UPDATE: Researching the United Nations:
Finding the Organization's Internal Resource Trails
By Linda Tashbook
Linda Tashbook is the Foreign International
Comparative Law Librarian at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Law's Barco
Law Library, a Fulbright Senior Specialist, and an attorney in private
practice. Prior to becoming the foreign and international librarian, she
was the Barco Law Library's Electronic Services Librarian. Before law
school, she worked as a public librarian. Her Juris Doctor and Master of
Library Science degrees are from the University of Pittsburgh. Her
Bachelor of Science degree is from Texas Woman's University.
Published June 2009
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Table of Contents
1.
Introduction
2.
Standard Queries
3.
Types
of Research Tools
3.1 Persons Involved with the U.N.
3.2 Issues that the U.N. Works On
3.3 Works of a Particular U.N. Entity
4.
Handbooks, Toolkits, and Other Instructional Sources from
U.N. Entities
5.
Researching
Treaties Deposited with the U.N.
6.
Glossaries for U.N. Functions
7.
Finding Official Operating Documents of U.N. Entities
8.
Topical Research Guides and Resource Collections
9.
Guides
to U.N. Research from Non-U.N. Entities
10.
U.N. Entities’ Compilations of National Laws
11.
Databases from Throughout the U.N. System
12.
Database Training Manuals
13.
Directories of U.N. Staff and Components
1. Introduction
The United Nations is such a massive organization that its wide
array of processes and products require enough reference sources to warrant a
map and compass for navigation. As a map, here are suggested search
techniques for several standard types of queries and, as a compass, here
are the U.N.'s many diverse search tools organized into resource types.
2. Standard Queries
3. Types of Research
Tools
For more information about the search tools and primary sources that
are published by the U.N., one can use research guides by non-U.N. entities.
3.1 Persons Involved with the U.N.
3.2 Issues that the U.N. Works On
- Use the document
research guides for each of the U.N.'s broad categories of UN work:
·
Peace & Security Documents Research
Guide
·
Economic & Social
Development Reports & Databases
·
Human Rights Documents Research Guide
·
International Law Documents Research Guide
- Select from the
list of Issues on the U.N. Agenda. Once you
are in the Web page for the particular issue, you will see tabs at the top
of the screen for research tools including "documents,"
"events," "learning," and "speeches" which
all have important information.
- Use your browser's
edit and find functions to jump through the alphabetical list of U.N. organizations
using the names of places or subject words. Once in any of those
organization pages, click on the link to publications.
- Look through the
list of U.N. news outlets
to find any that follow the topic you are investigating.
- See if there is specialized topical
research guide produced by a unit of the U.N.
3.3 Works of a Particular U.N. Entity
- Look in UNBISnet using the name of the committee,
office, organization, council, etc, as a keyword phrase. Using the
committee's name as author does not usually yield thorough results in this
particular database.
- Browse through the
alphabetical list of U.N. organizations.
The committees are usually components of the organizations in this list.
So, you will have to navigate.
- Use the index to the U.N. Website to search for
the committee by name or else by the main areas of its work.
- Search the U.N. Official Documents System
database and use words from the committee name as search terms.
4. Handbooks, Toolkits,
and Other Instructional Sources from U.N. Entities
5. Researching Treaties Deposited with the U.N.
- Search in the U.N. Treaty Collection which
"contains the texts of over 50,000 bilateral and multilateral
treaties and subsequent treaty actions in their authentic language(s),
along with a translation into English and French, as appropriate."
- Select a topic on
the Documents by Global Issue page to get to
the main international agreements involved with that topic.
- Read the decisions
of the International Court of Justice
interpreting the treaty that interests you.
- The International Law Commission has
drafts of related conventions and helpful explanations about the work of
codifying international law.
- The U.N. Office of Legal Affairs provides
technical assistance and general information about treaties: stages in the
treaty-making process, instructions for joining into an agreement and
registering it, a treaty reference guide, and U.N. requirements and
practices for treaty making.
- Search for press releases about the treaty.
6. Glossaries for U.N. Functions
7. Finding Official Operating Documents of U.N. Entities:
- Research Guide - tells about the
types of documents produced by the U.N. and any symbols or techniques
necessary for understanding those documents.
- Official Document System
- a collection of parliamentary writings and other administrative records.
- U.N. Documentation Centre - a browsing
table showing the main bodies of the U.N. with hyperlinks to all of the
records, decisions, press releases, etc, produced by each.
- Landmark General Assembly
Documents - digitized versions of prominent documents from the
organization's history.
8. Topical Research Guides & Resource Collections
This list is only intended to contain true finding aides that
point to assorted information sources in a subject area. An alternative way to
find subject-based resources is to click on the 'Publications' link on the home
page of any U.N. department or other
office or program.
General Matters:
- International Law - reports about
and text of the U.N.'s instruments of international law, such as the
Vienna Convention on Treaties, obligations to extradite, diplomatic
immunities, etc.
- U.N. Public Information - answers to
the most commonly asked questions about U.N. programs and services for
schools and public visitors.
Business:
- Intellectual Property - Digital library
of patents, trademarks, etc. (WIPO World Intellectual Property
Organization).
- Labor & Employment-
conventions, journals, statistics, studies, etc (ILO International Labor
Organization).
- Labor Databases - child labor,
trade union complaints, comparative national laws, Triblex case law, etc (ILO).
- Investment Disputes
- reports, treaties, cases, and bibliographic references (World Bank).
- Financial Management
- research about investments, banking, currency control, and other fiscal
matters (IMF International Monetary Fund).
- World Trade -
digital library of primary and analytical sources (UNCTAD Conference on
Trade and Development).
Development:
- Humanitarian Affairs-
Natural disasters and complex emergencies.
- Refugee Law and Protection Policy - The UNCHR's
policy papers and expert meeting proceedings.
- Food & Agriculture
- descriptive alphabetical listing of more than fifty databases about
planting, growing, and producing food (From FAO the Food and Agriculture
Organization).
- Economics &
Development - research, prospects, and data about education,
business, and sociology in individual countries and regions from the World
Bank.
- World Bank Documents
& Reports - topical listing includes social & economic
issues.
- Social Development - the vast
resources of the UN Research Institute for Social Development.
- Rural Poverty Knowledgebase - introductory
explanations of major poverty issues with links to documents, reports,
examples, and more (International Fund for Agricultural Development).
Health:
- Health Research - WHO statistics
and other research publications.
- Nutrition - country studies, policy
papers, news from SCN (the Standing Committee on Nutrition).
- Illegal Drugs
- trends, country reports, criminal law enforcement data and analysis from
UNODC (Office of Drugs and Crime).
People:
- Women- Women Watch guide to resources on
gender equality and empowerment.
- Children- studies, statistics, and
numerous databases about child welfare from UNICEF (the UN Children's
Emergency Fund).
- Population- data reports about
population characteristics and behaviors.
Science:
- Climate-
national reports, primary documents, "issues quick-finder,"
technology from UNFCCC (Framework Convention on Climate
Change).
- Nuclear Science - access to databases,
statistics, and information services from IAEA (International Atomic
Energy Association).
- Maritime issues - (click on link to information
and then Infogate) resources about shipping, marine safety, piracy,
ocean pollution, from the IMO (International Maritime Organization).
- Flight Safety - national
regulations, safety management data, airworthiness information, etc. (International
Civil Aviation Organization).
9. Guides to U.N.
Research from Non-U.N. Entities
10. U.N. Entities’ Compilations
of National Laws
- FAOLEX, from the U.N.'s Food and
Agriculture Organization, links to national agricultural laws.
- NATLEX, from the International Labor
Organization, collects national labor and employment laws.
- ECOLEX has environmental laws.
- UNESCO
collects national copyright laws.
- WIPO links to patent, trademark, design, and copyright
laws.
- The WTO has
summaries of countries' trade policies.
- The
Security Council compiles national laws about weapons of mass destruction
(WMD).
11. Databases
From Throughout the U.N. System
- UNBISnet - The U.N. Bibliographic
Information System serves as a portal as well as the catalog of all U.N.
publications and other holdings in the U.N. library. All Web versions of
U.N. publications can be accessed from this site.
- UN-I-QUE - (U.N. Info Quest)
searchable index database of regularly published reports. Search results
show proper titles, publication dates, U.N. classification numbers and,
occasionally, hyperlinks for documents.
- Yearbook of the United Nations- Search
collectively or individually through these annual summaries of work done
throughout this vast organization.
- Infonation-
Comparative and collective statistics for all U.N. member countries on
many issues.
- ODS- Official Document System-
reports and publications from headquarters and major divisions.
- Index to Speeches
(Library)
- Press Releases (public information)
12. Database Training Manuals
13. Directories of U.N. Staff and Components
These directories primarily list national representatives who participate
in the named entities. Where possible, staff directories are also linked.
Generic "contact us" links are purposely omitted because those are
not informational in themselves and they can already be efficiently
located.
Units subsidiary to the General Assembly:
Units under the Security Council:
Units under the Economic and Social Council: (This
list only includes the units that have online directories).
International Court of Justice
- Members of the
court (chambers and committees).
: 
