Characteristics of UN documents

The United Nations publishes a lot of documents and they areclassified as “Official Document”, “Official Record” or “Publication”.

Databases given by the UN are effective to search for UN documents.
There is a United Nations Depository Library in the Library of theResearch Institute for Economics and Business Administration andyou can browse UN documents there.
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1. Types of UN Documents
Each of the UN documents have their own symbol which expresses the typeand note of each document.
 Official Document
An official document is minutes or references that are mainly distributed torepresentatives from member states at UN conferences or meetings.

 Press Release
A press release is a document for news media and it is valuable information until
official documents are published.

 Official Record
An official record is an edited and republished document that is used at the mainorgans of the UN (e.g., General Assembly, Security Council) .
○ Report
A report is published as a supplement of official records. It is an annual reportsubmitted from lower units to higher ones.

 Publication
A publication is a document for sale. It has sales number.

➤ Example of Sales Number
Language. Year. Subject (or Organ). Serial Numbere.g.) E. 80. II. C. 1 = English. 1980. World Economic. 1st publication

2. Main Document Symbols
 First Component: Parent Organization
AS

E

ST

General Assembly

Security Council

Economic & Social Council

Secretariat

 Second or Third Component: Subsidiary Body
／C. …／／CN. …／／CONF. …／／SC. …／／WG. …／Main Committee

Commission

Conference

Subcommittee

Working Group Nature of Document／NGO／／PET／／PV. …

／RES／／SR. …

Statements by NGO

PetitionsVerbatim records

Resolutions

Summary records Final Component: Modification／Add. …

／Amend. …

／Corr. …

／Rev. …

／Summary. …

Addendum

Amendment

Corrigendum

Revision

Summarized ver.

 Examples
S／RES／2395 = Security Council／Resolution／No. 2395
E／CN.4／2003／NGO／114 = Economic and Social Council／Fourth Committee／Year 2003
／Statement by NGO／No. 114

3. United Nations Top Page
The Website of the UN can be used as a portal site of each branch of the UN.
There are links to databases and press release pages on the footer.
AccessSearch for the words ”UnitedNations” on a search engine
and select language. https://www.un.org/“About UN” ＞ ”UN System”
You can access the website of each branchof the UN via the above links.

Links on the Footer
You can search for information andpublications of the UN from links of“Database” and “Library”.
“Press Release” provides the newest
information about the UN.

4. How to Search for “Press Release”
You can access the webpage that publishes press releases via “NEWS AND
MEDIA” ＞”Press Release” on the footer of the UN website.
You can search for press releases by using keyword(s) and the document
symbol and browse their full texts because press releases published afterOctober 1995 are all digitized.

How to Search for Press Releases
When you enter keyword(s) in the search box on the top page, press releases are hit.
With Advanced Search, you can search for them by publishing organ, date anddocument symbol.

5. How to Search for “Official Document / Record”
The following databases and journal are effective to search for official
documents and official records.
 United Nations Digital Library＜ https://digitallibrary.un.org/ ＞

The United Nations Digital Library is a database that can search documents,
votes, speeches, public domain publications and more after 1979.

 Official Document System (ODS)＜ https://documents.un.org/prod/ods.nsf/home.xsp ＞

The ODS is a database that can search for official documents and official records
and it provides their full texts. This can search for documents published after 1946.

 United Nations documents index【Journal】
This is a printed journal. You can search for past documents andpublications that can not be searched for by using the above databases.

6. United Nations Digital Library
Footer ＞Resources / Services ＞Documents ＞ UNDigital Library

The simple search is a general
keyword search.
To search by document symbol,
the first letter of the symbol must
be uppercase / uppercase.

In Advanced Search, you canselect the search syntax fromdrop-down menus.
You can also select the search
fields such as author, documentsymbol, and full text.

7. Official Document System (ODS)
Footer ＞Resources / Services ＞ Documents ＞Official Document System①②③④① Symbol / Truncation: Search for documents by entering a document symbol inthe “Symbol” search box. Truncation is a function to specify a search way (Right: Prefixsearch / Left: Suffix search / Right & Left: Partial match search / None: Exact match search)② Word(s) in the title: Search for documents by titles③ Subject: Search for by using the UNBIS Thesaurus (refer no. 9).

④ Full-text search: Search by keyword(s) including the whole text

8. UNBIS Thesaurus
Footer ＞ Resources / Services ＞Library＞ Footer ＞Reserch the UN＞UN Resources & Documents＞ UNBIS Thesaurus

A thesaurus controls synonyms under one thesaurus word (controlled term)
and therefore you can do a search with less retrieval omission.

①3

③

②
2

1① Search: Search for Thesaurus terms② Browse Alphabetically :Alphabetical list of thesaurus terms③ Browse Concepts:

Categorized list of thesaurus terms

9. How to Search for Publications
The following websites and item are useful to search for publications.

 United Nations Publications< https://shop.un.org/ >The online shop of the UN. You can search for and purchase publications.

 United Nations iLibrary< http://www.un-ilibrary.org/ >The e-library of the UN. At this website, e-resources made by the UN such aspublications, journals and statistics can be comprehensively searched for.

 The complete reference guide to United Nations sales
publications, 1946-1978
This is a print product. By using this book, you can search for publications publishedfrom 1946 to 1978. This book is located at the Library of the Research Institute for
Economics and Business Administration.

10. How to Obtain Print Documents
Although a lot of UN documents are digitalized and published on the web,some documents cannot be accessed as full-text on the web. In this case,
you should search for printed editions at a library.
 Official Document
1. Search for document titles and symbols by using ODS or UN-I-QUE
2. Search for and obtain the documents at the UN Depository Library (in theLibrary of the Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration).
（* Official Documents can not be searched for by OPAC）

 Publication
1. Search for title, ISBN or sales number by using UNBISnet or iLibrary
2. Search for their location and call number by OPAC and go to the Library

In case Kobe University does not have a document:
You may also be able to obtain documents that are not located at the Kobe
University Library by applying for the Interlibrary Loan Service or visiting otherlibraries.
Please refer to the “Other Institutions Holdings < https://lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/userguides-en/materials-en/otherlib-en/ >” about the each above service.

11. United Nations Depository Library
A United Nations Depository Library is a library founded by the UN and it isopen to the public to share information about their goals and actions among
citizens. In Kobe University, it is installed in the Library of the ResearchInstitute for Economics and Business Administration and with open holdings.

Opening Hours【Mon - Fri】8:45-17:00【Sat, Sun and Holidays】Closedhttps://www.rieb.kobe-u.ac.jp/rieblib/un/index-j.html