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 October 2005
See the update!
Table of Contents
Introduction
Standard Queries
Types of research tools
Locate or investigate someone involved with the UN
To investigate an issue that the U.N. works on
To find out about the work of
a particular U.N. entity
To research a treaty deposited with the U.N.
Glossaries for UN functions
Finding Official Operating Documents of UN entities
Topical research guides & resource collections
compiled by UN entities
Guides to U.N. Research made by non-U.N. entities
Databases of information from throughout the U.N.
system
Database Training Manuals
Directories of UN staff and components: (a list in
order by location, topic, and entity)
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.
Standard Queries
Types of research tools
For more information about the search
tools and primary sources that are published by the U.N., peruse some research guides by non-U.N.
entities.
To
locate or investigate someone involved with the UN
To
investigate an issue that the U.N. works on
- Use the document research guides for each of the UN'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.
To
find out about the work 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.
- Follow the leads on this page for locating U.N. documents
and use words from the committee name as search terms.
To
research a treaty deposited with the U.N.
- Subscribe to 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."
The subscription costs a relatively minimal fee, depending on what type of
institution is subscribing, to offset database maintenance expenses. Full
subscription information is available here.
- 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.
Glossaries
for UN functions
Finding
Official Operating Documents of UN 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. Documents 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.
Topical
research guides & resource collections compiled by UN entities
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.
- ReliefWeb-
Natural disasters and complex emergencies from OCHA (Office for the
Coordination of Human Affairs).
- Refugees -
demographics, health issues, national policies, livelihoods...from the
UNCHR (Commission on Human Rights).
- Food & Agriculture
- descriptive alphabetical listing of more than fifty databases about
planting, growing, and producing food (From FAO the Food and Agriculture
Organization).
- Nutrition -
country studies, policy papers, news from SCN (the Standing Committee on
Nutrition).
- Nuclear Science
- access to databases, statistics, and information services from IAEA
(International Atomic Energy Association).
- Labor & Employment-
conventions, journals, statistics, studies, etc... from the ILO
(International Labor Organization).
- Labor Law -
child labor, comparative national laws, international law pathfinders from
the ILO
- 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).
- Globalization &
Sustainable Development - a browsing database of reports about
employment, technology, globalization, and other economics issues from the
Global Program.
- Economics &
Development - research, prospects, and data about education,
business, and sociology in individual countries and regions from the World
Bank.
- Investment Disputes
- reports, treaties, cases, and bibliographic references from the World
Bank.
- Financial Management
- research about investments, banking, currency control, and other fiscal
matters from the International Monetary Fund.
- World Trade -
digital library of primary and analytical sources from UNCTAD (Conference
on Trade and Development).
- Environment -
resources organized for categories of researchers: governments,
businesses, scientists, children, & journalists from UNEP
(Environmental Program).
- Climate- national reports, primary
documents, "issues quickfinder," technology from UNFCCC
(Framework Convention on Climate Change).
- Maritime issues - (click on link to information
and then Infogate) resources about shipping, marine safety, piracy,
ocean pollution...from the IMO (International Maritime Organization).
- Illegal Drugs
- trends, country reports, criminal law enforcement data and analysis from
UNODC (Office of Drugs and Crime).
- U.N. Public Information
- answers to the most commonly asked questions about U.N. programs and
services for schools and public visitors.
Guides
to U.N. Research made by non-U.N. entities
Databases
of information from throughout the U.N. system: (each listed by name,
annotated, and with a link to instructions for searching it)
- Index to Speeches
(Library)
- Press Releases
(public information)
- UNBISnet - The U.N.
Bibliographic Information System serves as a portal as well 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.
- Infonation-
Comparative and collective statistics for all U.N. member countries on
many issues.
Database
Training Manuals
Directories
of UN staff and components: (a list in order by location, topic, and entity)
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
: 
