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Tag: Documents

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  • The digital recordings of all "public" meetings can be accessed in all official languages on a dedicated portal online. The site allows for searches by date and key word. Thereafter, the audio language and requested segment of the meeting can be selected. The "floor" option will provide the recording of the original language in which the intervention was made, whereas the other languages will provide access to the interpretation. Only the intervention in the original language constitutes an authentic record of the proceedings. Please visit the web page for accessing recordings of meetings. Live webcast access is available in the original language that the intervention is being made, as well as in English (as broadcast from the interpretation booth). Please also check the web page for UN Web TV .

  • The Division of Conference Management of the United Nations Office at Geneva serves primarily conferences and meetings for the United Nations bodies and its Programmes, Funds, Regional Commissions, and Specialized Agencies. Non-governmental organizations, and other organizations with special status, are also allowed to host meetings at the Palais des Nations.

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    The archives do not provide scans of the documents. However, researchers are allowed to photograph them in the archives reading room.

  • The United Nation Archives maintain an online catalogue, which is complete to the series level for the complete collection. If you cannot locate specific materials in the catalogue, please contact us, as more detailed descriptions are in progress, and some portions. The Archives Resource Guides provides an overview of some fonds and collections, as well as links to digitized content and additional external research tools.

  • The research of specific names in the large volume of documents constituting the Nansen Fonds for refugees is quite complex. Indeed, a central repository with the names of all refugees does not exist. Some lists of names, as well as the correspondence exchanged between the refugees themselves and the Nansen Office, are scattered in various record groups, but are often incomplete and can require significant time to review. As a result, it is not possible for our staff to perform thorough searches for individuals or families. However, researchers would be most welcome to our reading room to conduct their research in situ. In order to better identify the folders that might be of interest, researchers can consult our online catalogue and do a search by keyword.

    The catalogue is available at the following URL: http://biblio-archive.unog.ch/suchinfo.aspx

  • The symbol is usually found at the top right corner of a document. A symbol serves as a unique identifier for a United Nations document. Each symbol is composed of numbers and letters which do not give any significant indication of the subject of a document. All language versions of a document carry the same symbol. Some publications have both a symbol and a sales number. The publication "United Nations document series symbols, 1946-1996" provides more information about the symbols used in this period. (ST/LIB/SER.B/5/Rev.5).

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  • All United Nations documents from 1993; All resolutions of the Principal Organs from 1946; All Security Council plenary documents from 1946 in English, French and Spanish; All supplements to the Official records of the General Assembly from 1946; Older documents are being scanned: status of digitization. UN staff, delegates, accredited media or NGO representatives, can visit or contact a United Nations Office at Geneva Library to consult the hard copy. External researchers can access Official Records that have not yet been digitized by visiting one of the United Nations depository libraries or information centres.

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  • Provide a copy of any prepared text in advance to the secretariat staff so that précis-writers and interpreters can refer to the text as you read it. Refer to paragraph numbers, not pages, in official United Nations documents. The pagination of United Nations documents often varies between language versions, but paragraph numbers remain the same. Give the paragraph references before reading out quotations, not after. Speak at a reasonable pace so that précis-writers and interpreters — and indeed other members of the audience — can follow your arguments. If you feel that a particular point or quotation should be placed on the record, say so.

  • The Regulations for the Control and Limitation of Documentation, ST/AI/189/Add.3/Rev.2, define documents and publications: "A document is a text submitted to a principal organ or a subsidiary organ of the United Nations for consideration by it, usually in connection with item(s) on its agenda." United Nations documents are issued for or under the authority of intergovernmental bodies under a United Nations document symbol and include all official records and meeting records of organs or conferences of the United Nations. Attribution in United Nations documents is regulated according to established rules and practices under the authority of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management. United Nations documents normally bear, in addition to a title corresponding to the subject or agenda item, a subtitle indicating the entity or official responsible for submitting the document. In documents prepared for a body that does not have a sessional agenda, the main title may contain that information.

    "The term 'United Nations publication' refers to any written material which is issued by the United Nations to the general public." Examples of United Nations publications include major studies and reports, monographs, edited volumes, statistical compilations, conference proceedings, journals, serial publications such as yearbooks, the United Nations Treaty Series and other international law publications. United Nations publications are generally published in response to legislative mandates or requests by intergovernmental bodies. They may be distributed free of charge or for a price. If sold, United Nations publications are assigned an International Standard Book Number (ISBN/eISBN) or, for serials and periodicals, an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN/eISSN). Publications may be published in print or electronic form, including as mobile applications, and in any other format or media as technology evolves.

  • Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages. They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record.
    They should be sent to dms-dcm@un.org within one week of the date of the document in question. 

    Any corrections submitted will be duly checked against the audio recordings of the meeting. Any corrections to the records of public meetings of a committee are consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session.

  • Summary records are posted as soon as they are available on the committee web site under the relevant session and can also be found in the Official Document System (ODS) of the UN. 

  • If the submitter knows in advance that a document has to be submitted late, he or she can reach out to the Documents Management Section (DMS) and negotiate late slotting. If the late submission is not anticipated, the document will be processed as per capacity with no commitment on the release date. If the document is slotted, the delay will be reflected in the official submission compliance of the submitting department. 

  • If a correction is flagged while a document is still being processed, the information can be included. A new final original file has to be submitted to the Documents Management Section (DMS). If the correction is communicated when the document has already been published, a formal correction by means of a corrigendum or revision will be required.