Standards are "documents that provide requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose" (ISO.org, 2017)
Example: ISO 8714: Electric road vehicles - reference energy consumption and range - test procedures for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.
Standards are regulated at national and international level.
Based in Geneva, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has been publishing international standards in every sector since 1947. It works with its membership of national standards bodies - sharing knowledge, devising, developing and revising standards in a global network.
The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) is Ireland's official standards and measurement body
Standards are not freely available on the Web. At DCU we access through our subscription to the NSAI database on the SAI Global i2i platform. Find it on our A-Z Databases list (under 'national'), or click on the link below.
Search by Standard Number (eg. ISO 6460) or keyword
Access the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) on SAI Global i2i Platform via DCU Library
In this video, DCU Library's Lisa Callaghan (Engineering & Computing Librarian) discusses how to access standards through DCU Library.
In this video Éadoin Carthy, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at DCU, discusses the use of standards. She highlights the importance of standards in every day life and how standards are developed.
In this video, NSAI's Barry Cox highlights how standards can support your studies throughout university and your career path