The University at Buffalo Libraries has a growing collection of standards and specifications. All ASTM, IEEE, and SAE standards are now accessible online, as well as ASCE 7 (see databases listed on the right side of the screen to access). Other select standards are available through other platforms or various ebook databases. Some other standards are available in print. Use the tabs above to find U.S. and international standards here at UB, as well as information regarding government regulations and standards.

If you are having trouble locating a standard you need, please contact the Engineering Librarian (epautler@buffalo.edu). We may be able to point you to a freely accessible copy (see more information under the tab above labeled "Obtaining Standards") or we may possibly be able to purchase a copy. 

Standards provide people and organizations with a basis for mutual understanding and are used as tools to facilitate communication, measurement, commerce, and manufacturing.

Standards are everywhere and play an important role in the economy, by:

• facilitating business interaction
• enabling companies to comply with relevant laws and regulations
• speeding up the introduction of innovative products to market 
• providing interoperability between new and existing products, services, and processes.

- CEN CENELEC

Standards impact our every day lives.

• See also Standards are Everywhere: An Information Literacy Approach to Standards Education by Purdue Libraries for more information on what standards are, as well as where standards can be found in everyday objects.

Standards are important to businesses, governments, engineers, scientists, architects, designers, students, and more.

• See the Value of Standards webpage from the Standards Boost Business website. 

For more information, watch the video below from ISO on What Standards Do for You.

Another video, below, is from NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology and illustrates how standards are important to technology and innovation.

You can use standards databases to search for standards by keyword or topic (e.g., footwear). Intertek Inform and the ANSI Webstore are two popular options and cover standards worldwide (although not ALL standards developing organizations are represented in these tools, they do have great range).

• Intertek Inform (a standards provider)  
  Search 1.6 million+ standards and industry codes from more than 360 standards agencies worldwide. Standards can be purchased directly from Intertek Inform in PDF or print formats.
   
• ANSI WebStore
  Search for ANSI, ASTM, ISO, IEC, and other standards publishers by keyword or document number. Be sure to re-set the search box to "KEYWORD" if searching that way. This will provide you with the acronym and name of the publishing organization (as well as a standard number and the title of the standard).

Other specialized indexes exist for military standards, federal standards, foreign national standards, etc. These indexes are identified and cited in the respective sections accessible through the tabs above. Links are provided to the web version of an index where one is available.