Standards are developed to "set out specifications, procedures and guidelines that aim to ensure products, services and systems are safe, consistent and reliable." (Standards Australia, 2021).
Standards can be international (e.g. ISO – International Standards Organisation), national (e.g. AS – Standards Australia) or regional (e.g. EN – European Union).
To find standard databases from the Library see Specialised Information Databases.
CQUniversity Library provides access to databases which contain specialised information such as standards, statistics, etc. Below are the instructions to locate these databases:
Now all the results that appear will be databases that contain that resource type.
Some organisations and government agencies have developed standards related to their area of operations. These can be accessed online via the website for that organisation or government agency. Below is a list of some of the websites where these standards can be accessed:
Engineering Workbench is the database that provides access to Australian Standards and some ISO standards.
Licence Conditions – The licence for this database does not allow for the electronic transmission of files, and distributing copies is strictly prohibited. One copy can be printed for personal use only.
Maximum number of users – Only 10 users can use Australian Standards on Engineering Workbench at a time and 1 user for ISO Standards (ISO standards adopted by Australia are included under Australian Standards).
Please note:
To find a standard:
For further help with searching, visit the Engineering Workbench Help page.
When you find the standard you want to view, select the standard title. You may need to Accept the Terms and Conditions the first time you view a standard.
When you are finished with the standard, click the Close button at the top right of the page. This will allow other users to access the standard.
Before you download any standards, you will need to do the following:
You won’t be able to open the standards you downloaded without them.
CQUniversity student computers
FileOpen plugin and Adobe Acrobat are already installed on CQUniversity owned student computers.
You will also need to make sure that the PDF viewing setting for your internet browser enables PDF download, otherwise you might encounter an error message or password pop-up. Visit the Engineering Workbench Help page for instructions.
CQUniversity staff computers and students using their own devices
For staff computers and students using their own devices, you will need to install the FileOpen plugin and Adobe Acrobat.
Below is a list of where the software is available to install from:
You will also need to make sure that the PDF viewing setting for your internet browser enables PDF download, otherwise you might encounter an error message or password pop-up. Visit the Engineering Workbench Help page for instructions.
Once you have installed the required software, you will search for the standard you want to download and select the title.
To download the standard for offline access:
Some International standards which have been officially adopted by Australia are available in the Engineering Workbench database. There is also a limited number of purchased ISO standards available within Engineering Workbench too.
To open a standard you downloaded from Engineering Workbench you will need to:
Check that the file you downloaded wasn’t renamed. If it was, you will need to remove it and re-download it without renaming the PDF document.
If you are unable to read PDFs using the FileOpen plugin in the Google Chrome browser or encounter an error message, you will need to make sure that the PDF viewing setting for your internet browser enables PDF download. Visit the Engineering Workbench Help page for further assistance with this issue.
In most cases, you are allowed to print a single copy for personal use. There are some publishers of standards which do not allow it.
To print a standard, you will:
For academic staff and researchers, you can put in a purchase request for standards that are not part of the Library’s subscription but these will only be purchased if cost and applicable user licence allows. When receiving the purchase request, the decision on whether to purchase a standard will be made at the Library’s discretion.
To put in a purchase request, contact the Library via the Ask Us page.
We’re here to help. Get in touch with the Library for advice and guidance on your library needs.

Find specialised information such as company information, standards, patents, maps and statistics.

Questions to ask yourself when you are evaluating information you’ve found for inclusion in your assignments or research.

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