{"id":2784,"date":"2017-10-10T09:25:52","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T13:25:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/unstudies\/?p=2784"},"modified":"2017-10-28T22:17:41","modified_gmt":"2017-10-29T02:17:41","slug":"the-e-world-of-the-united-nations-documents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/unstudies\/2017\/10\/10\/the-e-world-of-the-united-nations-documents\/","title":{"rendered":"The E-World of the United Nations Documents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Re-posted from the original publication at http:\/\/www.princeton.edu\/~sbwhite\/EWorldUN\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The E World of United Nations Documents<\/strong>
\nin the Spring of 2012
\nSusan Bennett White
\nPrinceton University Library
\nRevised edition of materials prepared for 2007 Conference on
\nInternational Documents in an Electronic Age
\nheld at the World Bank in Washington DC
\n(\u00a0Print Friendly Version of this Page<\/a>\u00a0)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In January 2012, a partnership between the UN Library in New York and the UN Office in Geneva to digitize pre-1993 UN documents was announced. This followed the change in January 2010, when the United Nations went green and stopped distribution of documents in paper within its own Secretariat at a savings of seven tons of paper each year. This move provided a major milepost in the inexorable shift onto the web of most international government documents – especially those of the United Nations. At the same time, give anyone in the world with Internet access a front row seat for – well – the making of history. As well, these sites provide ready access to critical measures of international law, business, the production and distribution of money, education, food, energy, and water, the condition of entire populations, and certainly most important if such things can be measured, the children of the world. .<\/p>\n

The number of sites, and their breath and scope, along with the current news overlay that occupies the top layer of many, can make access daunting. Many are provided by the United Nations itself.\u00a0Others have been prepared at reliable sites outside the United Nations.\u00a0This page contains a highly selective listing of a few that seem especially interesting.\u00a0But more important, the technique suggested here, of identifying key sites for international documents or for reference to those documents and then approaching them in a systematic way, drilling down for publications, then standards, then statistics and so on, can open a rational portal to this broad “E World of United Nations Documents.”<\/p>\n

I.\u00a0 League of Nations.<\/strong>\u00a0 Read here the actual documents of a world community failing at the political process and plunging into war, but leaving behind a curious legacy of how they failed, and some key statistical measures not found elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Full Text
\nGUIDES AND INDEXES
\n<\/strong>Research Guide to League of Nations Publications\u00a0<\/a>from Northwestern\u00a0<\/em>http:\/\/digital.library.northwestern.edu\/league\/background.html
\nFULL TEXT
\n<\/strong>League Documents and Sales Publications Includes League Statistical Yearbook – f\u00a0rom Northwestern\u00a0<\/em>http:\/\/digital.library.northwestern.edu\/league\/
\n<\/a>Select League documents: http:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/\u00a0from Yale
\n<\/em>Versailles Treaty http:\/\/avalon.law.yale.edu\/\u00a0from Yale
\n<\/em>BY SUBSCRIPTION<\/strong>
\nLeague of Nations. Official Journal, Vols. 1-21 (1920-1940) All Published. By subscription.\u00a0Hein Online<\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. United Nations Documentation.<\/strong> Here are found indexes and for some items, the actual full text of working documents, reports, speeches, and resolutions actually generated and used by the General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, Security Council, and other parts of the U.N.<\/li>\n
  2. The HomePage of the United Nations<\/a>(www.un.org\/english)\u00a0This page is a portal to international information about the UN and international issues on a grand scale, with excellent functionality and great content.\u00a0 It is so rich in information that some elements can seem buried, but becoming very familiar with this page is very much worth the effort.
    \n2.\u00a0    UNBISNET<\/a>\u00a0(http:\/\/unbisnet.un.org) 1985 to present,\u00a0few earlier\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0Superb index to U.N. documents, speeches, sales publications, and\u00a0 voting records.\u00a0UNIQUE<\/a>\u00a0 ( http:\/\/lib-unique.un.org\/lib\/unique.nsf)\u00a0index and full text for a few key documents 1946 to present.
    \n3.\u00a0    ODS – Official Documents of the United Nations<\/a>\u00a0Full Text – 1993 to present (http:\/\/documents.un.org\/) and\u00a0UN Treaty Collection<\/a>\u00a0,<\/strong>(http:\/\/untreaty.un.org\/English\/treaty.asp)
    \n4.\u00a0    UN Depository Libraries<\/a>\u00a0(http:\/\/www.un.org\/Depts\/dhl\/deplib\/) Worldwide listing where all UN documents and publications can be accessed. Other research libraries often hold many years of UN documents which they acquired on subscription. Depository and these research libraries can provide full text of UN documents from 1946 to the present.
    \n5.\u00a0    United Nations Documentation: Research Guide<\/a>\u00a0(http:\/\/www.un.org\/Depts\/dhl\/resguide\/)\u00a0 Excellent overall guide prepared by the staff of the\u00a0Dag Hammarskjold Library<\/a>\u00a0at UN Headquarters, (http:\/\/www.un.org\/Depts\/dhl\/)
    \n6.\u00a0    Document Symbols<\/a>\u00a0 ( http:\/\/www.un.org\/Depts\/dhl\/resguide\/symbol.htm )\u00a0 UN Documents are identified by document symbols as shown here.\u00a0 Symbols are organic, arising from the nature of the part of the UN issuing them and the function of the document.\u00a0 They gather documents together in families which can be helpful in answering a reference question.
    \n7.\u00a0\u00a0    UN System Pathfinder<\/a>\u00a0(www.un.org\/Depts\/dhl\/pathfind\/frame\/start.htm) Identifies a comprehensive range of basic reference tools and includes key publications of historic value (i.e., dating back to the founding of the UN).\u00a0 Also\u00a0U.N. Documentation Centre<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0(http:\/\/www.un.org\/documents\/) many UN official documents full text Including all Resolutions, 1946 to present, from the Security Council, General Assembly and Economic and Social Council.
    \n8.\u00a0    U N Member States On the Record<\/a>\u00a0(http:\/\/www.un.org\/depts\/dhl.unms\/) Contact information and documents from individual members states of the UN.
    \n<\/em>9.\u00a0\u00a0    CyberSchoolBus<\/a>\u00a0 (http:\/\/www.un.org\/Pubs\/CyberSchoolBus\/) Fantastic resource for younger kids on the UN and all sorts of international topics, very much age appropriate.\u00a0 Fun and good educational value. Also found here Model UN site, comprehensive and age appropriate for teens
    \n10.\u00a0    Yearbook of the United Nations. 1946-2005, Online<\/a>\u00a0( http:\/\/unyearbook.un.org\/index.html) An electronic full text of the quintessential reference book on the United Nations, published annually since 1946. Topics can be searched across years, names or events readily identified; easy printing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    III.\u00a0 Documentation From Other UN Bodies.<\/strong>\u00a0 Here are found many full text documents, especially for the last five to ten years.<\/p>\n

    UNData<\/a>\u00a0formerly Common Database – UN’s magnificent basket of statistics drawn from many UN agencies – some unique here. (http:\/\/data.un.org\/)
    \n    International Court of Justice<\/a>\u00a0 (http:\/\/library.lawschool.cornell.edu\/WhatWeDo\/ResearchGuides\/ICJ.cfm)
    \n    International Labour Organization<\/a>\u00a0Documents mirror site http:\/\/library.lawschool.cornell.edu\/WhatWeDo\/ResearchGuides\/ILO.cfm)
    \n    ILO – Labor Statistics<\/a>\u00a0(http:\/\/laborsta.ilo.org)
    \n    Permanent Court of Arbitration<\/a>\u00a0(http:\/\/library.lawschool.cornell.edu\/pca\/default.htm)
    \n    Project on Dispute Settlement in International Trade, Investment and Intellectual Property – UNCTAD<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(http:\/\/r0.unctad.org\/disputesettlement\/index.htm)
    \n    United Nations Development Program, UNDP<\/a>,\u00a0includes\u00a0Human Development Report<\/em>\u00a0(http:\/\/www.undp.org\/)
    \n    UNESCO Statistics<\/a>\u00a0(http:\/\/www.uis.unesco.org\/ev_en.php?ID=2867_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC)
    \n    UNESCO Working Documents<\/a>\u00a0Index from 1946, full text from 1995, both to the present<\/em>.. (http:\/\/unesdoc.unesco.org\/ulis\/index.html)
    \n    UNICEF, United Nations Children’s Agency<\/a>,\u00a0includes annual State of the World’s Children full text<\/em>\u00a0(http:\/\/www.unicef.org\/)
    \n    UNICEF – Innocenti Research Centre\u00a0<\/a>– significant publications on children’s rights<\/em>\u00a0(http:\/\/www.unicef-irc.org\/)
    \n    United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees<\/a>, encyclopedic full text refugee information<\/em>\u00a0(http:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/)
    \n    UNISPAL, United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine\u00a0<\/a>Online collection of full text United Nations documents on the question of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict.\u00a0<\/em>( http:\/\/unispal.un.org\/unispal.nsf )
    \n    World Health Organization WHOSIS,<\/a>\u00a0includes annual World Health Report full text, 1995 to present<\/em>\u00a0(http:\/\/www.who.int\/whosis\/en\/)
    \n    World Income Inequality Database<\/a>,\u00a01950 to the present, from Wider Institute at UN Univertsity<\/em>\u00a0(http:\/\/www.wider.unu.edu\/research\/Database\/en_GB\/database\/ )
    \n    World Trade Organization Working Documents Full Text<\/a>\u00a01995 to the present.<\/em>\u00a0(http:\/\/docsonline.wto.org\/gen_home.asp?language=1&_=1)
    \n    WTO Legal Documents and Disputes Updates\u00a0<\/a>,\u00a0World Trade Organization (http:\/\/www.wto.org\/english\/tratop_e\/dispu_e\/distab_e.htm)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Web Sites of the UN Specialized or External Agencies<\/strong>Many contain full text documentation for recent years, and useful indexes, sometimes for the entire history of the organization.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n