United Nations Research

The United Nations (U.N.), according to Article 1 of the U.N. Charter, is an organization of countries dedicated to “maintaining international peace and security; developing friendly relations among nations; cooperating internationally in solving international economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian problems and promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; and harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these common ends.”

The U.N. Charter was signed June 26, 1945 in San Francisco at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization. The Charter came into force on October 24, 1945. There are presently 193 members of the United Nations.

The U.N. consists of six principal bodies: General Assembly; Security Council; Economic and Social Council; the Trusteeship Council; the International Court of Justice; and the Secretariat. In addition, there are numerous funds, programmes, and specialized agencies working under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council in such diverse areas as health, finance, agriculture, civil aviation, and telecommunications.

This research guide covers print research materials, subscription databases, and internet resources for the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, (ECOSOC), and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

One of the first places to consider starting is with the library's catalog, JACOB. The catalog search engine provides all kinds of filters and search features to find exactly what you're looking for. Start with the Advanced Search feature:

And then choose applicable terms and words to search by.  You can also filter by subject, title, author, etc. If you need to filter by time frame, language, or format, look to the right-hand corner. It's important to know where you're searching too:

• JACOB means print materials (mostly books) held in the library's collection.

• JACOB+ means print materials AND articles held in the library's collection.

• Course Reserves are simply books held on reserve a professors' request for their courses.

• WRLC is the Washington Research Library Consortium that consists of about 13 local libraries (we have a speedy lending agreement among this group of institutions). Search here for your broadest reach.

Search by Library of Congress Call Number Range:

JACOB has a filter for searching for items this way.

These are the Call Number ranges for the topic of the United Nations:

• JZ4835 - 5490
• KZ4935 - 5275

Search by Subject Headings:

You can also search by the following subject headings. Just type any of these into the search bar and filter to "Subject."

• International Court of Justice
• International Organization
• United Nations
• United Nations Economic and Social Council
• United Nations General Assembly
• United Nations Security Council

Useful search terms to be used when searching by keyword within library catalogs, databases, and search engines for information related to international anti-corruption include:

• Economic and Social Council
• General Assembly
• International Court of Justice
• International Organization
• Security Council

• ECOSOC
  (Economic and Social Council)
   
• GAOR
  (General Assembly Official Records)
   
• ICJ
  (International Court of Justice)
   
• ILC
  (International Law Commission)
   

• SCOR
  (Security Council Official Records)

• R21.4: Treaties and Other International Agreements
   
• R21.5.1: International Court of Justice
   
• R21.7: United Nations Resources
   
• T3: Intergovernmental Organizations
   
• T4: Treaty Sources