Introduction to International Relations
Political Science 280GC
Prof. Piper Hodson
Fall 2003

FT = some full text        UIUC = UIUC subscription       password required  = see librarian for password

United Nations Resources
U.S. Government Resources 
Statistical Databases
Ask a Librarian

United Nations Resources

Megasites:

• United Nations Headquarters
  
• United Nations Office at Geneva
  
• United Nations Office at Vienna

Bibliographic Databases:

• AccessUN  FT UIUC
  
  Scope:  This is the only comprehensive index of UN documents and publications for 1946 to the present.
  
  Warning!  

1. If you enter two or more words, AccessUN will look for an exact phrase only.  If you are not looking for an exact phrase, insert the Boolean operator, AND, between terms. 
   
   
2. British variants, such as programme, are almost always converted to U.S. English.

Suggestions:  

1. At first, select the Limit Search to Full-text Documents option. Click on the "page symbol" to the left of the record to get the text.
   
   
2. Then, repeat the search without limiting it to full-text sources.
   
   
3. If a document has a Document Number (i.e., document symbol), and was published in 1993 or later, search for the document in ODS. 
   
   
4. If ODS is unavailable and the document was authored by the General Assembly, Security Council, or Economic and Social Council, it may be in the UN Documentation Centre. Document symbols of these three bodies begin with A/, S/, or E/.
   
   
5. A Google search using the document symbol will often work.

• ODS  FT password required

  Warning!  

  1. No version of Internet Explorer below 5.5 can be used; and no version of Netscape below 6.21 will function.
     
     
  2. Beside Truncation or Symbol Truncation, always indicate None when you are searching for a single document by symbol (i.e., document number).

Scope:  Includes the full text of UN masthead documents and Official Records issued since 1993.

Limitation:  Requires a username and password.

Suggestion:  Identify documents through AccessUN, then get the full text of all you can in this database.

• UN Documentation Centre   FT
  
  Scope:  Functions primarily as a gateway to full-text documents of the General Assembly and Security Council.

Limitations:

1. Provides no subject access.
   
   
2. It omits many documents.

Suggestion:  Identify the documents you need by using AccessUN. Then see if they can be obtained via ODS or the Documentation Centre.

• UNBISnet: Resolution Voting Records  FT
  
  Scope:  Consists of voting records for the Security Council (1946 onward) and General Assembly (1983 onward).
  
  Limitation:  Provides no subject access.
  
  Suggestion:  Identify resolutions through AccessUN. Then use the document numbers (i.e., resolution symbols) to locate the corresponding voting records.
  
  
• United Nations Treaty Collection  FT UIUC

Scope:  Provides the full text of more than 40,000 treaties, as well as information on the status of more than 500 major treaties in Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General.  Texts of Recently Deposited Multilateral Treaties are also available.

Limitation:  Many bilateral treaties are not in the database because of the failure of the two parties to deposit them with the UN.

Directories to UN bodies and Related Organizations

• United Nations System Pathfinder  
  
  Scope:  Identifies major publications of the organizations comprising the United Nations System.

Search Engines

• UNIONS: United Nations International Organizations Network Search  
  
  Scope:  Find UN and UN-related IGO sites with a single search.

Yearbooks

• Yearbook of the United Nations (call no. UN.DPI/S1, Government Documents Library)
  
  Scope:  Provides a comprehensive overview of all UN activities during a given year.
  
  Limitation:  Is published almost two years after the events it describes. 
  
  Recommendation:  Use the Yearbook to access summaries of UN actions related to particular countries or topics.

Other Sites

• Permanent Missions to the United Nations  
  
  Scope:  Provides links to websites of the permanent missions at UN Headquarters.

U.S. Government Resources

State Department   
Provides useful and sometimes extensive background information on International Issues. 

Agency for International Development
The Country Locator is useful for country information and foreign aid projects.

Central Intelligence Agency
The Agency's Electronic Reading Room contains declassified documents.

House Committee on International Relations
Contains hearings (consisting mainly of expert testimony) of the Committee and its regional Subcommittees.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Includes hearings and press releases on all matters within the Committee's scope.

Statistical Databases

LexisNexis Statistical  FT UIUC
Begin by clicking on the Subject List and pasting the correct subject heading to your search.

World Development Indicators  FT UIUC
Provides country data collected by many international governmental organizations.

Ask a Librarian

Contact us anytime via our UIUC Government Documents Library E-mail Reference service.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Government Documents Library is the largest and most comprehensive federal depository library in East-Central Illinois.  It receives eighty-five percent of the selections currently available through the U.S. government's Federal Depository Library Program.

Reference assistance is available in person Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm.

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