Technical Reports and Standards

Standards Collection

The Library of Congress standards collection contains publications that have been deposited at the Library of Congress to meet copyright registration requirements. For a guide to which materials are added to the Library's permanent collections, see the Collection Policy Statement for Standards. Consult Library of Congress Databases and Electronic Resources to locate online indexes.

   U.S. Standards

Bureau of Standards. Cone mixer used for mixing standard samples for chemical analysis.

TRS has selected current and historical hard copy standards issued by dozens of organizations, as well as unclassified U.S. military and Federal Specifications. A partial list of standard issuing organizations that TRS has materials from include:

• AAMI: Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation
• ACI: American Concrete Institute
• AES: Audio Engineering Society
• AGMA: American Gear Manufacturers Association
• AICPA: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
• ANS: American Nuclear Society
• ANSI: American National Standards Institute
• API: American Petroleum Institute
• ARI: American Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute
• ASME: American Society for Mechanical Engineers
• ASTM: (Science Reading Room)
• AWS: American Welding Society
• AWWA: American Water Works Association (in print & CD)
• CGA: Compressed Gas Association
• EIA: Electronic Industries Association (in print & CD)
• IEC: International Electrical Commission
• IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• IPC: Association of Connection Electronics Industries
• ISA: Instrumentation Systems and Automation Society
• ISO: International Standards Organization (selected only - ISO publicly available standards)
• NCCLS: National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards
• NEMA: National Electrical Manufacturers Association
• NFPA: National Fire Protection Association
• RTCA: Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics
• SAE: Society of Automotive Engineers (in print & CD)
• SCTE: Society for Cable & Telecommunications Engineers
• SMPTE: Society for Motion Picture and Television Engineers
• UL: Underwriters Laboratories

In addition, the Library's online subscription to MAD CAD provides access to a cross-referenced collections of building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, fire, and maintenance codes from BOCA, SBCCI, ICBO, ICC, and NFPA.

TRS also has historical U.S. Federal and Military Specifications on microfilm.

   Foreign Standards

TRS has selected (not current) hardcopy standards from:

• The People's Republic of China
• Russia (including the annual Russian National Standards Index series published by the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology dating back to 1980)
• South Africa

    Locating Standards

Standards can be found in hard copy or on microfilm either in TRS, the Law Library (OSHA standards or some building codes for example), or searching the Library's online catalog for materials in the general collections. Indexes to Standards are available from the Library's online databases.

Standards that have been incorporated into the Code of Federal Regulations may be freely accessible through the IBR Standards Reference Portal

TRS staff are available to answer inquiries and provide item identification. Please note however that copyright restrictions and associated costs severely limit the Library's ability to provide photocopies.

For additional resources, contact the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) .

United States Copyright restrictions prevent copying entire copyrighted documents. However, the fair use provision does permit reproduction of relevant portions (small parts) of these documents. Photocopiers, microform reader/printers and computer terminals are available for patron use in the Science Reading Room. TRS materials are non-circulating and are not to leave the Science Reading Room area.