Standards 

What is a standard?

A standard is defined by the National Standards Policy Advisory Committee as:

"A prescribed set of rules, conditions, or requirements concerning definitions of terms; classification of components; specification of materials, performance, or operations; delineation of procedures; or measurement of quantity and quality in describing materials, products, systems, services, or practices."

For detailed & historical information on standards in the United States see:

• ANSI Through History With Standards Overview

• The ABC's of Standards-Related Activities in the United States

Search for Standards: Overview sites

There are several places to search for the existence of standards.
Some of our favorites include:

• The NSSN: A National Resource for Global Standards
  
• NIST: National Institute of Standards and Technology
• IHS Specs and Standards
• TechStreet
  

Standards available at MIT

The MIT Libraries collects a variety of standards. We have access to some electronically and many others in paper.

• See: Access to Standards at MIT for complete information.
  

Find the web site for a standards-producing organization

• See a list of Standard Organizations and their websites.