According to the International Standard Organization, a standard is a document that provides requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose.
Standards are issued by dozens of different professional and governmental organizations. The acronym at the beginning of standard generally identifies the issuing organization. A few of the most common are:
| Acronym | Organization |
| ASCE | American Society of Civil Engineers |
| ASME | American Society of Mechanical Engineers |
| ASTM | American Society for Testing and Materials |
| IEEE | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
| ISO | International Standards Organization |
The library has access to some standards in electronic or print format.
AREMA Handbook - American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-way Association
ASCE - American Society of Civil Engineers
ASHRAE Handbooks - American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers
ASM International Handbook - American Society for Metals
ASTM - American Society for Testing and Materials
ICC - International Code Council
IEEE - International Electrical and Electronics Engineers
ISO - International Organization for Standization
If you need a standard that the library doesn't have, the library may be able to get your standard for free through a few different services. Contact Chris Langer (clanger@csufresno.edu) for assistance in requesting the standard you need.
You may be able to find and request your standard from another library through CSU+. Keep in mind that many libraries won't loan materials that are in their reference collections, which is often where standards are located.
If you only need a single standard that is included in a large volume, you can sometimes get it through interlibrary loan by submitting a book chapter request.
Sometimes you can find standards online for free. Try searching Google for the name of your standard, along with .pdf