Government publications: The United Nations (UN)

Current

Official Document System (ODS)
Library full-text database of parliamentary documents and official records of the United Nations available in the official languages of the UN (English, Spanish and French). Includes General Assembly, Security Council, and other Council resolutions from 1946, all UN parliamentary documents from 1992 and various UN daily journals and lists of documents.

UN Bibliographic Information System (UNBISnet: UN bibliographic information system
Web catalogue of UN documentation and publications indexed by the Dag Hammarskjld Library and the Library of the UN Office at Geneva. Coverage is primarily from 1979 onward.

Link on this page to  UNCAPS-Union catalogue of UN system Libraries.  Provides a single point of access to library catalogs, indexes and abstract databases, library holdings, links to full-text resources, and archives.

UNBIS Thesaurus
Terminology used in subject analysis of documents and other materials relevant to UN programmes and activities.
UN Info Quest (UN-I-QUE)
Document symbols/sales numbers for annual/sessional reports of committees/commissions; annual publications, etc.
UN Information System on the Question of Palestine (UNISPAL)
Materials on the question of Palestine and other issues related to the Middle East situation.
Bibliographic Database of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
Bibliographic records of the ECLAC library.

Historical (Major Collection)

Comprehensive collection of mimeographed and printed documents of the major organs and subsidiary organisations of the UN. It does not cover publications of the specialised agencies of the UN.

• League of Nations Official Journal,1920-1946
• United Nations documents and publications 1991, 1995-96
  Microfiche 5082
• United Nations publications 1946-1981
  Microcard 32

Use indexes listed below to access the documents in these collections.

• League of Nations Documents, 1919-1946
  Microfilm 4180

This collection is organised by subject and covers, with some variations 1919-1946. A descriptive guide and key to the microfilm collection is with the collection.

Historical (Index)

UNDEX. United Nations documents index, (1950-1974)
Series A: subject index
Series B: country index
Series C: list of documents issued

Note that this indexes significant publications of the UN main body and subsidiary organizations but not the publications of the Specialized Agencies within the UN systems, eg WHO, World Bank, UNESCO.

United Nations Statistical Databases

United Nations Statistics Division

Monash Library holdings for Historical statistics

Major statistical serials:

• Monthly bulletin of statistics, (1996-), UN, NY.
• Statistical yearbook, United Nations, (1948-1988), UN, NY.
• National accounts statistics. Government accounts and tables, (1982-1983), UN, NY. There are a number of other titles in the National accounts statistics series.
• Statistical yearbook for Asia and the Pacific, (1973- ), (title varies), UN, NY.
• Industrial commodity statistics yearbook, (1992-), (title varies), UN, NY.
• International trade statistics yearbook, (1983-), (title varies), UN, NY.
• UNESCO statistical yearbook, (1967-1999), UN, NY.
• Yearbook of labour statistics, (1947-2009), UN, NY.
• Human development report, (1990-2004), United Nations Development Programme, NY.

United Nations Documentation: Research Guide
One of the best guides to United Nations documents is available online from the UN's Dag Hammarskjold Library. It is designed for researchers and information professionals new to United Nations documentation and provides an overview of the various types of documents and publications issued by the organization (eg reports, resolutions, meeting records, sales publications, press releases, etc) with guidance on how to work with them.

UN Human rights research guide

 Yearbook of the United Nations, (1946 - present), UN, NY.

Earlier guides for historical studies 

•  Directory of United Nations information sources, UN, NY. 5th ed. (1995). Detailed guide to sources of United Nations information, including databases that are available and contact details.
• Hajnal, P.I. (ed) (1997), International information : documents, publications, and electronic information of international governmental organizations, Libraries Unlimited, Englewood, Colo.
• Osmanczyk, E.J. (2003), Encyclopedia of the United Nations and international agreements, Routledge, NY.

Library holdings:

• Official Records of the General Assembly, (1965- ), UN, NY.
  Verbatim record of Plenary Sessions
  Annexes (reports presented to General Assembly bound and organised by Agenda item)
  Supplements (reports of subsidiary bodies to the Assembly)
  Annual Index to Resolutions and Decisions.
• Official Records of Economic and Social Council, (l963-1997), UN, NY.
  Verbatim record of Plenary Meetings
  Supplements - Annual reports of subsidiary bodies and summary reports of Meetings of these bodies.
  Annual Indexes to Resolutions and Decisions.
• Official Records, Security Council, (1965-1993), UN, NY.
  Official records of Meetings
  Reports of Subsidiary bodies
  Annual Index to Resolutions and Decisions.
• Official Records, Trusteeship Council, (1966-1992), UN, NY.
  Brief summary of Meetings, Agenda etc.
  Supplements
  Resolutions and Decisions.

Many reports of the subsidiary bodies to the General Assembly are catalogued as separate titles.

Treaties and International Agreements

United Nations Treaty Collection
Contains the texts of over 50,000 bilateral and multilateral treaties and subsequent treaty actions from the UN and League of Nations documents and other related material.

Library holdings:

• Grenville, J. & Wasserstein, B. (eds) (2001, 1987), The major international treaties (...title varies): a history and guide with texts, Routledge, Methuen, NY.
• Phillips, C. & Axelrod, A. (2000), Encyclopedia of historical treaties and alliances, Facts on File, NY.
• Treaties and alliances of the world, (various dates, editions, authors, publishers).
• United Nations Master Treaty Index on CD-ROM
  Includes the texts of multilateral treaties, bilateral treaties and agreements between countries, as well as agreements made by international organizations among themselves or with individual countries.

General Assembly Resolutions
1946- . Some documents in pdf format.

Security Council Resolutions
1946- . Some documents in pdf format.

Economic and Social Council:

• Resolutions
  1994- . Some documents in pdf format.
• Decisions
  1995- . Some documents in pdf format.

Library holdings (Indexes):

• Index to resolutions of the General Assembly, 1946-70, (1972), UN, NY.
• Index to resolutions of the Security Council, 1946-1970, (1973), United Nations, NY.
• Index to resolutions of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP Library, UN. 1947-1978/1979.

The internet provides the best access to current information on UN conferences, resolutions from the major organs, and some documents and speeches from the General Assembly

UN News Centre
Alert service to selected just-released UN online information, major reports, publications and documents. Created and maintained by librarians at the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld Library, NY.

UN news (coverage of daily events including press releases)

• United Nations News Service
• UN Conferences and Events

Library holdings:

• UN chronicle
  1975- . This quarterly journal provides the most current information available in printed format about the activities of the UN. It includes statements by the Secretary General, a calendar of forthcoming conferences and events and recent publications of the UN and its specialised agencies.
• Annual review of United Nations affairs.
  1949-