Research Guides: Engineering Standards: Finding Standards at Dartmouth

How to Find Standards at Dartmouth

All of standards available through Dartmouth Library are digital. If you need assistance locating a standard, please contact us.

Searching the Dartmouth Library Catalog

If you already know the exact standard you are looking for, search for the standard in the library catalog. Dartmouth has access to standards through IEEE, ASCE, ASTM, and BSI Knowledge. Some standards are indexed in the library catalog, others are only available through the platform. If you need assistance when searching, please contact an engineering librarian. If the standard is not available directly from Dartmouth, please place an interlibrary loan request.

Library Search
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Request quick access to materials not owned by Dartmouth. Login using your Dartmouth NetID credentials. Articles will be delivered in PDF format online, and physical materials can be set-up for delivery to the library of your choice on your ILL profile.

AccessEngineering
Includes the ability to search for referenced materials by standard.

Searching on ASCE, ASTM, IEEE

If you know that you are looking for standards from ASTM, ASCE, BSI, or IEEE, you can access them directly through the databases themselves. Search functions vary, but it is recommended that you limit to "My subscription," "My Collection," or the equivalent, when searching.

ASTM Standards and Engineering Digital Library
Includes: 13,000 active standards along with 20 years of historical versions along with all redline versions; ASTM Digital Library of manuals, monographs, peer-reviewed proceedings papers, data series, and 9 ASTM journals.
IEEE Xplore
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Provides full-text access to IEEE transactions, journals, magazines, and conference proceedings published since 1988, and more than 3,400 technical standards.

BSI Knowledge GBM 05 Sciences & Healthcare
Access 5000+ standards from BSI's GBM 05: Sciences & Health Care Module. These standards cover equivalent adoptions of ISO, IEC, and EN into the BS catalog. Link takes you to detailed access instructions.

ASCE Library
Standards by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) can be found under the drop-down menu titled "Books."
ASM Alloy Center Database
The ASM Alloy Center Database™ Alloy Finder is an authoritative database of more than 123,000 alloy designations, specifications, standards, and commercial grades in the U.S. and globally. The latest release includes nearly 3,000 new and updated ferrous and nonferrous alloy standards specification data sheets: UNS, ASTM, ASME, and International standards (BSI, BIS, JIS, etc.). Includes an alloy finder, coatings data, corrosion performance data, data sheets & diagrams, and materials property data.

Searching for Standards from Other Standards Development Organizations

If you are looking for standards other than those available from IEEE, ASCE, or ASTM, it is worth navigating directly to the website of the specific standards development organization. See the "Standards Search Engines" tab in the guide for links to standards development organizations and for standards that are classified as "incorporated by reference." You can also use the NIST "Learn How to Find Standards" link below for more information.

NIST Learn How to Find Standards

Request a Standard

If you need a standard that is unavailable through our current collection, the library may be able to acquire it for you through our subscriptions, with a rapid turnaround. If it requires special ordering it may take additional time. Please contact an engineering librarian for assistance.

Our Engineering Standards Collection Policy

(updated 2023 July 12)

The purchase of individual standards is at the discretion of an engineering librarian. The decision will be based on an evaluation of the following:

Is the standard required to complete a research project?
If the standard is for a class, does the professor agree that this standard is necessary to the project?
What is the cost of the standard?
By when is the standard needed?
What is the potential for reuse of the standard in the future?
What formats are available and what are the licensing restrictions for its use? Who is it available from?
What is the relevance of the standard to the overall engineering standards collection? Does it come from a SDO that our patrons frequently request?