Ever wonder what documents your peers are using?

The answer is at http://store.ihs.com. Thanks to a little database magic, you can now see a list of related documents based on what other companies are buying. So, if you are interested in X, you can instantly learn that other companies are also buying Y and Z.

Example: if you are interested in the Safety Code For Escalators (ASME A17.1 - we really need this in Denver), you can instantly see that others are also buying the Accessibility Code For Physically Handicapped (ANSI A117.1) and the National Electrical Code (NFPA 70).

Because the purchase data represents many different societies, you can easily learn of related documents from competing societies or different industries. The top four related purchases are listed at the bottom of the Document Details page along with a link to the top 30. Nearly all of the popular documents have purchase data, but a few do not.

As an example, look at the entries near the bottom of the RIA R15.06 Document Details page.

In addition to the purchase data, you can also view a list of the referenced standards for many documents or the historical standards for a document.

Since compliance to referenced documents is sometimes required as part of a contract, it is important to have the list of referenced documents before you buy. For some engineers, the list of referenced documents is more valuable than the purchase data, because of the compliance issues. Links to referenced and historical standards are also listed at the bottom of the Document Details page.

The website for Global Engineering Documents, the retail arm of IHS, provides free access to an index of nearly one million active and historical standards. The index is searchable by document number or keyword and provides basic bibliographic information, historical revisions, referenced documents and related documents based on purchase statistics. All documents are available for purchase in hardcopy or electronic formats.

You can also download catalogs from some of the large societies.

Even without the additional "suggestion" tools, the Global website is a valuable resource that offers a competitive advantage and significant time savings to all who use it.

What's Missing? If you have additional needs not addressed by the current Global website, please send them to the e-mail address below. Tell us your name, state or country, and position. We will print a representative sample of comments, and, unless asked to do otherwise, will identify the contributor.

Jaren Green, Sr. Editor
jaren.green@ihs.com