UN and other International Organizations

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UN and other International Organizations

• Staff Training
• 8/12/99

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The UN System
http//www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/bookstor/kit
s/english/unintro/images/unsystem.gif
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http//www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/bookstor/kit
s/english/unintro/images/unsystem.gif
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The UN System (Main Organs, Agencies and
Specialized Agencies)

• UN - General Assembly, Security Council, Economic
  and Social Council, Secretariat, Intl Court of
  Justice
• Sub-agencies - UNICEF, UNDP, UNEP, and more
• Specialized Agencies - FAO, IMF, World Bank
  Group, UNESCO, IMO, WHO, ITU, UNIDO, WMO, IFAD,
  ILO, WIPO, ICAO, UPU

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United Nations Information

• Monographs on variety of topics PAPER
• Serials on a variety of topics (predominantly,
  but not entirely, statistical) PAPER
• Treaties a whole other training topic. . .
• Resolutions (and the supporting documentation)
  FICHE
• Letters, reports, etc. FICHE

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Resolutions (and the supporting documentation)
FICHE Letters, reports, etc. FICHE
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AccessUN

• Indexes the documents and selected publications
  of the UN and some of its sub-agencies
• Does NOT include the specialized agencies
• Covers 1961-present (over time will go back to
  1946)
• Some full-text (resolutions and selected
  proceedings)
• Is mostly an index to the microprint/fiche
  collection

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AccessUN opening screen
Use these to narrow search (for
resolutions, choose masthead)
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Results Screen
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Sample Record
Note that you can email records
If theres a Readex year, then it should be in
the microprint/fiche collection
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The rest of that record
Document type
pagination
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Another record
Not in the microprint/fiche collection check
Magic. If not in Magic, check the Docs
title catalog and shelflist.
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One more record
If theres full text, itll say so.
A PV. is the full text of the proceedings in a
particular UN organ. (Think of it as analogous
to the Congressional Record.)
The claim is that its a verbatim record of
the proceedings its not - its really like the
Cong. Record - representatives can edit their
remarks.
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Heres a Resolution Record
Full text notification
Series symbol (aka Document number) for a
resolution
Resolutions are discussed and, in some instances,
voted on at meetings of a UN body. Heres the
series symbol for the meeting at which this
resolution was agreed to.
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A/52/PV.70
Voting information is provided in the text of the
proceedings, not with the resolution itself.
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Not everything gets voted on . . .
Note that this resolution was agreed to without a
vote.
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Vote info in a PV. document
Note that theres no summary vote totals here.
For that, use UNBIS Plus.
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UNBIS Plus on CD-ROM

• Available via CD-ROM server
• Several databases in one
• library catalog of the UN Libraries in NY and
  Geneva
• index to the proceedings of the GA, SC, ECOSOC
  (essential for Model UN)
• UNBIS thesaurus
• voting records (summary totals and, when
  available, by country)

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Users and Uses of the UN materials

• Model UN students (MSU and high school)
• Proceedings information (called speech
  citations in UNBIS Plus search field Author
  in AccessUN)
• H.S. level - usually assigned a particular
  country
• U level - usually assigned a particular country
  and committee/commission (i.e., issue area)
• Voting info for particular countries on
  particular issues

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What About Those Specialized Agencies?

• No single source of indexing information
• Post-1986 monographs in Magic (if theres OCLC
  copy)
• Small percentage of serials in Magic
• Different indexing tools for each agency
• Annotated guide is available International
  Governmental Organizations (IGO's) and
  International Law IGO-Specific Information
  http//www.lib.msu.edu/publ_ser/docs/igos/igoorg.h
  tm

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More Key User Groups

• James Madison students
• especially MC322 (International Law and
  Organization)
• Political Science students
• especially PLS364 (International Organization and
  Cooperation)
• Researchers interested in human rights,
  international development, environmental policy,
  childrens rights, womens rights, population
  control, etc.

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Additional Resources to Know

• Subject Guide to International Law and
  Organizations (WWW page by D. Schaubman)
  http//www.lib.msu.edu/publ_ser/docs/igos/igosubj.
  htm
• United Nations Official Records and Resolutions
  (WWW page by B. Fox) http//www.lib.msu.edu/foxre/
  unres.html