G8
(613) 237-4250

For information about standards:

Standards Council of Canada
270 Albert Street, Suite 200
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6N7
(613) 238-3222

Some suggested websites:

• 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)
• IHS Standards Store
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
• National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
• Standards Council of Canada (SCC)