Previews before buying standards?

[TPMB4]

I seem to remember in the past when I had a frequent requirement for various standards the website (BSI or ASTM) allowed a preview of the abstract or early sections of standards before buying.

The type of standards I need to look at are physical test methods and some of them could be irrelevant hence the need to review before buying. One in particular is ?100 just for a few pages so the bean counters won't like it if it's not the right one.

Anyone know if ASTM, BSI or others allow for a preview screen, kind of like Amazon does with their kindle books??

 

[SteveK]

How is your Dutch?

Mine is non-existent, but I can navigate around this standard site:

http://www.nen.nl/

I was able to pull up various standard previews in English (click on the pdf) after putting in the standard reference in the search box (note you can always translate the page). Hope this helps.

Steve

 

[TPMB4]

Thanks Steve.

My Dutch is non-existent but I do have a friend who is a professional Dutch to English translator so if I have any difficulties I know where to go. (Yes they are not all computers, there are some very talented human translators out there working very hard despite google translate. They just happen to be stuck away in their own homes out of sight).

 

[Mikishots]

I seem to remember in the past when I had a frequent requirement for various standards the website (BSI or ASTM) allowed a preview of the abstract or early sections of standards before buying.

The type of standards I need to look at are physical test methods and some of them could be irrelevant hence the need to review before buying. One in particular is ?100 just for a few pages so the bean counters won't like it if it's not the right one.

Anyone know if ASTM, BSI or others allow for a preview screen, kind of like Amazon does with their kindle books??

But that would hurt sales.

 

[Sam Lazzara]

For 2 Euros typically, you can view entire standards for a 24 hr periods on the Estonia standards website.
You can also view the first few pages of most standards for free when you click Buy/View.
http://www.evs.ee/Tootedjateenused/Standardisirvimisteenus/tabid/333/Default.aspx
That link goes to the Estonian language page. Click on "eng" at top right to get English.

 

[TPMB4]

But that would hurt sales.

A preview of the Abstract or introduction only. If you want to read the meat of the standard you pay. I have seen it in the past with some national standards, a link on the shop page going to another page that shows the cover, publishing page, contents and perhaps introduction with another buy button at the bottom. That was what I always used to do before buying a standard back in the day when I used to get sent online to find a standard for something or other (my straight out of uni days, so some time ago now).

Amazon do it with Kindle books without hurting as do some of the other e-book sellers. You can even buy samples for free of some e-books before buying. With those you get to actually read part of a chapter. I very much doubt amazon and their ilk are less commercial than the national standards bodies (or their commercial, standards selling/publishing arms).

 

[Mikishots]

A preview of the Abstract or introduction only. If you want to read the meat of the standard you pay. I have seen it in the past with some national standards, a link on the shop page going to another page that shows the cover, publishing page, contents and perhaps introduction with another buy button at the bottom. That was what I always used to do before buying a standard back in the day when I used to get sent online to find a standard for something or other (my straight out of uni days, so some time ago now).

Amazon do it with Kindle books without hurting as do some of the other e-book sellers. You can even buy samples for free of some e-books before buying. With those you get to actually read part of a chapter. I very much doubt amazon and their ilk are less commercial than the national standards bodies (or their commercial, standards selling/publishing arms).

It was in jest. Sorry I didn't make that more clear.

Have you considered asking the ASTM or BSI groups? We're not really in a position to tell them which companies we'd like them to align their business methods with. I normally just view the first few bits of the file using the radio button on the site.

 

[Jim Wynne]

A preview of the Abstract or introduction only. If you want to read the meat of the standard you pay. I have seen it in the past with some national standards, a link on the shop page going to another page that shows the cover, publishing page, contents and perhaps introduction with another buy button at the bottom. That was what I always used to do before buying a standard back in the day when I used to get sent online to find a standard for something or other (my straight out of uni days, so some time ago now).

Amazon do it with Kindle books without hurting as do some of the other e-book sellers. You can even buy samples for free of some e-books before buying. With those you get to actually read part of a chapter. I very much doubt amazon and their ilk are less commercial than the national standards bodies (or their commercial, standards selling/publishing arms).

ASTM does give you at least the abstract. SAE gives a scope statement so you can at least tell what the standard applies to. IHS also gives an abstract for the standards it sells, such as ISO documents.

If there's information you need that goes beyond the basic you might be able to query the relevant standards body to learn more about whether the standard in question meets your needs.