Rutgers University Libraries Science and Technology Since World War II

The Basics

Rutgers-restricted Access

Many of the resources listed in the sections below are marked Rutgers-restricted Access. You should have no problem connecting to these from any networked computer on campus. However, use of these resources from off-campus requires a Rutgers NetID login. For instructions see the Libraries' Remote Access to Library Resources.

NJIT offers databases with comparable subject coverage to those listed in the Finding Articles section.

Off-Campus Access

When working from home or some other off-campus locations, Rutgers students can use the "Off-Campus" link provided for each Rutgers-restricted resource below to login with a Rutgers NetID and connect to that database or article. Use the "On-Campus" link to access these resources on campus.

Citing Your Sources

You will most likely be using Chicago/Turabian style when citing the sources that you use in your research papers. The Chicago Manual of Style and Turabian's Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations are both available at the Dana Library Reference Desk. The Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison also has a nice introduction to Chicago/Turabian Documentation that will give you the basic information you need to create bibliographic citations.

The above site does not, however, cover citing online resources. The Library of Congress has a guide on How to Cite Electronic Sources that show Turabian-style examples; the Bedford/St. Martin's site also offers useful information on Using Chicago Style to Cite and Document Sources

Rutgers students can also import references from IRIS and many of the electronic databases into RefWorks, a web-based bibliography and database manager. RefWorks will build your bibliography for you based on whatever style sheet you specify (MLA, Chicago, etc.). For information on setting up your (free) RefWorks account see the RefWorks FAQ.

Not sure when you need to cite something? Check out the Plagiarism Guide

Remember that plagerism could result in your dismissal from the University!

Finding Books: Library Catalogs

IRIS IRIS is the online catalog for the Rutgers University Libraries (excluding the Law Libraires).

NJIT Library Catalog Use the above subject headings to find relevant publications in the NJIT Library.

Finding Articles: Indexes

Depending on the focus of your research, there may be a number of different databases that you can appropriately use.

  • Historical Literature
  • Politics and Public Policy
  • Government Publications
  • Business and Economics
  • General
  • Education
  • Science
    		•

    Historical Literature

    American History and Life (Rutgers On-Campus | Rutgers Off-Campus)
    The most comprehensive index to American (U.S. and Canada) history. Indexes over 2000 journals worldwide, as well as book reviews and dissertations. 1964-

    History of Science, Technology, and Medicine (Rutgers On-Campus | Rutgers Off-Campus)
    Index to journal articles, conference proceedings, books, book reviews, and dissertations. Incorporates the Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science, the Current Bibliography in the History of Technology, the Bibliografia Italiana di Storia della Scienza, and the Welcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. 1975- .

    Politics and Public Policy

    PAIS International (Rutgers On-Campus | Rutgers Off-Campus)
    Index to books, reports, government documents, and journals dealing with political, social, and public policy issues. 1972-

    Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (Rutgers On-Campus | Rutgers Off-Campus)
    Index to over 1,300 journals in political science, international relations, public policy and related fields. 1975-

    Government Publications

    GPO Access: Multi-Database Search
    Search one or across multiple U.S. government databases. Access to federal budgets, congressional bills and reports, the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, economic reports, the Public Papers of the Presidents, Supreme Court Decisions, the U.S. Code, etc.

    U.S. Government Publications
    Records for titles published by agencies of the U.S. government and cataloged by the Government Printing Office since 1976. Includes links to the full-text of many current titles. Dana Library currently acquires about 50% of the titles made available through the Federal Depository Program; most Dana document holdings are not reflected in IRIS. The Newark Public Library is the regional depository for the Federal Depository Program and receives all depository documents. [Note: All documents listed in the database with a "Shipping List" number in the Notes field are depository documents and should be part of the Newark Public Library U.S. Documents collection.]

    Business and Economics

    Business Source Premier (Rutgers On-Campus | Rutgers Off-Campus | NJIT)
    Index to business-related scholarly and professional journals, trade publications, and company and industry reports. Many of the articles are availabe online.

    EconLit (Rutgers On-Campus | Rutgers Off-Campus)
    Index to over 750 economics journals as well as books, dissertations, research papers, and working papers.

    General

    Academic Search Premier (Rutgers On-Campus | Rutgers Off-Campus | NJIT)
    Multidisciplinary database with indexing and full text for a large number of journal titles. Offers limit for academic (peer reviewed or scholarly) journal articles. 1990s-

    Google Scholar
    Use the Google search engine to search specifically for scholarly literature including books, peer-reviewed articles, theses, preprints, and technical reports. Links to the full-text of articles from open access (available without a subscription) journals and preprint repositories.

    Education

    Education Index/Abstracts/Full Text (Rutgers On-campus | Rutgers Off-campus) | NJIT
    Includes abstracts and citations from 500 English language journals covering applied and theoretical aspects of education. 200 titles are included in full text. 1983-

    ERIC - Education Resources Information Center
    Sponsored by the U. S. Department of Education, the database includes comprehensive indexing for 500 journal titles. It also includes indexing for over 100,000 ERIC documents. They are identified by ED numbers while journal articles are assigned EJ numbers. 1966-

    Science

    Compendex (Engineering Village) (Rutgers On-campus | Rutgers Off-campus)
    Comprehensive bibliographic database providing broad coverage of engineering and applied science. Includes citations and abstracts from over 5,000 engineering journals, conferences and technical reports. 1969-

    Applied Science and Technology Full Text (Rutgers On-campus | Rutgers Off-campus | NJIT)
    Indexes 738 English language journals including trade and industrial publications, journals of professional and learned societies, and specialized subject periodicals. 1983-

    The Press

    For links to many newspaper sites with online searchable archives, as well as to physical collections of newspapers see the Newspapers Research Guide.

    Access World News (Rutgers On-campus | Rutgers Off-campus)
    Access to the full text of over 600 U.S. and over 700 international newspapers. Includes access to the Newark Star-Ledger back to 1996.

    [Historical] New York Times (Rutgers On-campus | Rutgers Off-Campus)
    Allows you to search and display the full image of articles published in the New York Times back to 1851. The two+ most recent years are not included; use Access World News to find more recent articles.

    The National Agenda

    United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development. Science: The Endless Frontier. Washington, U.S.Government Printing Office, 1945.
    Pivotal report on a program for post-war scientific research by Vannevar Bush, the director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II.
    Dana Call Number: Q127 .U6A53 1945

    National Science Policy Study
    Hearings, roundtables, guiding documents, and background information culminating in Unlocking Our Future: Toward a New National Science Policy. A Report to Congress by the House Committee on Science. September 24, 1998.

    National Science and Technology Summit: Science, Technology, and American Competiveness: Progress and Direction Forward
    Agenda and background information for a national summit to be held August 18-19, 2008.

    Science and Technology Policy

    Subject headings that you can use to search IRIS for books on this topic include:

    Bibliography of Studies and Reports on Science Policy and Related Topics, 1945-1985. Prepared for the Task Force on Science Policy, Committee on Science and Technology, House of Representatives, Ninety-ninth Congress, second session. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1987.
    Newark Public Library: U.S. Documents: Y4.Sci 2:99/HH

    Science Policy and Research Funding During the Cold War
    Bibliography from the Cold War Connection.

    Gibson, Tess. Subject Guide on Science Advice and the Presidency
    Excellent critically annotated bibliography.

    "Bibliography Relevant to DOE R&D Policy, Congressional Mandates, R&D Results, and Evaluations", IN Energy Research at DOE: Was It Worth It? Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy Research 1978 to 2000. Washington, D.C., National Research Council, 2001.

    Policy and Research Issues at the National Academies
    With links to the full-text of National Academic Press publications.

    Office of Science and Technology Policy
    "Congress established OSTP in 1976 with a broad mandate to advise the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs. The 1976 Act also authorizes OSTP to lead an interagency effort to develop and to implement sound science and technology policies and budgets and to work with the private sector, state and local governments, the science and higher education communities, and other nations toward this end."

    The Cold War Era

    Gowing, Margaret M. "The History of Science, Politics, and Political Economy," IN Information Sources in the History of Science and Medicine. Edited by Pietro Corsi and Paul Weindling. London, Butterworth Scientific, 1983.
    Bibliographic essay, with emphasis on the 1940s through the early 1980s.
    Dana Call Number: Ref. Q125 .I43 1983

    Top Books on the Cold War
    This annotated bibliography includes a section on the "History of Science, Technology, and Society."

    The Production of Knowledge During the Cold War
    Bibliography from the Cold War Connection.

    NOAA: Historical Documents
    "Historical documents that created NOAA, its predecessor agencies, and influenced their course and the course of American science." From the legislation that led to the formation of the U.S. Coast Survey in 1807 to the 1970 Reorganization Plan that created the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and transferred certain functions from the Department of Defense and Department of Transportation to the Secretary of Commerce.

    A History of NOAA
    From its creation to the 1980s.

    Today and Tomorrow

    Science and Technology in the National Interest: Ensuring the Best Presidential and Federal Advisory Committee Science and Technology Appointments. Washington, D.C., National Academies Press, 2005.

    Looking Forward: Science and Technology
    Links to sites offering technology forecast and studies, policies and plans, as well as general resources. Part of the Looking Forward: A Web Resource for Foresight in Government site.

    Assessment of Department of Defense Basic Research. Washington, D.C., National Academies Press, 2005.
    Concluded that "DOD needs to realign the balance of its basic research effort more in favor of unfettered exploration," and " DOD should adjust its basic research allocation to be more in line with its need to pursue research into expanded areas of S&T and to support more unfettered research and new researchers," and that "DOD should recognize NSDD-189, the fundamental research exclusion that provides for the unrestricted character of basic research in its agreements with universities to perform such research."

    National Security and Homeland Defense: Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century. Washington, D.C., National Academies Press, 2003.

    America in the Second Century of Flight: How to Save American Jobs, Industry and Global Leadership
    "A Director's Forum with the Honorable Patty Murray, U.S. Senator from the State of Washington." July 15, 2004 event, part of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Program on Science, Technology, America, and the Global Economy. Text of Murray presentation plus Webcast.

    NASA's Vision and Mission (2002)

    Vision for Space Exploration
    Documents related to George W. Bush's vision for the space exploration program (2004).

    Research and Development

    Subject headings that you can use to search IRIS to find books on these topics include:

    House Committee on Science and Technology
    The Science Committee has jurisdiction over all non-defense federal scientific research and development (R&D). Site includes news and information; hearing transcripts back to the 107th Congress (2001); webcasts of hearings and meetings; and bills and publications.

    Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Leadership Under Challenge: Information Technology R&D in a Competitive World. An Assessment of the Federal Networking and Information Technology R&D Program. August 2007.

    Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Assessing U.S. R&D Investment. October 16, 2002.

    National Science Foundation. Division of Science Resources Statistics. What is the State Government Role in R&D Enterprise?. Arlington, VA., National Science Foundation, 1999.

    Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government. Science, Technology, and the States in America's Third Century . New York, Carnegie Commission, 1992.

    Government-Industry Partnerships for Development of New Technologies. Charles W. Wessner, editor. Washington, D.C., National Academies Press, 2002.

    Government/Industry/Academic Relationships for Technology Development: A Workshop Report. Washington, D.C., National Academies Press, 2005.

    Data

    Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008.
    The basic annual U.S. statistical compilation. You can also link to tables from the 1878-2007 editions. Section 16: "Science and Technology." Currrent volumes (2003+) include some R&D statistics back to 1970; earlier volumes have statistics back to 1960. Print copies of latest edition of the Statistical Abstract are available at the Dana Library Reference Desk.

    National Patterns of Research and Development Resources
    Trend data on R&D in the U.S. Includes expenditures by source of funds and sector of performance.

    Trends in Federal Support of Research and Graduate Education. Washington, D.C., Nataional Academies Press, 2001.
    Focus on 1990s trends. Includes a chapter on "Trends in Nonfederal Support of Research" [pp. 79-83].

    National Science Foundation. Division of Science Resources Statistics. Federal Funds for Research and Development: Fiscal Years 2004-2006: Federal Obligations for Research by Agency and Detailed Field of Science and Engineering. NSF 07-323. Arlington, VA, National Science Foundation, 2007. (Data back to 1993 available online)

    The Dynamics of Technology-Based Economic Development: State Science and Technology Indicators. Washington, D.C., Office of Technology Policy, 2000.

    National Science Foundation. Division of Science Resources Statistics. Academic Research and Development Expenditures: Fiscal Year 2005. NSF 07-318. Arlington, VA., National Science Foundation, 2007. (Data back to 1992 available online)

    U.S. Corporate R&D Investment 1994-1999 With Advance Estimates for 2000. Washington, D.C., Office of Technology Policy, October 15, 2001.

    Questions?
    Ann Watkins (ann.watkins@rutgers.edu)
    Natalie Borisovets (natalieb@andromeda.rutgers.edu)
    John Cotton Dana Library
    rev. June 16, 2008