Helen Hathaway Section name

Library

British Standards Online

a step-by-step guide
This guide will take you through finding full-text British Standards on the web.
Background information about British Standards Online is available on the
Library website at:
www.reading.ac.uk/library/databases

Getting started
1. Open your web browser.
2. Go to the Librarys home page at www.reading.ac.uk/library
3. Click on the databases a-z list link
4. Use the A-Z list to find British Standards Online and connect to it
5. On campus - no password required
6. Off campus- University username and password required
a. Click on the link
b. At the E-resources login page type in your University username and password
and click on Go

Searching
There are two search options
Simple search which allows you to search for standards using a number, keyword or
phrase. The search box is on the homepage and it is useful to use if you are looking for a
specific standard. The More Search Options link allows you to include Status and
Publication Date in your simple search
Advanced search which provides you with more searching options and so can allow you to
conduct a more specific search.
The advanced search box has an option to select Results in my subscription (limiting
results to those which we have full-text access for) or All results. It is found to the top right
of your screen.
For the purposes of this guide, it is recommended that you select the subscription only
option.

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 The default search option allows you to search for either Standard Number or
Keywords.

Search results
Search for the keywords thermal spraying. Each result in the list contains the Standard
Number (e.g. 12671) with the standard information below it. The Status of the Standard is
at the bottom (Current). Click on View details for more information, the Quick view icon
button to open the PDF of the full-text of the Standard, or the Download PDF icon to save
the document.

View details gives a long page of Bibliographic Detail including cross-reference links to
other Standards as well as descriptors which could be useful in subsequent keyword
searches:

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Click on the Back (to search results) link at the top or bottom of the screen to return to the
full list of results.
You can navigate through your pages of results where there are multiple results, using the
forward arrow
You can change the number of items per page from the drop down option (the maximum is
200 per page).

You can also change the order of presentation of results. The default is by relevancy. You
can also order them alpha-numerically or by publishing date (ascending or descending).

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Refining your results
You can refine your results from the results page using the options on the left-aligned
toolbar either to add keywords or limit your search to a particular industry sector for
example:

There are options provided in each of the sub-sections. To see what options are available
click on one of them.

Each option gives you the number of results in that set.

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For example, with 100 results for thermal spraying, you could refine these to 5 hits by
focusing on Building and civil engineering:
1. Click the blue link for Building and civil engineering:
2. The results update automatically and the refinement appears with a x next to it to the
left of the results list:

3. You can add several refinements and also undo them (in any order) by clicking the cross
next to each. To undo the limit by Industry Sector above, click the x next to it.

Saving your results

You can open a Quick View or the PDF version of any Standards available through our
subscription. Use the Download PDF icon and Save as either from the brief record or the
full description

You can also save and print your search results lists. Use the Export results or Print icon on
the brief record page.

Search tips
Search operators
There are two basic search operators - these allow you to combine your search words in
different ways to narrow or broaden your search. The operators are:

AND - use to combine different concepts, e.g.

site AND safety

OR - use to include synonyms in your search, e.g.

fire OR flame

To use AND and OR as search operators you need to put them in capitals.

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Constructing a complicated search
You can use brackets to separate out the different words and operators within a sentence to
ensure that they work properly. For example, a search for thermal spraying AND
coatings AND (zinc OR aluminium) will identify records containing thermal spraying as a
phrase as well as the word coatings, and either of the words zinc or aluminium.
Running a wildcard search would enable you to cover different Standard Numbers, for
example, a search for 587* would locate 5870; 5872; 5877, etc.

Advanced search
This allows you to limit your search in several ways including status, publication date,
update type and reference type:

1. You can limit the Publication date by specifying a range in dd/mm/yyyy format. You
can use a calendar to do this or enter dates manually e.g. 01/01/2000 to 01/01/2016
would limit results to those published between the first of January 2000 and first of
January 2016
2. You can limit Update type too, using a date range and selecting from a drop-down list:

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Advanced features
British Standards Online has FAQs available from the Home or My BSOL tabs which give
access to Demos and User guides. You can also click on the Help link from any page.

Finishing your search

Click on the Logout button at the top of the screen:
*If you are using an IT Services machine remember to log out before leaving it *

Guide written by:

Helen Hathaway

The Library
University of Reading
Whiteknights
PO Box 223
Reading, RG6 6AE
h.m.hathaway@reading.ac.uk
Tel (0118) 378 4642
www.reading.ac.uk/library

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