British Standards Institute (BSI)
April 10 2008
- How to find out about British standards
- Where to view or buy?
- Range of BSI publications
- What the BMA library can offer
- Other organisations and libraries
A standard is an accepted or approved example of a process. Read more about this on the BSI Education site.
British Standards Institute (BSI) is a nonprofit distributing organisation, independent of government, industry or trade associations whose operating divisions (product certification, quality assurance, standards, testing and training services) are designed to further the use of standards.
Manufacturers, importers and retailers rely upon BSI testing to independently assess the performance of their products for safety, reliability and quality. Its certification trade mark, the Kitemark, has been established for more than 90 years.
British Standards House
389 Chiswick High Road
LONDON
W4 4AL
tel: 020 8996 9000 (admin) / 020 8996 9001 (customer services)
Fax: 020 8996 7400 / 020 8996 7001 (customer services)
email: info@bsi-global.com
The BSI has a comprehensive web site at http://www.bsi-global.com which provides information on key services, electronic products, standard's development, enquiries and feedback facilities, as well as the option to search for keywords and identify relevant standard. There is a comprehensive list of foreign standards bodies and other agencies with links to their pages.
You can search the entire BSI standards database through British Standards Online at http://bsonline.techindex.co.uk
Standards are drawn up by all those with an interest in a subject including industry, researchers, consumers and government departments. BSI staff, acting as secretaries co-ordinate this work through the 3 000 committees of the Institution. All standards are made available for public comment before they are published.
There are more than 100 organisations similar to the BSI worldwide which are members of the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). These bodies produce harmonised world standards. The BSI also presents the British viewpoint to the European Standards Organisation - CEN and CENELEC. These bodies develop European standards crucial to the success of the single market.
How to find out about British standards
British Standards Online allows you to search the entire BSI standards database, including BS adoptions of EN, ISO and IEC standards, at http://bsonline.techindex.co.uk
Alternatively, British standards and other relevant publications from the BSI are listed in the microfiche Barbour index which is kept by the microfiche printer.
You should use the printed index to identify the relevant subject area which lists a range of government documents and publications from various sources including the BSI. You can identify relevant standards or other documents: the microfiche number and reference location is listed after the entry.
The BMA staff library collection has a collection of BSI standards which are available for loan to BMA staff.
Where to view or buy?
Viewing standards
British standards and other relevant publications from the BSI are listed in the microfiche Barbour index which is kept by the microfiche printer. These pages can be viewed with the microfiche reader and relevant portions printed out subject to copyright restrictions (no more than 10% of any standard can be copied or no more than two pages if the standard is short).
The BSI resource centre contains around 500 000 standards, codes of practice, regulations and an archival collection of withdrawn and superseded standards which are available for reference. There is a nominal charge for non-member to visit the centre which can be contacted on 020 8996 7004.
Buying standards
Standards can be purchased from:
BSI sales department
Blackwells Business and Law Bookshop
243-244 High Holborn
LONDON
WC1V 7DZ
tel: 020 8996 9001
The Stationery Office
123 Kingsway
LONDON
WC2B 6PQ
Range of BSI publications
British Standards (BS) can take different forms:
- specifications for products or materials
- methods of measuring, testing, etc.
- recommendations on product or process application; codes of practice
- terminology
- classification
- Drafts for Development (DD), these are pre-standards which can be converted into standards or withdrawn
- Published Document (PD), these are document containing supplementary information
- Amendments (AMD), these are published when simple changes are made to a standard and incorporated during reprint or in the new edition.
There are a number of standards and other documents which might be of interest to health care professionals which range from draft for development documents in medical informatics, to standards related to medical equipment or codes of practice.
What the BMA library can offer
Standards in the Barbour Index can be viewed in the library.
Current British standards can also be borrowed on interlibrary loan:
Interlibrary Loans
Library
British Medical Association
Tavistock Square
London
WC1H 9JP
tel: 020 7383 6582
Other organisations and libraries
American National Standards Institute
http://www.ansi.org/
Private, non-profit organisationthat administers and coordinates the US voluntary standardization and conformity assessment.
International Organization for Standardization
http://www.iso.ch/
Network of the national standards institutes of 148 countries, on the basis of one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.