FINDING UNITED NATIONS DOCUMENTS

UN DOCUMENT INDEXES

United Nations Documents Index (ST/LIB/SER.N/-). Since 1998, this has been the global index of all UN documents. Indexed by the Dag Hammarskjold Library and the UN Library in Geneva, it provides subject access to an extensive body of documents issued world-wide by numerous UN organs and subsidiary bodies.

For older UN Documents, use the following indexes:

• UNDI: United Nations Document Index (ST/LIB/SER.E/-)
  Covers documents from 1950 to 1973.
• UNDEX: United Nations Documents Index (ST/LIB/SER.I/-)
  Covers documents from 1974 to 1978.
• UNDOC (ST/LIB/SER.M/-)
  Covers documents from 1979 to 1996.
• United Nations Documents Checklist (ST/LIB/SER.M/120-T/LIB/SER.M/CUM.18)
  Published in March 1999, this index covers the period between the cessation of UNDOC and the issuance of the new index (October 1996-December 1997).

On the Web, there are two different databases maintained by the UN that can be used to find citations to UN documents:

• UNBISnet: Indexed by the Dag Hammarskjold Library or the Library of the UN Office in Geneva, UNBIS is the primary index for finding citations to UN documents published since 1979 (it also provides some coverage of selected older, major documents). It includes the catalog of the non-UN collections of both libraries, a database of voting records for adopted resolutions, and an index to speeches. The database can be searched by author, title, subject, and/or UN document number.
• UN-I-QUE: A database designed to provide quick access to document symbols/sales numbers for UN materials from 1946 onwards. It does not give full bibliographic details nor does it replace UNBIS as a bibliographic database. UN-I-QUE focuses on documents and publications of a recurrent nature, such as: annual/sessional reports of committees/commissions; monographic series; journals; annual publications; reports periodically or irregularly issued; and reports of major conferences.

FULL TEXT DOCUMENTS

The Downtown Campus Library is a UN Depository. Therefore, once you have a citation to a UN document, you can check the Library shelves on the 8th floor to see if we have the full text of the document. Many recent UN materials can be found in full text on the UN Web site, or on the Web sites of the Principal or Specialized Agency in question. Many other links are available on the Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO) Web site, which can be accessed from any networked computer in the Downtown, Main, Rice Campus, or by remote access for students and faculty.

UN Documents are not available on Lexis or Westlaw.

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