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Q. Where can I find international government documents?

Answered By: Beth Juhl
Last Updated: May 20, 2025     Views: 7

Many contemporary documents can be found on the website of the issuing body.  Below is information about specific library holdings and their online counterparts. 

Intergovernmental Documents

United Nations Documents

Online

Check the U.N. Official Document System for indexing and online copies of U.N. parliamentary documents.  The O.D.S has full-text, born-digital UN documents published from 1993 onward, including documents of the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and their subsidiaries, as well as
administrative issuances and other documents. 
The O.D.S. also includes scanned documents published between 1946 and 1993, including all resolutions of the principal organs, all documents of the Security Council and the General Assembly Official Records. Documents are available in the official languages of the UN; some documents are also available in German.

The U.N. Treaty System is the official depository of more than 500 multilateral treaties, with documents dating back to the League of Nations era. 
Treaties can also be found in the HeinOnline database.

In Print

Both Mullins Library and the Young Law Library offer collections of United Nations materials. U.N. documents are listed in OneSearch by publication series, for example, Resolutions and Decisions of the Security Council.  Use the O.D.S. as an index to identify series of interest and, if the full text is not online, check OneSearch for the location of print copies.  . 

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

OECD Publications hosts reports and research papers back to 1955 while OECD Data offers reports and downloadable data sets. 

World Bank

Through the World Bank website, access World Bank Open Data and Open Knowledge Repository of more than 30,000 publication dating back to 1950. 

Documents from Individual Countries

Great Britain / United Kingdom

The Libraries hold in print an impressive run of Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) back to the 16th century. This set is primarlu Commons but early years of Lors are also available.  Current and historical debates--some dating back to 1802-- can be found on the U.K. Parliament's Hansard website.

The Libraries have a run of Parliamentary Papers on microcard. Read more about this set and online availability of Parliamentary Papers on our Research Guide for Microfilm Sets. 

France

The Libraries have the Jounal Officiel from 1871-1942 on microfiche.  Read more in our Research Guide

Germany

The Libraries have the proceedings of the German Reichstag from 1923-1933 on microfiche. Read more in our Research Guide

 

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