Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
New and Existing Resources for Continuing Education and Training
OWM has various online resources that can be used for training and continuing education, both in a formal setting and through self-study. The resources are free to download, print, and share to best meet individual needs. Here we highlight those that are newly added along with links to existing resources. Check back to this page regularly to learn about our new resources.
What’s New
Technical Articles:
“Making Sense of the “Min” Marking on Class I and Class II Scales” by Rick Harshman. This article addresses common questions about the marking of “Min” that appears on some Class I and II Scales.
Knowledge Checks:
Knowledge Checks are a new product created to help readers test their knowledge of information covered in our technical articles.
- Knowledge Check: "Making Sense of “Min” Marking on Class I and II Scales”
- Answer Key: Answer Key for Knowledge Check
Study Guides:
OWM has developed a small number of “Study Guides” to assist inspectors and service personnel wanting to further their professional development. These are not intended to provide for comprehensive individual professional development in a given inspection area but, rather, are guides for identifying and using resources already available on the NIST Web Site. These can be used for independent study or by organizations as part of their overall development of inspection or service staff.
- Click here to see recently developed study guides for field inspection activities
OWM Training Events:
The Office of Weights and Measures (OWM) online webinar training fees have been waived and are currently available free of charge. In-person Seminar fees have not changed. OWM encourages our community to participate in this professional development opportunity to build and extend their technical skills. All of our scheduled events can be found at calendar of events.
| Program | Webinars | Seminars |
|---|---|---|
| Legal Metrology Devices Program | Fees Waived | Fees Charged* |
| Laws and Regulations Program | Fees Waived | Fees Charged* |
| Lab Metrology Program | Fees Waived** | Fees Charged* |
| Metric Program | Fees Waived | Fees Charged* |
| *Where applicable **Seminar that have been reformatted into online sessions have fees that are NOT waived as they are not considered traditional webinars. |
||
New Online Training Opportunities:
Laboratory Metrology. In the area of Laboratory Metrology, the Regional Measurement Assurance Program meetings will be held as webinars this year to prepare the states for their Annual Recognition Submissions this fall. These webinars started the week of April 20, and will finish the week of October 20. Participants should sign up for the session appropriate for their region. The agenda for the webinars can be found at:
- https://www.nist.gov/system/files/documents/2020/03/24/2020-RMAP-REVISED-COVID19-Agenda-20200320.pdf
The State Laboratory Annual Submission Process webinar is scheduled for September 10, 2020.
A new 4-week series of training webinars is being offered to enable new Metrologists to gain the fundamentals and knowledge base to operate with confidence for Mass Echelon III and Volume Echelon II calibration levels. Sessions are being held in September 2020 and January 2021, and will be added later in 2021 if there is a continued need by new Metrologists. This is a temporary course offered during the pandemic, and New State metrologists will still be required to complete the formal suite of in-person seminar courses once those resume.
Field Inspection. In March 2020 we began providing 2-hour webinars on the topics of “Examination Procedure for Price Verification”, “Overview of the Package and Labeling Regulation”, and “NIST Handbook 133 – Checking the Net Contents of Packaged Goods”. Webinars in these topics will continue based on demand from the community. As of August 2020, OWM has offered 26 webinars on these topics which were attended by over 1400 students from 42 states. We will be adding webinars in the fall of 2020 on topics of “Weights and Measures Inspection – Evidence, Search and Seizure, and Due Process” and several specific topics on methods of sale and test procedures.
Metric and Measurement Topics. Webinars on Measurement Systems and Metric Resources have been added starting August 12, and will be offered on a regular basis. K-12 educators may be particularly interested in “Info Session: Metric System Estimation” and “Info Session: Metric Education Resources”. These classes will be held during regular business hours, and on weekday evenings and Saturday afternoons to accommodate educators’ schedules.
Online Training Materials:
The following is a link to a course on NIST Handbook 44 that is designed for use as self-study. It describes the history, organization, and intended use of NIST Handbook 44. It also provides instruction on NIST Handbook 44 terminology; how to locate specific paragraphs; use of the National Conference on Weights and Measures Final Reports to understand the application of specific sections; and use of requirements in conjunction with the NIST Examination Procedure Outlines.
While this course is particularly relevant for newer inspectors, it is also valuable for more experienced inspectors to enhance their understanding and use of the NIST Handbook 44 and could also provide opportunities for discussion amongst field staff using web conferencing tools, if available. Note Chapters 2 to 5 of this course each include a quiz (along with answers) on the learning concepts covered in the chapter.
Online Videos:
We have a small number of videos posted on the NIST OWM website illustrating field inspection and laboratory metrology procedures
Field Inspection: A video on inspecting retail motor-fuel dispensers is available at the following link. This can be viewed as a continuous video in its entirety or you can view specific sections of the video to review certain parts of the inspection process such as how to properly wet the test standard or how to read the results on the standard.
Laboratory Metrology: We have a video which demonstrates calibration methods for volumetric standards using the volume transfer method. Select the YouTube video under items 18 or 19 on the list at the following website.
Newsletter Articles on Technical Topics
NIST OWM staff have developed newsletter articles on a variety of technical topics over the years. Many of these articles are available for review or download on specific topics. Articles organized by topic area such as “weighing” or “packaging and labeling” or “metrology” or other technical areas can be found at the following address:
Complete newsletters published from 2010 to present can be found at the following address:
Technical Guidance, Interpretations, and OIML Activities
As always, our staff is available to provide guidance and interpretations on technical issues related to legal metrology. For reference, our technical staff contact list is available on our web site at: