United Nations Room

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The U.N. Room (M238) is located off the Atrium Reading Room, easily recognized by the staircase and balcony leading to it. The study area (table and computer) is reserved for legal research with documents and publications issued by the United Nations as well as secondary literature about the Organization and its legally relevant activities. The Reference Desk and computer (on the other side of the pillar) is for staff use only, and so is the working area with unbound documents in the back of the room.

Non-Boalt researchers who are interested in the world body's political, economic, social and humanitarian activities should patronize the United Nations depository library on the Campus. A research guide for U.N. materials held by Doe's Government & Social Science Information Service (GSSI) is accessible at http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/GSSI/un.html.

U.N. Room Hours and Staff

The Room is always open during regular library hours. It is staffed by a reference specialist for United Nations and human rights law, Wiltrud Harms (11:30 am - 5:30 pm, Monday-Friday, or later in the evening by special appointment). When Mrs. Harms is away from her desk, patrons are encouraged to leave messages on her desk, or as voice mail (at 510-643-6405) or via e-mail (wharms@law.berkeley.edu) and so making arrangements for reference interviews or to request particular U.N. documents.

Patrons who have never conducted research with U.N. documentation before or are unfamiliar with the arrangement of Boalt's U.N. Collection are encouraged to take an introductory tour of the U.N. Room and become acquainted with the most important U.N. research tools. Wiltrud will be glad to arrange such training for small groups or individuals, customizing the session to the particular research interests. United Nations materials are issued in such great quantities and unique style and particular numbering system that efficient research is almost impossible without some introductory training. Patrons may also consult with Boalt's Foreign and International Law Librarian, Ms. Marci Hoffman when Wiltrud Harms is not available.

Circulation Policies

Secondary U.N. sources (works about the United Nations but not published by the Organization) can be checked out at the Circulation Desk with the exception of periodicals, series, multi-volume sets and books of special reference value. Primary U.N. sources (documents and publications issued by the world body) are for library use only since U.N. materials are usually extremely difficult to replace. Patrons may remove materials from the U.N. Room and use them anywhere in the library but are expected to return them after use each day to the room. Please do not reshelve U.N. materials but place them on top of the low book shelves, under the hanging globe.

Classification, Cataloging, Etc

During the last years, the U.N. Collection has been undergoing a gradual reclassification. The law library is changing the classification of primary sources published by the Organization (formerly classed simply as "U.N. Doc") and of secondary United Nations sources (formerly classed in KJ61 through KJ81). This is a slow process because it was decided to also add, update and enrich a great many catalog records for U.N. materials, frequently adding hyperlinks to websites as well as selected research information.

For a little while longer, U.N. Room patrons will continue to encounter the old "U.N.Doc" call number labels on some of the primary U.N. materials and "KJ" classification numbers on some secondary literature until the whole collection will have been relabeled with classification numbers ranging from KZ4935 to KZ5179.1

If you have visited the Room before and remember the former location of certain (cataloged) publications such as yearbooks, periodicals or reference tools but cannot find them any more, please consult Boalt's catalog at http://lawcat.berkeley.edu/search for any call number changes.

Some Important Facts about the Collection

To be cataloged or not to be (that's the question): The law library receives more than six thousand primary U.N. documentary sources annually: the majority of these are of the type known as "masthead" or "mimeographed" documents, the various Official Records series constitute the next largest group, followed by U.N. sales publications (monographs as well as periodicals). Individual masthead documents and Official Records series are generally not cataloged but shelved in accordance with the U.N. documentation system: masthead/mimeographed documents in alphanumeric order by U.N. document symbol in sections numbered 26 through 41 and adjacent stack area; documents issued in one of the Official Records series are shelved as part of that series and subarranged by session or year (sections numbered 10-22). Recently published U.N. sales publications can be located via Boalt's catalog. Older sales publications were either cataloged or entered by title on simple title cards. Title cards give a document symbol and a cross reference or other shelving information generally sufficient to find the item on the shelf; they are held in the wooden file cabinet to your right as you enter the U.N. Room.

Identifying relevant U.N. documents: Documents on a particular research topic can be identified by using various U.N. indexes. Of especial importance is UNBISnet, a powerful comprehensive online document index for items issued from 1979 onward, and even further back in some cases (at http://unbisnet.un.org). UNBISnet serves as a key to the large volume of U.N. documents at Boalt which are not cataloged but are shelved either with an Official Records series in Sections 10-22 or by U.N. document symbol in sections 26-41 and adjacent stack area. For each document, even if only a single page, UNIBSnet offers a full catalog record including document symbol, Official Records series information, and sales number. It generally does not take long for patrons to gain enough familiarity with the arrangement of the U.N. Collection to be able to identify an interesting document in UNBISnet and go directly to the shelves to look for it using the Classification Guide to the U.N. Room Collection. If you want a document that is not out on the shelves, please ask Wiltrud Harms for assistance (the document may have been shelved in the unbound documents/working area designated for U.N. Room staff only).

In addition, Wiltrud will be happy to introduce you to other online U.N. research tools such as AccessUN (identifying UN documents from 1961 onward), the UN Treaty Collection online and selected U.N. websites offering a wealth of U.N documentation relevant for legal researchers; or introduce you to important hard copy U.N. research tools, for example the Index to Proceedings of the General Assembly (KZ5006 I64) and Index to Proceedings of the Security Council (KZ5006.5 I64) as well as the Yearbook of the United Nations (KZ4947), the Yearbook of the International Law Commission (KZ5009.5 L29 Y4) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Yearbook (KZ5009.5 T735).

What you won't find in the U.N. Room: Please note that certain primary U.N. documentary sources (U.N. document series symbolled E/- through WFC/- ) are shelved in the stack area adjacent to and accessible directly from the U.N. Room and that the United Nations Treaty Series is shelved in the Atrium Reading Room, just opposite the U.N. Room balcony. Publications of the International Court of Justice and other tribunals established by the world body are not housed in the U.N. Room but shelved with other international materials on the fourth floor.