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Symbols are shown on documents' top right corners and include letters, slashes, and numbers indicating the document's creator and type.
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Indexes and databases are useful for locating documents on specific topics or by specific institutions. Some indexes provide the documents' full text, while others will provide bibliographic information, such as the document symbols which can then be used to locate the full text.
Some general indexes are listed below. Additional indexes to documents produced by specific bodies can be accessed via the catalog.
united nations. [name of body]--proceedings--indexes
Document symbols include both letters and numbers. Some elements of the symbol have meaning, while other elements do not.
In general, the symbol does not indicate the topic of the document. Some publications have both a symbol and a sales number.
Structure of the Symbols
First component
The first component indicates the organ to which the document is submitted or the organ that is issuing the document.
A/- | General Assembly |
S/- | Security Council |
E/- | Economic and Social Council |
ST/- | Secretariat |
Some bodies have a special series symbol that does not reflect the parent organ. For example:
CRC/C/- | Committee on the Rights of the Child |
DP/- | United Nations Development Programme |
TD/- | United Nations Conference on Trade and Development |
UNEP/- |
United Nations Environment Programme |
Second component
Secondary and tertiary components indicate subsidiary bodies:
-/AC. .../- | Ad hoc committee |
-/C. .../- | Standing, permanent, or main committee |
-/CN. .../- | Commission |
-/CONF. .../- | Conference |
-/GC. .../- | Governing council |
-/PC/. .../- | Preparatory committee |
-/SC. .../- | Subcommittee |
-/Sub. .../- | Subcommission |
-/WG. .../- | Working group |
Special components
Special components reflect the nature of the document:
-/CRP. ... | Conference room paper |
-/INF/- | Information series (e.g., lists of participants) |
-/L. ... | Limited distribution (generally draft documents) |
-/NGO/- | Statements by non-governmental organizations |
-/PET/- | Petitions |
-/PRST/- | Statements by the President of the Security Council |
-/PV. ... | Verbatim records of meetings (i.e., proces-verbaux) |
-/R. ... | Restricted distribution or access (unless subsequently derestricted) |
-/RES/- | Resolutions |
-/SR. ... | Summary records of meetings |
-/WP. ... |
Working papers |
Final component
The final component reflects modifications to the original text:
-/Add.... | Addendum |
-/Amend.... | Amendment: Alternation by decision of a competent authority, of a portion of an adopted formal text |
-/Corr.... | Corrigendum (which may not apply to all language versions) |
-/Rev.... | Revision (replacing texts previously issued) |
-/Summary | Summarized version |
-/-* | Reissuance of a document for technical reasons |
Session or year component
Many document symbols include sessional or year components following the body elements.
General Assembly | session | 31st sess. (1978)- | A/31/99 |
Security Council | year | 1994- | S/1994/99 |
Economic and Social council | year | 1978- | E/1978/99 |
In 1976 the General Assembly began the practice of including the session information in all document symbols. Before 1976, this information was not included in most document symbols. Session information appeared in Roman numerals in parentheses after the symbol for resolutions only. After 1976, other organs adopted similar practices.
Subsidiary bodies generally follow the practice of the parent organ.
Sixth Committee of the General Assembly
International Law Commission (ILC)
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
Human Rights Council
Commission on Human Rights
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The United Nations produces three main types of documents: Official Records, Sales Publications, and Masthead documents.
Official Records
Official Records have been published for the following UN main organs: General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, and Trusteeship Council. [1] Official Records are recognized as such because the cover page of the document contains the phrase “Official Record”. The contents and arrangement of the Official Records varies by body.
General Assembly Official Records
The General Assembly Official Records (hereinafter “GAOR”) are organized by session and typically include the: plenary meeting records, annexes, committee meeting records and supplements (including a sessional compilation of resolutions and decisions). The Index to the Proceedings of the General Assembly is the best finding aid for 1950 onward.[2]
The plenary meeting records all contain a verbatim record of each meeting. For many years the meeting records came to the Library as a bound volume organized in accordance with the Agenda for that session. Now the meeting records are issued for individual meetings and the Library binds them into sessional volumes.
The annexes began with the fifth session in 1950. The Annexes consist of individually paginated agenda item fascicles, which may cover one or more agenda items considered by the General Assembly and its main committees during one session. The fasicles typically include: table of contents; reproductions of selected documents; a brief description of the action taken by the General Assembly and a list of documents pertinent to the agenda items but not reproduced in the fascicle.
The committee meeting records contain a verbatim transcript for the first committee only, and summaries for all others. Like the plenary meeting records, these records used to be issued as a bound volume but are now issues as loose-leafs that are compiled and bound by the Library.
The supplements contain those reports required by the Charter to be presented to and considered by the General Assembly. Article 15 of the Charter, provides:
1. The General Assembly shall receive and consider annual and special reports from the Security Council; these reports shall include an account of the measures that the Security Council has decided upon or taken to maintain international peace and security.
2. The General Assembly shall receive and consider reports from the other organs of the United Nations.[3]
Article 15 creates an obligation for the Security Council and “other organs” to submit annual and special reports to the General Assembly. This obligation is further enumerated in the General Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, Rule 13, which states:
The provisional agenda of a regular session shall include:
(a) The report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization;
(b) Reports from the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice, the subsidiary organs of the General Assembly and . . .
Rule 13 enumerates which specific bodies must present reports to the General Assembly and has become the pattern in which they are presented.[4] These reports constitute the General Assembly’s Official Records Supplements[5] Thus, the Supplements to the GAOR typically contain: annual/sessional reports of the Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the International Court of Justice, as well as of other U.N. organs or subsidiary bodies which report to the General Assembly (e.g. the Human Rights Committee, the International Law Commission and selected preparatory committees for global conferences); (ii) a compilation of resolutions and decisions adopted by the General Assembly during the session; (iii) a report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization; (iv) plans, estimates or reports dealing with the budget of the United Nations; (v) financial reports and audited financial statements of special funds or programs (e.g. of the United Nations Environment Programme).
In addition to the General Assembly’s Official Records, the Library also receives and maintains the Official Records of the Security Council, the Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, the Official Records of the Trusteeship Council, but not the International Court of Justice since it produces its own documents independently. Official Records may sometimes be published for major UN conferences. There are no official records of the Secretariat or meetings of the Secretary General.[6]
Security Council Official Records
The Security Council Official Records (hereinafter “SCOR”) are organized by session/calendar year and typically include: meetings, supplements, special supplements, and resolutions and decisions. The Index to the Proceedings of the Security Council is the best finding aid for 1964 onward.
The meeting records are verbatim, and beginning in 1950 each record is issued individually rather than in a bound volume. The meetings are numbered consecutively beginning with the first meeting in 1946. The Security Council usually issues provisional verbatim records several years prior to publication of the final version.
The supplements are issued quarterly and consists of documents first issued in Masthead form. The documents are arranged in numerical order by UN symbol, which also results in chronological listing. The special supplements contain special reports issued once or covering an extended period of time.
Resolutions and decisions originally appear as Masthead documents before being issued as Official Records.
Economic and Social Council Official Records
The Economic and Social Council Official Records (hereinafter “ESCOR”) are organized by session/calendar year. Typically they include: plenary meetings, annexes (1948-1973) and supplements (which include the sessional compilation of resolutions and decisions). Verbatim records were prepared for the first six meetings (23 Jan. - 8 Feb. 1946); from the 7th meeting (11th Feb. 1946)- meetings are covered by summary records.
Trusteeship Council Official Records
The Trusteeship Council Official Records (hereinafter “TCOR”) were arranged by session and typically included: meetings or sessional fascicles, annexes, supplements, and special supplements. The regular and special sessions are bound together and arranged chronologically. The Trusteeship Council suspended operation in 1994, but may be re-activated by request of the General Assembly or Security Council. Meetings of the first session and the first part of the second session (both held in 1947) were covered by verbatim records; beginning with the second part of the second session, held in 1948, only summary meeting records were issued. From the 36th session (1969)- , meeting records are not issued as part of the Council's Official records any more. From the 37th session (1970)- , annexes are included in the sessional fascicles. The Index to Proceedings of the Trusteeship Council is the preferred finding aid for 1952 – 1994.
Sales Publications
Sales Publications are all works which the United Nations determines may be of interest to the general public. These publications generally include the following categories: proceedings of United Nations Conferences; General information and reference—including the Yearbook of the United Nations; Business, Economic, Science, and Technology; Economic Development; the World Economy; and Trade, Finance, and Commerce; Serials; Monographs; United Nations University publications; United Nations Development Programme publications; International Law; Human Rights; and International Statistics. Generally, Sales Publications are not available in the UN document databases and have the appearance of books. They can be purchased individually or one can purchase everything in a category.
Masthead Documents
Masthead documents are the working documents of the United Nations. They may sometimes subsequently be compiled and printed as Sales Publications. They are recognized by the appearance of a ‘masthead’ at the top of the document and are given a serial number, which the UN calls a document symbol. Until recently individual Masthead documents were not sold/distributed, instead a ‘class’ of documents had to be subscribed to. Since all Masthead documents are now available electronically, they are no longer being distributed to depository libraries in print.[7]
[1] Additionally, for 30 years a sub-body, the Trade and Development Board published official records.
[2] KZ5006.I64.
[3] United Nations Charter, Art. 15; 59 Stat. 1031; TS 993; 3 Bevans 1153, available at http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter4.shtml.
[4] A compilation of Resolutions may also be issued as a supplement.
[5] KZ5010.2
[6] Interview with Wiltrud Harms (February 4, 2010).
[7] The Berkeley Law Library, because of its longstanding subscription, was exempted from this and has continued to receive the Masthead documents in print. However at the end of 2009, Berkeley ceased its subscription to all Masthead documents because of storage constraints. It will keep the collection of Masthead documents from 1946 to 2009, but will not add new materials.
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