Topics in Engineering and Public Policy can vary widely, and so may the databases you might need. Below are just some suggestions to show the wide variety of resources you have:
The complete list of databases can be sorted by subject, for example:
There are also guides prepared by librarians that help identify useful databases as well as other resources. For example:
Grey literature is materials and research produced by organizations outside of the traditional commercial or academic publishing and distribution channels. Examples of grey (gray) literature include technical or research reports, doctoral dissertations, some conference papers, some official publications, etc. Exact sources for grey literature will vary depending on topic.
Describes government technical reports from the U.S. and other countries. Good for locating reports that one should be able to obtain for free from NASA, DOD, DOE, EPA and other agencies. NTRL has the full text of more than 800,000 technical reports.
A white paper is a persuasive essay that uses facts and logic to promote a certain product, service, or viewpoint. The content provides useful information for people who want to understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. (From: thatwhitepaperguy.com)
Just about every industry can have white papers, so in addition to the resources below, consider a Google search with "white papers" X (where X is your topic; e.g. "white papers" lasers; "white papers" 5g.
