Talk:White paper

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I believe that this page highlights the governmental meaning more than the corporate meaning and more common usage of the term white paper (at least in the U.S.). Could someone who is proficient with wikipedia please divide the subject matter into two parts (governmental v. corporate) as I believe readers may become confused. Thanks.

The corporate and governmental meanings have been distinguished since whoever wrote the above. However, neither section discusses non corporate white papers as I have experienced them (in the US), which are not explanations by government of what policy is, but rather explanations by experts in a field hired or invited to tell the government what policy ought to be. However, my understanding of what makes one report a white paper and another not has always been fuzzy, so I don't feel qualified to edit it.--Bedawyn 03:34, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 How to write a White Paper 2 Commercial White Papers 3 Spelling 4 White paper of 1939 - reference deleted 5 Link added to top of page 6 Non-government, Non-commercial White Papers 7 Business White Paper Examples

[edit] How to write a White Paper

I was hoping to find out how to write a white paper for various B-School events. Sample formats would be useful. Provide us with some award winning papers from well known B-Schools accross the globe

[edit] Commercial White Papers

This is not a completely accurate or fair discussion of the use of white papers commercially. In my engineering company, we sometimes use white papers to explore challenging technical issues and to document design recommendations. After product design is complete, the white paper serves as a record of how we arrived at some particular design decision. We also see them in use similarly by military procurement activities--they are used to coordinate and communicate design discussions, often between multiple organizations, on some of the more complex or contentious technical aspects of a program.

As well, the use of a white paper in marketing should not be dismissed as mere marketing. They often contain very useful technical information, somewhat like application notes, but usually discussing technology as opposed to hardware.--67.69.19.58 14:33, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Spelling

I've Commonwealthised the spelling on the page. It had been a bit of a mixed bag but as the term derives exclusively from British English I reckon that this is fair enough in accordance with WP:MOS Jimp 14:57, 6 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] White paper of 1939 - reference deleted

"The most famous, or infamous, such government White Paper was the British White Paper of 1939 which strictly limited Jewish immigration to Britain's Palestine Mandate before, during, and after the Nazi Holocaust. The disastrous effect of the White Paper policy on refugees led to a general revolt by the Jewish community and a partition of the country."

This paragraph was added by User:Scott Adler 3 October 2006. It was a reference to another Wiki article White Paper of 1939. I have deleted this paragraph for the following reasons:

A) There is no such thing as "The British White Paper of 1939". White Papers are issued on myriad topics and are called "White Paper on (subject)". The White Paper of 1939 and the link to the document at Yale do not give a correct title; the author clearly does not know the title.

B) To describe the White Paper (I'm guessing it was called the White Paper on Palestine) as the "most famous, or infamous, such government White Paper" is pure POV and can not be substantiated. It may well be the most famous to students of the history of Palestine, but otherwise is not particularly well-known, in the UK (which is what counts, since government White Papers are issued to describe British government policy) and I suspect elsewhere.

Emeraude 15:02, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Link added to top of page

I added a link to an article about the paper entitled: Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society or "The White Paper". Please click on the link for further information, but this research paper, released in 1966, was the basis of modern EMS and ambulance standards in the United States. The paper is commonly known as the white paper and many people may be looking for it here. Scope2776 09:31, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm having trouble understanding why unregistered users are removing the link. Please discuss your problems and suggestions here. Maybe we can incorporate the link in another part of the article? Scope2776 20:14, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Non-government, Non-commercial White Papers

There are more than just two types of white papers. White papers are commonly used by non-profit organizations to present information in a way that can be very effective in influencing policy decisions. The most influential white papers are collaborations by representatives of multiple organizations. Typically, mid-level agency personnel can not participate but often welcome (even contribute unofficially) their production. While I am familiar with white papers only within the environmental field, I suspect they are no less common in the arena of social services and education. I would be interested to read more about this type of white paper. Garee 04:04, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Business White Paper Examples

I didn't want to add this to the actual page all willy-nilly cause mods usually yell at me, but maybe someone else could incorporate it? Steelcase, the office equipment manufacturer, has a bunch of useful white papers on its site to help people design and equip offices for optimal comfort and productivity. See www.steelcase.com and click on Knowledge and Design, and then take a look at any of the case studies, survey reports, articles, or papers for good examples of white papers in many of their possible forms. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.213.249.186 (talk) 17:55, 16 April 2008 (UTC)