International Documents Collection

Details:

The International Document Collection contains useful material for researchers of global issues. National governments often overlook or do not have the resources necessary to evaluate issues that affect themselves and their neighbors. Issues that transcend borders include: development, globalization, finance, health, labor, migration, refugees, trade and war. IGOs also work to promote human rights, protection of the environment, and issues relating to women and children.

IGOs & NGOs

An intergovernmental organization (IGO) is a structure based on a formal instrument of agreement between nations (e.g. the United Nations, the EU). A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a group whose members are individuals or associations (e.g. the International Committee of the Red Cross).

For a comprehensive description about the origin, structure, and growth of NGOs, please see Peter Willetts' excellent "What is a Non-Governmental Organization?"

There are thousands of IGOs and NGOs. The Union of International Associations (an NGO itself) edits the annual publication Yearbook of International Organizations. The Yearbook is a comprehensive directory of IGOs and NGOs, and provides contact information and a description of the work of the organization. It indexes organizations by subject. The Yearbook is available in the Main Reference department and in Gov Info Reference. The call number is 341.05 Y38.

The International Documents Collection contains the publications of approximately 25 IGOs and a few NGOs. The international documents assistant maintains a web site that is a comprehensive list of links to IGO web sites. Although the international documents assistant maintains a web site that links to foreign government web sites, the collection does not contain the publications or documents of foreign governments.

For more information about NGOs, please see Duke University Libraries' excellent NGO Research Guide.

IGOs and NGOs whose publications are included in the International Documents Collection

Asian Development Bank Center for UN Reform (an NGO) Commonwealth of Independent States Council of Europe European Union (depository since 1970) Food and Agriculture Organization Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (an NGO) Inter-American Development Bank International Chamber of Commerce (an NGO) International Labour Organization International Monetary Fund International Maritime Organization International Organization for Migration League of Nations Organization of American States (quasi-depository since 1962) Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Pan American Health Organization United Nations documents (depository since 1946) United Nations sales publications United Nations Children's Fund United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization United Nations Human Settlement Programme United Nations University Press World Health Organization World Bank World Meteorological Organization World Peace Foundation (an NGO) World Trade Organization World Tourism Organization (depository since 2002)

Documents, Publications and Depository Library Status

• IGO documents, like those of the UN, EU, and OAS are not cataloged. Documents can be located using different print and online indexes unique to each organization. IGO documents deal with the internal workings of the organization, for example, a debate of the UN Security Council.
• IGO publications are produced for the public. IGOs publish information about their work or the work they intend to do. IGO publications (like those of the WTO, IMF, and World Bank) are cataloged in NUcat. They can describe and evaluate problems and offer policy suggestions. Often these publications offer case studies of nations who are members of the organization. An example of an IGO publication is China and the WTO : Accession, Policy Reform, and Poverty Reduction Strategies.
• IGOs produce comparable international statistics. Statistical publications can be found in NUcat and are either in print or online. IGOs publish statistics on a wide variety of topics. An example of an IGO statistical publication is World Development Indicators, an annual publication of the World Bank

A depository library receives the information produced by an organization as part of a formal agreement. Gov Info has been a depository of the United Nations since 1946, the Organization of the American States since 1962, the European Union since 1970, and the World Tourism Organization since 2002. In addition, the department purchases sales publications from those organizations and over twenty other IGOs.