ENGL 101/102

Here are some suggestions from NJIT Librarians to research for your job assignment: 

• Occupational Outlook Handbook -- a government resource from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
• O*Net Online
• HR Guide
• Career and Technical Education Database -- a database provided by NJIT Library

Plan before you visit!

• Bring paper and pencil to take notes (not all museums allow pens inside), and make sure your phone is charged up so you can take lots of pictures of the exhibit to remember details while you are writing later. Don't forget to consider how you will get to the museum (will you drive? Is it accessible by transit?).

• Explore your museum's website before and after you go.

• There might be information about the specific display or object you write about. Consider connections between the physical and virtual presence of the museum.

• Look for social media and events from the museum.

• Do they have a YouTube page with videos about exhibits? Are there lectures, film screenings, visiting artists or scientists? How do these live events shape your understanding of the exhibit?

• Check news sources to see what has been written about your museum.

• There might even be reviews of the specific display you want to write about. Do you agree or disagree with these reviews?

Here are some news sources available at NJIT:

• New York Times (and don't forget about the archive of older articles)
• Wall Street Journal

If your museum is not in New York, consider other local news sources that may have written about your museum.

But don't stop here! Many magazines and newspapers, both local and national, cover museum exhibits including the following that the NJIT Library provides access to: The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Artforum and more. Also check out The Vulture, Hyperallergic, and other culture magazines.

When you find your images, you may wonder, but how do I cite these? If using APA, look no further:

Artwork in a Museum or on a Museum Website

Photograph (Not Associated with a Museum)

View the databases below, provided by the NJIT Library:

Research and scholarship happen within communities -- these communities are called "disciplines." Each discipline has its own object of study (such as electrical engineering) and culture -- its own way of doing research and communicating as a group. Often disciplines are related to professions -- such as mechanical engineering. 

Take a look at NJIT's Colleges and Departments page to see how NJIT is organized by discipline -- there you'll find electrical engineering, computer science, humanities, physics and many more disciplines represented.

For your assignment, you'll write about your topic through the lens of two disciplines. You'll find that each discipline has its own peer-reviewed journals, organizations, newsletters and trade publications. Some even have their own library research databases. 

Here are some strategies to use to learn about a research topic through disciplinary lenses: 

• Take a look at our full list of research guides -- we have a research guide for every department/school at NJIT. Consult them for suggested disciplinary-focused databases.

• Take a look at our A-Z Databases List -- you can find subject-specific databases by using a pull-down menu on this page.

• When you search Scopus or Web of Science (or another multidisciplinary database) do a search for your topic -- but then limit your results to a specific discipline using the tools available. 

• Search for trade publications -- these are like magazines for specific disciplines or professions. When you search ProQuest Academic One, you can limit your search to trade journals to discover how members of a discipline/profession address your research topic and its surrounding issues.

What is a white paper anyway?

The essence of a white paper is that is persuasive. White papers are usually unpublished. That's it. It is that simple. It's important to know that whtie papers are not usually found in library databases. 

White papers are written to persuade someone to take a certain stance, follow a certain procedure, use a certain strategy ... the list goes on .. it's a white paper if it is persuasive.

How can you find examples of white papers? 

• Try these Google searches:

  • site:.gov "white paper" and sustainability -- this search finds government agency white papers on sustainability

  • "white paper" and sustainability -- this search finds white papers on sustainability from a variety of websites

  • "white paper" and SOM -- this search finds white papers by the famous architecture firm SOM

  • "white paper" and Apple -- this search retrieves white papers by Apple Computers

• For computer science and data science especially, search for white papers on arxiv.org

• Take a look at this research guide from UNLV on white papers for even more suggestions

• Ask one of your librarians for help -- just email askalibrarian@njit.edu and we'll be happy to help you out

It helps to remember that white papers are not "officially published." These are not peer-reviewed journal articles! In "real life" they don't leave a company or an organization's internal website. That being said, you can find plenty of examples to look at in your chosen field of study. 

Ask for help – let’s find something else that’s persuasive and not published