Avoiding Obsolescence

Subscribers to BSD SpecLink know it’s the only specifications product on the market that verifies every reference standard included in the master database on not less than an annual basis. What many subscribers don’t know, however, is that SpecLink includes thousands of hyperlinks that allow you to connect to a website for more information about every reference standard. If the standard is free, the hyperlink connection allows you to read the document online or download it. If the document is not free, the hyperlink for that standard will direct you to a site where you can purchase it.

In previous editions of SpecLink, the hyperlinks were located only in the master notes attached to the reference standard citations in Part 1 of each section. Since reference standards are selected automatically in SpecLink, many of our users were unaware of the existence of the hyperlinks. In the current edition of SpecLink, we have added hyperlinks to the master note at any paragraph that includes a mention of a reference standard. This latest change has meant the addition of thousands of hyperlinks to the master database. Every standard is now linked from at least two locations—the full citation in Part 1 and at least one place in the text where the standard is referenced. In the case of paragraphs where more than one reference standard is cited, the hyperlink leads to the “front door” of the IHS Estore. In all other cases, the hyperlink leads directly to a source for that particular document.

We include the current date on every standard within BSD SpecLink, but one mouse click allows you to print all reference standards with or without publication dates. More importantly, we obtain and check all the revised and updated standards for changes that could potentially affect your specifications. We make any changes needed in every section affected by a revised standard, regardless of the number. This quarter, for instance, we updated 269 sections, or 46 percent of the total!

Helping you avoid obsolescence in your specifications is one of the major benefits offered by BSD SpecLink. With this expanded hyperlink feature, it’s now possible for you to obtain information about the most current reference standards, and to obtain copies of those you need— quickly and easily. We hope you enjoy and take advantage of this new feature.