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United Nations

Introduction

Once one has a document number, such as E/CN.4/RES/1982/29, the next step is to find the document itself. It is important to note that not all United Nations publications are made public. However most UN Documents are available to the public.

Documents can be found in several formats: the ODS, online, in paper or in microfiche. No one source is complete. Many types of documents (such as Resolutions) can be found in each of these sources. When selecting a resource to use, one must consider the document type and date, the obscurity of the document, how quickly one needs it, and whether one needs an official version. Generally, more recent documents can be found in the ODS or online. For older documents, paper and microfiche might be the only option.

The United Nations Depository System

The United Nations facilitates the distribution of UN documents by using a system of Depository Libraries. Various libraries are given UN documents in exchange for making them available to the public. The Diamond Law Library is a depository library and receives all items that are part of the depository system. However, depository libraries do not receive all United Nations publications. Some documents are not made available to the public, and therefore cannot be found at the Diamond Law Library. Depository libraries receive "generally distributed documents and publications of the United Nations."

Some examples of documents that depositories do not receive include the following: limited and restricted documents, or documents "for participants only"; the documents of related UN organizations such as the UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNEP and the ICJ; the documents of specialized agencies such as the IMF, WHO, WIPO and the WTO, which have their own documentation systems; preliminary documents eventually produced elsewhere, such as verbatim records of plenary meetings of the Security Council, which will appear in printed final form as part of the Official Records); sales publications; press releases; and ephemeral material issued during sessions of UN bodies, such as working papers, conference room papers, journals, orders of the day.10

Note that in addition to the Depository System, the Diamond Law Library purchases additional publications, including UN Treaties, UN Sales Publications and commercial publications, to supplement its UN collection. Also, the Internet provides even greater access to UN publications.

Documents on the UN Official Document System (ODS) on the Web

Other Documents on the Web

Documents in Microform

The Diamond Law Library provides access to AccessUN and the United Nations documents and publications : Readex microfiche edition checklist. Although many people do not like to use microform, it is the most complete collection of UN documents that the Diamond Law Library owns. For older documents (documents not yet published in the ODS) it is an excellent source. It includes all official UN Documents and is located in closed stacks.

Requests for microform documents can be made via Pegasus. The microform will be paged, generally within 24 hours. Please see the reference librarians if you need assistance. Before requesting documents from the microform set, be sure to check the document on AccessUN in order to determine that the document is in the collection. Also, be sure to note the Readex year in the record. The Readex year is the year that the company assigns to the document, and it might be different than the date of the document. Confirming the Readex year is essential, since the microfiche is organized by Readex year, not by the date on the document. Include the entire document number in your request.

Documents in Paper

Due to the publication of UN documents online, the library keeps relatively few recent UN documents in paper. We do keep the Official Records (meeting records, resolutions and decisions, and committee reports) of the main organs in paper. Also, paper copies of older materials are still available and can be found via Pegasus.

Documents beyond the Diamond Law Library

Sometimes documents cannot be found at the Diamond Law Library. Reference librarians can assist in determining whether documents are available in the law library.

Often, documents of subsidiary bodies are internal documents, not official UN Documents, and thus not available at the Diamond Law Library. In this case, it is sometimes possible to contact the subsidiary organization directly to inquire about documents. Contact information for these organizations is available through the UN Systems Website for the United Nations System or using the handbooks and directories described in the "About Us" section of the website.