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International Studies: United Nations

About the United Nations

The United Nations is the intergovernmental organization (IGO) that facilitates cooperation on international law, security, economic development, social progress, and human rights issues. Almost every recognized independent country is a member state. The UN is divided into the General Assembly (the main deliberative body), the Security Council (which deals with matters of peace and security), the Economic and Social Council (which promotes economic and social cooperation and development), the Secretariat (which provides studies, information, and facilities needed by the UN), and the International Court of Justice. The UN System is comprised of other agencies such as the World Health Organization, UNICEF (UN Children's Fund), UNDP (UN Development Programme), and UNEP (UN Environmental Programme).

Official documents cover the daily work of the United Nations. The United Nations sales publications deal with a multitude of topics and include the environment, human rights, education, gender, social justice, health, country- or region-specific policy issues, and statistics.

Statistics & Data

Documents & Publications

Locating UN Treaties

Dates Covered Document Type/Title Format Location
1945-present United Nations Treaty Collection
Includes United Nations Treaty Series and
Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General
Online United Nations Treaty Collection
1975-2015 (select) United Nations Treaty Series United Nations Microfiche

Microforms, Geisel Floor2 West XX 1649 

Other Libraries' Research Guides

Locating UN Official Documents in the Library

Official Documents Collections

Dates Covered Document Type/Title Format Location
1946-present Resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council Online (Free) ODS: Official documents of the United Nations
1946-present Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, Security Council, and the Economic and Social Council Online (Free) United Nations Digital Library
1946-present Voting records for all adopted resolutions beginning with its General Assembly 38th session (1983-) and the Security Council beginning with its 1st year (1946-). Links to the full text of resolutions are provided. Online (Free) United Nations Digital Library
1983-present Speeches: Citations to speeches made in the General Assembly beginning with its 38th session (1983-), the Security Council beginning with its 38th year (1983-), the Economic and Social Council beginning in 1983 and the Trusteeship Council beginning with its 15th special session (1982). Links to the full text of speeches are provided. Online (Free) United Nations Digital Library
1979-present
(older docs added on a regular basis)
Catalog of UN documents and publications indexed by the UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library and the Library of the UN Office at Geneva. Also links to many full text resources in the six official languages of the UN (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish), including resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council from 1946 onward. Online (Free) United Nations Digital Library
1946-2008 United Nations Documents and Publications Microfiche Microforms,Geisel Floor2 West XX 2808
Index
1950-1973
United Nations documents index Print

Indexes, Geisel Floor1 East  JZ4935 .U536 

Index
1974-1978
UNDEX (Series A, subject index) Print

Indexes, Geisel Floor1 East  JZ4935 .U537 

Index
1974-1978
UNDEX (Series B, country index) Print

Indexes, Geisel Floor1 East  JZ4935 .U538 

Index
1974-1978
UNDEX (Series C, list of documents issued) Print

Indexes, Geisel Floor1 East  JZ4935 .U539

1989-present Index to United Nations documents and publications microfiche collection. Includes some links to full text, primarily for the last three years. Available at UC Berkeley. Contact librarian for assistance. Access UN
1993-present All types of official United Nations documentation Online (Free) ODS: Official documents of the United Nations
varies search UC Library Search by title or keyword for UCSD libraries print holdings Print UC Library Search

General Assembly

Dates Covered Document Type/Title Format Location
1946-present Resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council Online (Free) ODS: Official documents of the United Nations
1946-present Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council Online (Free) United Nations Digital Library
1946-present Official Records of the General Assembly Microfiche

Microforms, Geisel Floor2 West  XX 2808 O/A/[sess.] 

1950-present Index to Proceedings of the General Assembly  

Online

1950-2014: 
Indexes, Geisel Floor1 East  JZ5006 .I64

1947-1949:
Indexes, Geisel Floor1 East  JZ5006 .I64

1946:
Indexes, Geisel Floor1 East  JZ5006 .I64

1946-1986 United Nations Resolutions. Series 1, Resolutions Adopted by the General Assembly Print

Offsite (SRLF)  JZ5010 .U55 

1976-present Resolutions and Decisions Adopted by the General Assembly

Online (Free)

United Nations General Assembly Resolutions

1983-present voting records and full text of resolutions Online (Free) United Nations Digital Library
1983-present citations to speeches with links to full text Online (Free) United Nations Digital Library
 

Security Council

Dates Covered Document Type/Title Format Location
1946-present Resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council Online (Free) ODS: Official documents of the United Nations
1946-present Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, Security Council, and Economic and Social Council Online (Free) United Nations Digital Library
1946-present voting records and full text of resolutions Online (Free) United Nations Digital Library
1946-present Official Records, including Resolutions and Decisions of the Security Council, supplements, and special supplements Microfiche

Microforms, Geisel Floor2 West  XX 2808 O/S

1946-1979 Resolutions and Decisions of the Security Council Print

Offsite (SRLF)  JZ5030 .U55ra 

1946-present Index to Proceedings of the Security Council  

Online

1964-present:
Geisel Floor1 East, Indexes JZ5006.5 .I64 

1946-1949:
Geisel Floor1 East, Indexes   JZ5006.5 .I64 

1983-present citations to speeches with links to full text Online (Free) United Nations Digital library

Economic and Social Council

Dates Covered Document Type/Title Format Location
1946-present Resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council Online (Free) ODS: Official documents of the United Nations
1946-present Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council Online (Free) United Nations Digital Library
1946-1975 Official Records of the Economic and Social Council Microfiche

Microforms, Geisel Floor2 West  XX 2808 O/E 

1946-present Index to Proceedings of the Economic and Social Council Print

Online

1964-2014: 
Indexes, Geisel Floor1 East  JZ5007 .I64 

1946-1961: 
Indexes, Geisel Floor1 East  JZ5007 .I64

1983-present citations to speeches with links to full text Online (Free) United Nations Digital Library

Publications

Dates Covered Document Type/Title Format Location
varies search UC Library Search by title or keyword for UCSD libraries print holdings Print UC Library Search
1979-present
(older documents are being added on a regular basis)
Catalog of UN documents and publications indexed by the UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library and the Library of the UN Office at Geneva. Also links to many full text resources in the six official languages of the UN (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish), including resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council from 1946 onward. Online (Free) United Nations Digital Library
varies

IGO Search is a Google Custom Search Engine covering the websites (including PDF versions of publications) of all major IGOs including the United Nations and its sub-organizations.

Online (Free) IGO Search