A Quick Look at NSSN (National Resource for Global Standards)

NSSN: National Resource for Global Standards is striving to be the Web's "most comprehensive data network on developing and approved national, foreign, regional and international standards and regulatory documents."

The NSSN contains over 250,000 references to approved standards and standards under development from more than 600 developers worldwide. The collection is organized into six databases (see below).

The search engine provides the ability to limit or expand searches to a particular database. Search results produce brief descriptions of the standards and provide links to purchase electronic or print versions of the full text.

Here is a brief description of each database:

1. Approved Industry Standards
Provides access to nearly 200,000 records from developers worldwide. Includes information on standards from U.S. developers, foreign national standards bodies, and corporations. This data is provided by a number of sources, and is updated regularly (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or quarterly, depending on the source).

2. Approved International Standards
Provides access to 15,000 records from ISO and IEC. Updated monthly.

3. Approved U.S. Government Standards
Contains information about the approximately 46,000 active standards and specifications used by the Department of Defense, including standards adopted for use from non-government developers. Updated weekly.

4. Industry Standards Under Development
Provides information on approximately 10,000 standards development projects from U.S. SDOs. Updated weekly.

5. International Standards Under Development
Information on over 3,000 international standards projects in development by ISO. Updated monthly.

6. U.S. Government Standards Under Development
Information on approximately 4,000 Department of Defense standards projects. Updated weekly. Available via STAR Data search engine only.