Guide to United Nations Research Online

As a depository library for the United Nations, the Library of Congress holds many printed UN documents and publications. Many, however, can also be found online. Below is a list of subscription databases (available onsite only) and free online resources for finding UN materials.

Search Tools and Databases

AccessUN (available onsite only)

An index of current and retrospective United Nations documents and publications, 1945 to present. It includes links to the full text of resolutions from the General Assembly beginning with 1981, the Security Council beginning with 1974, and the Economic and Social Council beginning with 1982.

This database mostly contains U.S. legal materials but also has selected United Nations treaties, yearbooks, opinions, and documents from scattered dates in PDF format.

Official Document System (ODS)

A database containing the full text of parliamentary documents (including resolutions and decisions) issued in New York and Geneva since 1993 and full text of parliamentary documents issued in Vienna since 1997. Also the Official Records version of resolutions and decisions adopted by the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, and Trusteeship Council from 1946 to 1993. Some older UN documents have been added and more are being continually added.

UN Bibliographic Information System (UNBISnet)

UNBISnet is the catalog of bibliographic information for United Nations documents and publications indexed by the Dag Hammarskjold Library and the Library of the UN Office at Geneva from 1979 forward. Older documents are being added on a regular basis. UNBISnet also has keyword searching and browsing capabilities for speeches and voting records of the General Assembly and Security Council.

UN Comtrade (available on-site only)

The United Nations Commodity Statistics Trade Database is the official source for trade data from over 140 countries from at least 1970 to present. This can be used to find import, export statistics.

UN-I-QUE: United Nations Info Quest

UN-I-QUE provides access to documents symbols and sales numbers for UN materials, 1946 forward, with a focus on recurrent materials such as reports, official record supplements and serials. This database does not provide the full text of documents or full bibliographic details. This was created by the Dag Hammarskjold Library as a ready reference tool and should be used in conjunction with UNBIS and ODS for more information.

UN Treaty Collection

The UN Treaty Collection online contains the League of Nations Treaty Series (1920-1944), the United Nations Treaty Series (1946-2006), and the status of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General (2006-current). These are searchable databases. The website also includes cumulative indexes and other resources for identifying treaties.

Key UN Documents and Publications

Agenda 21

Annual Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization

Charter of the United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child

Journal of the United Nations

Millennium Development Goals

UN Chronicle

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Yearbook of the United Nations

Important Websites

United Nations Homepage

International Court of Justice

Official Web Site Locator for the United Nations System of Organizations

Secretary-General’s Homepage

More Research Help

Dag Hammarskjold Library

UN at a Glance

UNdata

United Nations Documentation: Research Guide

United Nations Multilingual Terminology Database

Still Have Questions?

Contact the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room at 202-707-5690 or visit us in person at the Library of Congress, Madison Building, room LM-133.

You can also find a United Nations Information Center near you:

http://unic.un.org/aroundworld/unics/en/index.asp