Standards and codes are key sources of information for engineers.
Standards are documents established by a consensus of experts and published by a recognized organization. For example, the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) publishes standards for a wide range of products and practices. These organizations are commonly referred to as standards developing organizations (SDO). There are millions of standards in use today published by thousands of SDOs around the world.
Simply put, a standard is "a formula that describes the best way of doing something." (ISO) Standards help companies and consumers ensure that products and services are consistent, compatible, safe, and effective. Virtually all products made today, ranging from the simplest sheet metal screw to the most complicated telecommunications system, must conform to one or more standards.
Codes are collections of mandatory standards, regulations, or guidelines that set minimum design and safety requirements for products, constructions, processes, and so on. For example, the Ontario Building Code is used by architects, engineers, designers, builders, inspectors, suppliers, and manufacturers for construction projects in Ontario.
In order to locate a standard you need the following pieces of information: name or acronym of the standards developing organization (SDO), standard number, title of the standard, and date of standard. Consult the appropriate standards database (ASTM, CSA, IEEE, etc...) to locate the desired standard. See the library's guide to standards and codes for more information.
For example, let's say that we want to find a CSA standard, CSA B483.1:21, "Drinking Water Treatment Systems".
Most standards have a similar structure and format. The main sections are as follows.
Preface/introduction - The preface provides a brief history of the standard, preceding standards, and a summary of major changes.
Scope - The scope describes what the standard covers and what it does not.
References - This section contains references to other publications, usually other standards and codes, cited in the standard.
Terms and Definitions - This section provides definitions of terms used in the standard.
Body - The main text of the standard covering the technical specifications, safety requirements, test methods, an so on.
Bibliography - Provides a list of references, usually other standards and codes, that are related to the standard.