Electronic Sources for Standards

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), www.astm.org/Standard/index.shtml (accessed August 6,2010). Known today as ASTM International, this society is one of the oldest and largest standards-developing organizations. Founded in 1898, it now produces more than 12,000 standards contained in subject groups or a complete collection. The entire annual set, single volumes, or subsets are available on subscription, and individual standards may be purchased online. 

Document Engineering Company (DECO) (1958- ), www.doceng.com (accessed August 6, 2010). This vendor has been a source since 1958 for current and historical standards from U.S. government, industry, and international standards organizations. Standards may be ordered individually or through a subscription. 

ili-info.com/ (accessed August 6, 2010). Started as London Information in 1949, ILI is now a producer of nine databases and a supplier of standards owned by SAI Global. Two of the databases are Standards Infobase, which covers hundreds of international standards organizations, and Metals Infobase. The Metals Infobase contains 70,000 world metal grades, their properties, related standards on which they are based, and the suppliers. 

International Organization for Standardization (ISO), www.iso.org (accessed August 6, 2010). International standards began with the International Electrotechnical Commission (lEC) in 1906. In 1946, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) was created to fill the need for international coordination of industrial standards. In 2004, the ISO Web site announced the joint ISO/IEC Information Centre www. standardsinfo.net (August 6, 2010) in order to facilitate world trade. ISO serves as a network of the national standards bodies of 163 countries, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland. 

National Information Standards Organization (NISO), www.niso.org (accessed August 9, 2010). The NISO, founded in 1939, assumed its current name in 1984. As the name implies, NISO provides the information standards, such as Z39.50, which manages information retrieval, or Z39.9, which covers the International Standard Serial Number. NISO is designated by ANSI to represent U.S. interests on the ISO Technical Committee 46 on Information and Documentation. 

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