Metric Bibliography
USMA has compiled an extensive bibliography of references to articles about the metric system, metrication, and related standards published in English-language magazines, newspapers, periodicals, journals, and other serial publications since the 1940s. The Metric Bibliography contains over 14 500 references from over 3300 different periodical titles.
This bibliography and an archive of USMA’s newsletter are available for purchase in the shop.
About the Metric Bibliography
Besides articles, the bibliography includes references to shorter news items, editorials, and letters to the editor. The newest additions to the bibliography, articles about metric published from 1996 to the present, are available on this website. The bibliography does not claim to include all published articles about metric, but lists the vast majority of references found after years of searching and combining information from many different sources.
Previously the largest compilation of metric references (containing approximately 5300 references to journal articles) was Information on the Metric System and Related Fields, compiled by Ernst Lange and published in 1976 as NASA Technical Memorandum TM X-3449. (That bibliography was based on USMA’s original work Bibliography of the Metric System by John T. Milek and Valerie Antoine published in 1968.) Several other, but much smaller, metric bibliographies have been published over the years. The most recent being Bibliography on Metrication (January 1977 to ) published by Redstone Scientific Information Center, jointly sponsored by the US Army Missile Command and NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center.
The graph below summarizes the number of articles about metric published each year as listed in the Metric Bibliography. Note the first large increase in the number of articles published occurred in 1968 when the US Metric Study was initiated; and the maximum occurred in 1974 and 1975 when the Metric Conversion Act was debated an finally passed by Congress. (These were the “golden years” when the metric system made great advances in most of the English-speaking countries of the world.) Publishing of articles about metric then decreased through 1982 when the US Metric Board was disbanded and its duties were transferred to the US Department of Commerce. There were again increases in published articles about metric in 1988 when the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act amended and strengthened the Metric Conversion Act, and after 1991 when Executive Order 12770 was issued to increase metric usage by the various agencies of the federal government. More information about these events is available on this website. The bibliography is updated frequently. Entries for the last year or two are necessarily incomplete as publishing of new articles about metric continues and as articles are located and references to those articles are added to the database.
Metric Bibliography archive
The Metric Bibliography is available as an archive readable with Microsoft® Works database software. The bibliography is a compilation of references only. The articles referenced must be obtained from a library or requested through inter-library loan, not from USMA, as they are not necessarily in the USMA files. The Metric Bibliography archive contains:
| Database/Publication | Years of Coverage | File Size (Number of Database Records) |
|---|---|---|
| Metric Bibliography (Microsoft® Works database format) | ||
| USMA’s Metric Bibliography | 1940s to current year references | 3.5 MB (26 000 database records [containing over 14 500 references from over 3300 different periodical titles] including publication information on each periodical) |
| Metric Newsletter Indexes (Microsoft® Works database format) | ||
| AASHTO Metrication Clearinghouse Newsletter (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) | 1994 through 1998 (20 issues) | 40 kB (260 database records) |
| AIR Metri-Gram newsletter (American Institutes for Research) | 1974 through 1980 (27 of 29 issues, 2 missing) | 85 kB (470 database records) |
| California Metrication Newsletter (California Metric Conversion Council (CMCC)) | 1979 through 1984 (16 issues) | 40 kB (200 database records) |
| Colorado Metrication Newsletter (Colorado Metric Advisory Board (CMAB)) | 1984 (1 issue only) | 10 kB (10 database records) |
| Construction Metrication (NIBS) | 1992 through 2001 (47 issues) | 60 kB (480 database records) |
| Industrial Metric Service newsletter (Chilton Company) | 1978 (7 issues) | 33 kB (180 database records) |
| Metric Bulletin (J. J. Keller and Associates, Inc.) | 1973 through 1982 (102 issues) | 310 kB (2250 database records) |
| Metric Message newsletter (Canadian Metric Association (CMA)) | 1970 through 1982 (45 issues) | 140 kB (880 database records) |
| Metric Messenger for Consumers newsletter (ANMC Consumer Liaison Committee) | 1981 (2 of ? issues) | 10 kB (20 database records) |
| Metric News (Inc., magazine; Swani Publishing Co.) | 1973 through 1978 (26 issues) | 215 kB (1420 database records) |
| Metric Reporter (ANMC) | 1973 through 1999 (367 issues) | 1.3 MB (8500 database records) |
| Metric Today (USMA) | 1966 through the current issue (all issues to date) | 1.1 MB (6400 database records) |
| SITES Newsletter (SI Technical Education Support (SITES) Project) | 1980 (3 of ? issues) | 14 kB (37 database records) |
The Metric Bibliography archive is available for purchase in the shop.
Metric Today Archive
The entire collection of Metric Today newsletters in PDF is available as an archive. The Metric Today archive contains:
| Publication | Years of Coverage | File Sizes |
|---|---|---|
| Metric Today (USMA) [older issues] | 1996-Apr through 2002-Mar/Apr (192 issues, 1453 pages, scanned) | 355 MB (400 kB to 3.3 MB each) |
| Metric Today (USMA) [newer issues] | 2002-May/Jun through the current issue (all issues to date, searchable text) | 32 MB (120 kB to 1.5 MB each) |
The Metric Today archive is available for purchase in the shop.
Additional metric newsletter PDF archives
A large collection of other metric newsletters in PDF have been compiled. The PDFs and indexes of these newsletters are available for special research purposes only. To inquire about this PDF archive, contact us. The collection includes:
| Publication | Years of Coverage | File Sizes |
|---|---|---|
| AASHTO Metrication Clearinghouse Newsletter (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) | 1994-Aug through 1998-winter (20 issues, 93 pages, scanned) | 18 MB (300 kB to 1.7 MB each) |
| AIR Metri-Gram newsletter (American Institutes for Research) | 1974-Jun through 1980-Mar/Apr (27 of 29 issues, 2 missing, 135 pages, scanned) | 31 MB (800 kB to 1.7 MB each) |
| California Metrication Newsletter (California Metric Conversion Council (CMCC)) | 1979-Aug through 1984-Jan/Jul (16 issues, 58 pages, scanned) | 15 MB (500 kB to 1.2 MB each) |
| Colorado Metrication Newsletter (Colorado Metric Advisory Board (CMAB)) [one issue only] | 1984-Jun (1 issue only, 2 pages, scanned) | 500 kB |
| Construction Metrication (NIBS) [older issues] | 1992-May through 1997-2nd-Quarter (30 issues, 142 pages, scanned) | 30 MB (700 kB to 1.8 MB each) |
| Construction Metrication (NIBS) [newer issues] | 1997-3rd-Quarter through 2001-4th-Quarter (17 issues, all but the last one have searchable text) | 16.5 MB (33 kB to 10 MB each) |
| Industrial Metric Service newsletter (Chilton Company) | 1978-Jan through 1978-Jul (7 issues, 66 pages, scanned) | 15 MB (1.7 to 3.1 MB each) |
| Metric Message newsletter (CMA) | 1970-Feb through 1982-Dec (45 issues, 194 pages, scanned) | 50 MB (200 kB to 3.9 MB each) |
| Metric Messenger for Consumers newsletter (ANMC Consumer Liaison Committee (CLC)) | 1981 (2 of ? issues, 8 pages, scanned) | 1.7 MB (~850 kB each) |
| Metric News (Inc., magazine; Swani Publishing Co.) | 1973 through 1978 (26 issues, 948 pages, scanned) | 237 MB (7 to 20 MB each) |
| Metric Reporter (ANMC) | 1973-Sep through 1999-Nov/Dec (367 issues, 2817 pages, scanned) | 700 MB (500 kB to 9.5 MB each) |
| SITES Newsletter (SI Technical Education Support (SITES) Project) | 1980 (3 of ? issues, 24 pages, scanned) | 5.5 MB (~2 MB each) |
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