The University Library has been a United Nations depository since the organization's inception. As the world's chief intergovernmental organization (IGO), the UN provides a vast amount of information on international security, economic and social development, human rights, humanitarian affairs, the environment, and international law. Thousands of UN publications address current issues, such as immigration, war crimes, and free trade. And hundreds of thousands of UN documents constitute important primary source material for historians of the modern era. This wealth of information--and the staff to help users access it--are readily available to our patrons. For a thorough description of the United Nations collection at this university, see a User's Guide to United Nations Information.
United Nations documents with Dewey decimal call numbers are scattered throughout the UIUC Library. But concentrations of UN documents can be found in four places: The Government Documents Library, located in room 200 in the Main Library, houses the United Nations reference collection, UN CD-ROMs, and all UN microfiche. The UN microfiche is copied from the United Nations' original paper publications by Readex, a private publisher. It includes uncopyrighted Official Records and masthead documents issued from 1981 onward. Main Stacks, Deck 5 West, at the far end from the entrance to the Main Stacks are four ranges of print-format UN documents arranged by UN classification number. Cataloged and uncataloged documents are interfiled. Main Stacks, Deck 9 East, Official Records in print format are shelved together on this floor. For their call numbers, see Table 3 above under "Document Types." Main Stacks, Deck 8 East, The United Nations microcard collection is housed in a climate-controlled room located in the northeast quarter of this floor. The cards are stored in small red boxes to the right as you enter. Microcards are produced on opaque material in print too small to be read with the naked eye. Unfortunately, the UIUC does not own a machine that can copy them. The machine needed to view them--the Readex Microprint OPAQUE VIEWER model 7--is against the north wall of this room. If a document you seek was issued before 1982, you can find no record for it in the online catalog, and it is not a Security Council document, it is probably available on microcard only. Consult the Government Documents Library staff for assistance in finding and utilizing UN documents in this format.
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Last modified by: David Griffiths on 4/15/09