Research Guides: FAMU-FSU College of Engineering: Standards Information

What are Technical Reports?

A technical report is a document that describes the process, progress, or results of technical or scientific research or the state of a technical or scientific research problem. They are prepared for internal or wider distribution by many organizations. Technical reports often present cutting edge research before being published in journals or conferences.

Techical Reports

NTIS - now the National Technical Reports Library (NTRL)
Describes government technical reports from the U.S. and other countries. Good for locating reports that one should be able to obtain for free from NASA, DOD, DOE, EPA and other agencies. NTRL has the full text of more than 800,000 technical reports.
CiteSeerX

US Federal Government Technical Reports

Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center (CRREL)
Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
TRAIL Technical Report Archive & Image Library
A collaborative project to digitize, archive, and provide persistent and unrestricted access to federal technical reports issued prior to 1975.

What is a Standard?

A standard is "a recognized unit of comparison by which the correctness of others can be determined." Another definition is "a set of characteristics or qualities that describes features of a product, process, or service."

To locate a standard, you should have at least some of the following details:

Name of the publishing organization (often referred to as the SDO - Standards Developing Organization)
Standard number
Title
Subject

Locating standards can be difficult. Databases for locating standards often only have a title for you search by keyword. Standards are regularly updated (usually) and the version that you want might depend on your specific information needs.

FSU Standards Databases

IEEE Xplore This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to IEEE transactions, journals, magazines and conference proceedings published since 1988 and all current IEEE standards. Also called IEEE/IEE Electronic Library. (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Topic areas:
Aerospace
Bioengineering
Communication, Networking & Broadcasting
Components, Circuits, Devices & Systems
Computing & Processing (Hardware/Software)
Engineered Materials, Dielectrics & Plasmas
Engineering Profession
Fields, Waves & Electromagnetics
General Topics for Engineers (Math, Science & Engineering)
Geoscience
Nuclear Engineering
Photonics & Electro-Optics
Power, Energy, & Industry Applications
Robotics & Control Systems
Signal Processing & Analysis
Transportation

Abbreviation: ieee
Vendor: IEEE
Coverage: 1988-Current
Subjects: Computer Science, Engineering, Material Science
Type: E-Book Collections, E-Journal Collections, Proceedings, Standards, Testing / Tutorials

FDA Recognized Consensus Standards
Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) reviews the use of national and international consensus standards, including declarations of conformity to these standards, during the evaluation of premarket submissions for medical devices

Compendex (Engineering Village) This link opens in a new window
Covers significant engineering and technical literature from journals (over 3,600), technical reports, engineering society publications, books, and conference proceedings and papers (over 15.8 million records, with more than 650,000 added annually).
Tutorials:
EngineeringVillage YouTube channel

Abbreviation: compendix
Vendor: Elsevier
Coverage: 1988-Current
Subjects: Chemistry, Engineering, Material Science
Type: Indexes / Catalogs, Proceedings, Reports

Chemistry
Engineering
Material Science
ASTM Compass This link opens in a new window
ASTM Compass is an online subscription platform that helps manage change and increase staff productivity. Compass provides access to the most up-to-date standards and research, along with productivity tools for sharing, version comparison, and annotating.
Abbreviation: astm
Vendor: ASTM
Subjects: Engineering
Type: E-Journal Collections

Searching for Standards on these sites is free, but getting full standards often costs money.

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Store
ANSI is a private, non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standards and conformity assessment system.
AOCS Test Methods
AOCS advances the science and technology of oils, fats, proteins, surfactants, and related materials, enriching the lives of people everywhere.
ASSIST
ASSIST is a robust, comprehensive web site used by standardization management activities to develop, coordinate, distribute, and manage Defense Standardization Program (DSP) technical documents.
Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC)
The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC®) has served the information needs of the Defense community for more than 70 years. DTIC reports to the Under Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering).
DOE Full-Text Technical Standards
The DOE Technical Standards Program (TSP) promotes the use of voluntary consensus standards, manages and facilitates efforts to develop and maintain necessary technical standards, and communicates information on TSP activities.
EPA Laws and Regulations
The EPA develops and enforces regulations that span many environmental topics.
Global Engineering Documents Standards Searches
A source for engineering specifications, standards, manuals and technical publications.
Index of Federal Specifications and Standards
Index of Federal Specifications, Standards and Commercial Item Descriptions (FMR 102-27) is issued for public use.
ISO: International Organization for Standardization
ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 161 national standards bodies.
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was founded in 1901 and is now part of the U.S. Department of Commerce. NIST is one of the nation's oldest physical science laboratories. Today, NIST measurements support the smallest of technologies to the largest and most complex of human-made creations.
OSHA Regulations and Standards
OSHA's mission is to ensure that employees work in a safe and healthful environment by setting and enforcing standards, and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.
Standards.Gov
Standards.gov is administered by the Standards Coordination Office (SCO) at NIST.

What are Conference Papers & Proceedings?

Conferences papers are the papers presented at a conference, meeting, symposium, etc. by individual speakers.

Proceedings are the collection of conference papers that are published by the organizing institution of the conference or via a publisher. They are distributed as printed books or made available online. Proceedings may include whole papers or just the abstracts.

Locating conference proceedings can be complicated because of variations in:

publication title
publication type (separate, one-time publications, serials, or as special issues in journals)
content (abstracts, extended abstracts, or complete papers)
publication date (some proceedings may be published long after the actual conference date)
sponsoring associations' name

FSU Conference Papers & Proceedings Databases

Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science (CPCI-S) This link opens in a new window
Conference Proceedings Citation Index, helps researchers access the published literature from the most significant conferences, symposia, seminars, colloquia, workshops, and conventions worldwide. This resource offers a complete view of conference proceedings and their impact on global research, letting you use cited reference searching to track emerging ideas and new research beyond what is covered in the journal literature. Can also be searched with other citation databases in the Web of Science platform.
Tutorials:
Web of Science tutorials

Abbreviation: cpci
Vendor: Clarivate Analytics
Coverage: 1993-Current
Subjects: *General Science
Type: Indexes / Catalogs, Proceedings
Proceedings This link opens in a new window
Covers every published congress, symposium, conference, exposition, workshop and meeting received by The British Library Document Supply Centre. Each record contains a list of the papers presented at each conference.
Abbreviation: proceedings
Vendor: OCLC
Coverage: 1993Current
Subjects: *General / Multi-Subject
Type: E-Book Collections, E-Journal Collections, Government Publications
ACM Digital Library This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to all ACM journals, magazines, and Special Interest Group conference proceedings. A wide range of computer- and information-science topics are covered from 1947 to the present. The ACM Digital Library is published by the Association for Computing Machinery.
Abbreviation: acm
Vendor: Association for Computing Machinery
Coverage: 1947-Current
Subjects: Communication, Computer Science, Engineering, Library & Information Science
Type: E-Book Collections, E-Journal Collections, Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires
ACS Publications This link opens in a new window
American Chemical Society, (ACS), publishes more than 40 peer-reviewed journals with cutting-edge articles across a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines including energy, fuels, toxicology, agriculture, food, and biochemistry from 1996–Current.
Tutorials:
ACS Web Editions guide (PDF)
Pair a Device (PDF)
Search and Browse (03:46 minutes)

Abbreviation: acsweb
Vendor: ACS Publications
Coverage: 1996-Current
Subjects: Chemistry
Type: Datasets / Statistics, Directories, E-Book Collections, E-Journal Collections
Compendex (Engineering Village) This link opens in a new window
Covers significant engineering and technical literature from journals (over 3,600), technical reports, engineering society publications, books, and conference proceedings and papers (over 15.8 million records, with more than 650,000 added annually).
Tutorials:
EngineeringVillage YouTube channel

Abbreviation: compendix
Vendor: Elsevier
Coverage: 1988-Current
Subjects: Chemistry, Engineering, Material Science
Type: Indexes / Catalogs, Proceedings, Reports

Chemistry
Engineering
Material Science
IEEE Xplore This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to IEEE transactions, journals, magazines and conference proceedings published since 1988 and all current IEEE standards. Also called IEEE/IEE Electronic Library. (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
Topic areas:
Aerospace
Bioengineering
Communication, Networking & Broadcasting
Components, Circuits, Devices & Systems
Computing & Processing (Hardware/Software)
Engineered Materials, Dielectrics & Plasmas
Engineering Profession
Fields, Waves & Electromagnetics
General Topics for Engineers (Math, Science & Engineering)
Geoscience
Nuclear Engineering
Photonics & Electro-Optics
Power, Energy, & Industry Applications
Robotics & Control Systems
Signal Processing & Analysis
Transportation

Abbreviation: ieee
Vendor: IEEE
Coverage: 1988-Current
Subjects: Computer Science, Engineering, Material Science
Type: E-Book Collections, E-Journal Collections, Proceedings, Standards, Testing / Tutorials
SAE Mobilus This link opens in a new window
SAE Mobilus includes resources covering a wide range of technologies surrounding the aerospace, automotive, and commercial vehicle industries. Included are aerospace standards, ground vehicle standards, aerospace material specifications, technical papers, books, magazines, videos, and journals.
Abbreviation: saemobil
Vendor: SAE International
Subjects: Engineering
Type: E-Book Collections, E-Journal Collections, Reports, Standards