Dictionary definition(s) for: standard

• n., The complex of established norms aiming to make the characteristic of a product, process, or service uniform within or across a sector, a country, or a system.
  [ Archives - Strategy Task Force Report , Page: 118 ]
  Strategy Task Force. "Strategy Task Force Report." In The Long-term Preservation of Authentic Electronic Records: Findings of the InterPARES Project. Edited by Luciana Duranti. San Miniato, Italy: Archilab, 2005. Also available online at http://interpares.org/book.
  See Also:

  • protocol
  • policy
  • guideline
  • rule
  • best practice
  • de facto standard
  • de jure standard
  • directive
• n., A publicly available definition of a hardware or software component, resulting from international, national, or industrial agreement.
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - A Dictionary of Computing ]
  A Dictionary of Computing. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of British Columbia. 4 August 2006 http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t11.e5015
• n., A set of rules and guidelines co-operatively adhered to by national and international peer entities.
• n., An acceptable level or criterion according to which something is compared, measured, or judged. Also refers to an amount, extent, quality, pattern, criterion, etc., fixed by usage or convention or established as the norm by prevailing authority, as in the standard size of a catalog card used by libraries prior to the development of machine-readable cataloging. A standard may also be a specification that identifies model methods, materials, or practices. A standard may be approved by a formal ANSI-accredited standards body, such as NISO. A de facto standard is one that becomes generally accepted without the formal endorsement of a standard-setting organization. A community standard is a de facto standard developed and used within a particular user group. Compare with bench mark, best practices, and guidelines. See also: standards.
  Also, any object, such as a flag or banner, used to symbolize a nation, people, military unit, etc.
  
  [ Computer and Information Sciences - Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science (ODLIS) ]
  Reitz, Joan M. ODLIS: Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science . Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited, 2004. http://lu.com/odlis/.
• n., Benchmarks used to measure some quality or practice.
  [ General Dictionaries - A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology (The Society of American Archivists) ]
  Pearce-Moses, Richard. A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005. http://www.archivists.org/glossary/index.asp
• n., Established principle, rule, guide or measure.
  [ Arts - Filmmaker’s Dictionary ]
  Filmmaker's Dictionary. 2nd ed. Edited by Ralph S. Singleton and James A. Conrad. Hollywood, CA: Lone Eagle, 2000.
• n., Rules established to prescribe qualities or practices in order to achieve common goals.
  [ General Dictionaries - A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology (The Society of American Archivists) ]
  Pearce-Moses, Richard. A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2005. http://www.archivists.org/glossary/index.asp