Dag Hammarskjöld Library at Uppsala University
Overview
- © United Nations
Searching UN documentation by subject may cause some difficuly, since almost every topic of international significance can be linked to some part of the work of the UN. Many United Nations bodies deal with various aspects of the same problem under various subject headings and agenda items. Therefore, it is necessary for the researcher to clarify his subject in his mind and decide what type of information he is interested in.
There is a traditional division of five main subject areas within the UN organization:
- Peace and Security
- Economic and Social Development
- Human Rights
- Humanitarian Affairs
- International Law
These main subject areas provide access to a number of UN bodies working within relevant fields.
Documentation
The following handbooks provides a good overview of the main subject areas of the United Nations:
The United Nations Today, formerly Basic facts about the United Nations published regulary by the United Nations describing the structure and activities of the Organization. An ubridged version is posted online at the UN official web site.
Yearbook of the United Nations is a comprehensive annual survey of the work of the United Nations with chapters
reflecting the five main subject areas and a detailed subject index. A complete collection of yearbooks is held by
the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, Uppsala, and the Libraries at UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva.
Since October 2008 the complete full text collection of The United Nations Yearbooks is available online at http://unyearbook.un.org/.
United Nations blue book series chronicles central topics in the work of the United Nations with full text documents.
The official web site of the United Nations serves as a web portal linking to the main subject areas through the headlines: Peace and Security, Development, Human Rights, Humanitarian Affairs, International Law.
Databases and Indexes
A web portal to a number of subject areas with links to full text documents and reports is posted at the Official web site of the United Nations, section Global Issues.
The UN Library online catalogue UNBISnet contains reports, documents and articles related to UN activities with links to full texts for recent years. Subject search can be performed using relevant terms fro the UNBIS THESAURUS.
Printed Indexes