UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State University Libraries received an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education to purchase international and industry standards in support of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) in core Pennsylvania industries. These items are now available for loan to state residents and businesses.
“The purpose of this project was to increase access to and awareness of industry and international standards for the benefit of Pennsylvania businesses and entrepreneurs,” said Linda Musser, Distinguished Librarian and head of the Fletcher L. Byrom Earth and Mineral Sciences Library, who spearheaded the project. “Standards developed by experts are consensus publications that document best practices. In a global economy, use of international standards is increasingly required to do business. However, standards are expensive and few Pennsylvania libraries collect or acquire them.”
The $48,644 IMLS grant was used to gather information from statewide stakeholders about specific needs for standards in eight key industries identified by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development that could benefit from improved access to standards: advanced manufacturing; food processing and manufacturing; energy production and transition; life sciences and medical technology; corporate headquarters; distribution and logistics; plastics and chemicals; and robotics and artificial intelligence. The project also identified standards that affirm DEIA and further the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on standards not widely available in Pennsylvania libraries.
Stakeholders contacted for feedback included librarians across the Commonwealth as well as experts at the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PennTAP), a statewide technical assistance organization that supports Pennsylvania businesses and anchor institutions including manufacturers, municipalities, educational institutions, entrepreneurs, farmers and economic development agencies.
“As frequent users of technical information sources such as standards, PennTAP staff have a good sense of where resource gaps exist and provided useful information about specific standards to acquire,” Musser said.
A department within the Penn State Office of Industrial Partnerships, PennTAP provides technical assistance for which its technical advisers regularly use the Libraries’ collection of standards, including those from the International Organization of Standardization (ISO), to support their work, said Tanna Pugh, director of PennTAP.
“Our team of expert technical advisers at Penn State campuses across the commonwealth utilize the ISO standards to build educational programming for our clients,” Pugh said. “Specifically, we run an annual training program to educate and support several companies as they work toward completing the Department of Energy’s ISO 50001 Ready Navigator. The program ultimately helps these organizations save energy while reducing costs and carbon emissions.
“Having the resources available through the Libraries has been a tremendous asset, helping to further the development of these key programs as well as the benefits gained by the small and medium-size businesses we support,” Pugh concluded.
In all, about 164 standards were acquired, including:
- 13 core standards from the American Welding Society
- 6 standards and specifications from the American Petroleum Institute related to inspections, leaks and welding of pipelines and storage tanks
- 12 International Electrotechnical Commission standards related to energy, medical devices and radon
- 5 American National Standards Institute standards related to radon detection and mitigation
- 119 international standards from the ISO
In relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the greatest numbers of ordered titles fell into the categories of SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), although almost every SDG was represented.
A number of standards either directly addressed DEIA or touched on it tangentially. Examples include the following standards from the International Organization for Standardization: ISO 30415: Human resource management — Diversity and inclusion; ISO 21902: Tourism and related services — Accessible tourism for all — Requirements and recommendations; and ISO 25550: Aging societies — General requirements and guidelines for an age-inclusive workforce.
The collection of international and industry standards can be accessed through Penn State University Libraries. Specific titles can be identified and requested by searching the University Libraries catalog. For more information, consult the Libraries’ Standards Guide or contact Linda Musser at lrm4@psu.edu.
As Pennsylvania’s land-grant university, Penn State makes its library collections and other materials available to the public to borrow for free. Pennsylvania residents can obtain free library cards to use at more than 20 locations geographically distributed across the commonwealth. In addition to checking out physical materials, patrons can access digital materials on site at any University Libraries location.