United Nations:

Preliminary Research

Consult A Guide to Information at the United Nations. New York, NY: United Nations, Department of Public Information, 1995.
LOCATION: Morris Library - Reference (Ref JX 1977 .U552x).

Contains succinct descriptions of the work and structure of all the UN's agencies, departments, and programmes. Includes a list of their main publications and contact sources.

Consult Everyone's United Nations. 10th ed. New York: United Nations.
LOCATION: Morris Library - Reference (Ref JX 1977 .A37 E9)

A one-volume encyclopedia covering the structure and work of the United Nations. Check Part Two, “The Work of the United Nations,” covering peacemaking, peacekeeping, disarmament, economic and social development, human rights, decolonization, international law, and UN intergovernmental organizations, to find the year in which the United Nations first dealt with your topic.

Look in issues of the Yearbook of the United Nations New York, NY: United Nations, Department of Public Information.
LOCATION: Morris Library - Reference (Ref JX 1977 .A37 Y4) Latest four years
LOCATION: Morris Library (JX 1977 .A37 Y4)

Look for the first year that your topic was discussed. It should provide a summary of what action was taken. The Yearbook is subject-oriented, divided into seven major parts: political and security questions, regional questions, economic and social questions, trusteeship and decolonization, legal questions, administrative and budgetary questions, and intergovernmental organizations related to the United Nations. Scan later Yearbooks for subsequent developments. Citations to important documents dealing with the issue will be listed, along with the UN document numbers you need to find them in the Library.

Look in issues of the Annual Review of United Nations Affairs. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications.
LOCATION: Morris Library - Reference (Ref JX 1977 .A1A5)

This series provides a comprehensive, in-depth description of the UN for a particular year. Contains the fulltext of many of the letters, resolutions, and other UN publications of the year. Arranged by UN bodies.

Read the Annual Report of the Secretary-General (LOCATION: Morris Library - Microforms Microfiche S 218) for the appropriate years and note important documents.

Consult the Guide to United Nations Organization, Documentation and Publishing for Students, Researchers, Librarians. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana Publications, 1978.
LOCATION: Morris Library - Reference (Ref JX 1977 .H22)

This is a very complete guide to the United Nations, its activities, and its extensive publication program.

Consult the Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements. London; New York: Taylor & Francis, 1990.
LOCATION: Morris Library - Reference (Ref JX 1977 .O8213 1990)

In one alphabetic sequence it includes entries on the United Nations, its specialized agencies, and other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations; international agreements, conventions, and treaties; and political, diplomatic, legal, and other terms.

Identifying United Nations Publications

The United Nations has a very complex pattern of documentation, consisting of official records, sales publications, and other documents. To identify a UN publication, you should use one of the following indexes.

Index to United Nations Documents & Publications. New Canaan, CT: NewsBank/Readex.
LOCATION: Morris Library - Reference (CD-ROM 15) Workstation #33

Provides indexing from 1975 to the present and full-text of resolutions. A Research guide entitled Index to United Nations Documents Publications is available; there is also online help.

United Nations Documents Index. New York, N.Y.: United Nations, Dag Hammarskjold Library.
LOCATION: Morris Library - Reference (Ref JX 1977 .A25B)

From 1945 to 1985, indexing is monthly but there are no annual cumulations. From 1985 onward, there is a cumulative index on microfiche. The index is arranged by subject, country, and UN document number.

In most cases, the United Nations Documents Index or the Index to United Nations Publications will provide you with a document number, consisting of letters, forward slashes, periods, and numbers (such as A/AC.96/614). In the previous example: A = General Assembly, AC. = Ad Hoc Committee, 96 = number of the committee, and 614 = number of the publication).

Expanded Academic ASAP.
LOCATION: Library Networked Databases

Provides indexing for several UN periodicals.

Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS).
LOCATION: Library Networked Databases

Indexes selected UN documents and periodicals.

Locating United Nations Documents

Most United Nations documents are available in the United Nations Documents collection in the Morris Library in microfiche. The microfiche collection (Microfiche S 218) is in filing cabinets at the back of the Microforms Area on the Lower Level.

Within the collection, documents are arranged by the year, or session, by UN body, and then by UN document number. To find a United Nations document, first record the year of the index you consulted and then check the corresponding year in the microform. You may have to consult the United Nations Documents and Publications Readex Microfiche Edition Checklist, in binders on the user guide/documentation shelves near the Microforms Desk.

If the Index has the notation "No Document Symbol", the publication may be a “periodical” or a “sales publication”. Check in DELCAT or IIS (Index to International Statistics) (Ref Index Table 1A) for the title.

Additionally, there are periodicals (having the notation “No Document Symbol”) filed under the tab “Periodicals” in the microfiche cabinets (Microfiche S 218). These are arranged alphabetically by title, under the issuing body.

In addition to those in microformat, the Library has a number of UN publications in paper. The Library has the Official Records of the Security Council (JX 1977 .A515) up to 1992 and the Official Records of the General Assembly (JX 1977 .A41) beginning with the 27th session in 1972 and ending in 1991. Many proceedings of international conferences by the UN, UNESCO and other agencies, statistical yearbooks, and the Treaty Series may be found in DELCAT.

There are several places to find Resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council. From 1975 onward, Resolutions are included full-text in the CD-ROM Index to United Nations Documents & Periodicals (Reference Workstation #33). There are published collections of resolutions compiled and arranged chronologically located in the Reference Room: Resolutions Adopted by the General Assembly (Ref JX 1977 .A3155 D57 Ser.1) and Resolutions and Decisions of the Security Council (Ref JX 1977 .A3155 D57 Ser.2). See also United Nations Resolutions (Ref JX 1977 .A 3155 D57) for reprinted General Assembly resolutions with voting records. The Annual Review of United Nations Affairs (Ref JX 1977 .A1 A5) has full-text of UN documents. For voting records, see Nations on Record: United Nations General Assembly Roll-Call Votes, 1946-1973 and several later volumes (Ref JX 1977.8 .V8 N37x) covering roll-call (recorded) votes of member nations taken in the UN General Assembly plenary meetings. In addition, the U.S. Department of State publishes Voting Practices in the United Nations, an overview of voting arranged by country (U.S. Doc microfiche S1.1/8:).

Other Sources of Information

When you are researching an action of the United Nations within the last two years, you may need to use some additional sources if the UN documents have not yet arrived in the Library.

Obtaining UN Documents Not in the Morris Library

The University of Delaware collection of United Nations documents on microfiche does not include sales publications. To locate these publications, or any other items that may not have been included in the collection, check DELCAT. Also consult the Index to International Statistics (IIS) (Ref Index Table 1A). The publication may be included in the accompanying IIS microfiche collection (Reference Room).