Standards are documents that specify a particular way of doing something. For example, technical specifications for building a product, or procedures for delivering a service or completing a process. When products, services, and processes comply with relevant standards they should:
Did you know?
Everyday, you and your electronic devices use the IEEE 802.11 standard. This standard enables you to connect your device to any available wi-fi network, wherever you are.
Each organisation that creates standards uses an abbreviation of its name to identify the standards it has created. These abbreviations form the start of the standard document number and title.
Creating a standard is expensive and takes a long time. It needs a lot of research, subject matter expertise, experimentation, quality control testing, and constant revision to keep it up to date. Standards are usually created by organisations, such as:
Did you know?
Standards created by one organisation are often adopted by other organisations. When this happens the standard document number usually contains abbreviations for all organisations that have adopted it. For example, AS/NZS for Australia and New Zealand shared standards, or BS EN for British and European shared standards.
Did you know?
The Library provides access to standards from many organisations, but not all standards from all organisations. Many standards are accessible online but some are only available in print. If you cannot find the particular standard that you need using the instructions below, contact your subject librarian or make a purchase recommendation.
Find standards with document number abbreviation:
Standards New Zealand Te Mana Tautikanga o Aotearoa is a unit within the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) of the New Zealand government. They are responsible for New Zealand standards.
Access the full text of all standards using the Standards New Zealand Online Library. There are no entries for individual New Zealand standards in the Te Waharoa library search.
You cannot add direct links to, or full-text PDF files of, individual New Zealand standards to Nuku, course wikis, course reading lists, or emails. The only access route is to download your own personal copy using the instructions above.
British Standards Institution (BSI) is the British government entity responsible for standards.
Find the full text of British standards that have been adopted by New Zealand in the Standards New Zealand Online Library. See NZS – New Zealand Standards.
Access the full text of 25 selected current standards using the British Standards Online BSOL database. For these selected standards you can also find each of them using the Te Waharoa library search.
You cannot add full-text PDF files of these standards directly to Nuku, course wikis, course reading lists, or emails. The best solution is to link to the Te Waharoa entry for the individual standard to enable others to download their own personal copy using the instructions above.
If the standard you want is marked as "Not in subscription" you may be able to add it.
In BSOL, on the "My Account" tab, if there are fewer than 25 documents listed as available in "My custom collections" you may be able to add your standard to the collection.
To add your standard, contact your subject librarian or make a purchase recommendation.
The Library reviews the custom collection of standards documents annually in February. Standards that are no longer needed by the University community are removed, making space for you to add the standards you need.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) develops global industry standards for a broad range of IT, energy supply, and telecommunications technologies through the IEEE Standards Association.
You can find the full text of IEEE standards that have been adopted by New Zealand in the Standards New Zealand Online Library. See NZS – New Zealand Standards.
Access the full text of all IEEE standards using the IEEE Xplore database. You can also find each individual standard using the Te Waharoa library search.
You cannot add full-text PDF files of these standards directly to Nuku, course wikis, course reading lists, or emails.
You can link directly to individual standards, either:
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is based in Switzerland. The IEC creates international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. These standards are based on the consensus of experts from many countries and are often adopted by other standards organisations.
You can find the full text of IEC standards that have been adopted by New Zealand in the Standards New Zealand Online Library. See NZS – New Zealand Standards.
You can access the full text of selected IEC standards using the British Standards Online BSOL database. For these selected standards you can also find each of them using the Te Waharoa library search.
Find detailed access instructions under BS – British Standards.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is based in Switzerland. The ISO technical committees, consisting of industry experts from around the world, develop international standards for many different industries and social responsibilities. ISO standards are often adopted by other standards organisations, for example, the metric system for measuring distances in metres is part of ISO 80000-1:2022 standard.
You can find the full text of ISO standards that have been adopted by New Zealand in the Standards New Zealand Online Library. See NZS – New Zealand Standards.
You can access the full text of selected ISO standards using the British Standards Online BSOL database. For these selected standards you can also find each of them using the Te Waharoa library search.
Find detailed access instructions under BS – British Standards.