Current information about meetings of United Nations bodies may be obtained from the Journal of the United Nations. The Journal is an often underutilized resource which serves two key purposes:

(1) It informs us of meetings of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and other bodies scheduled to take place on a given day, as well as identifies the symbols of major documents to be considered at the meetings -- even when the documents may not yet have been officially released; and

(2) It summarizes actions taken at the previous day's meetings and can be used by researchers who have a basic familiarity with the UN's document series symbol system to project symbols of meeting records and resolutions even before they are officially issued.

Past issues of the Journal are available through the Advanced Search option of the Official Document System of the United Nations (ODS). In the database selection box, highlight Daily Journal – New York. This automatically adds today’s date to the search fields; modify the dates according to your search. The ODS Journal collection begins in 1993. The Journal is issued in all official languages during the main part of the General Assembly session from September through December, and in English and French during the rest of the year.

The Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. It consists of 15 members: five permanent members with veto power (China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America) and ten non-permanent members, five of which are elected each year by the General Assembly for a two-year term.

The Security Council does not meet sessionally but stands ready to convene at any time as the need arises. The Provisional Rules of Procedure of the Security Council are contained in document S/96/Rev.7 (Sales number 83.I.4). Background information about the work of the Council can be retrieved from the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council as well as from the Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs.

The basic format for the symbols of Security Council documents is: S/[year]/[sequential number], e. g., S/1998/318. From 1946 to 1993, the format was S/[sequential number], e. g., S/24111.

The Security Council's annual report to the General Assembly on its activities is assigned the sequential number "2" for the session in question (e. g., A/62/2) and is published as Supplement No. 2 to the Official Records of the General Assembly. This report covers questions considered by the Security Council and matters brought to its attention as well as the work of the Council's subsidiary bodies during the reporting period. In addition, it contains annexes relating, inter alia, to the membership of the Council, the representatives accredited to it, Presidents in the reporting period as well as meetings held and actions taken by the Council and its subsidiary bodies.

The full text of recent reports can be retrieved from the UN Documentation Centre, through UNBISnet as well as the Official Document System of the United Nations (ODS).

A separate agenda is prepared for each meeting of the Security Council. These documents carry the symbol S/Agenda/[meeting number] (e. g., S/Agenda/4948 contains the provisional agenda for the 4948th meeting of the Security Council). They also list the major documents to be discussed at the meeting (e. g., reports/letters of the Secretary-General).

The Secretary-General submits reports to the Security Council on issues called for by resolutions. From 1964 onwards, the symbols of these reports can be identified through the Index to Proceedings of the Security Council. Prior to 1964, the Yearbook of the United Nations would serve as the most appropriate retrieval tool. For the current year, for which the Index has not yet been published, researchers can keep tabs on these reports by consulting UNBISnet or UN-I-QUE.

The full text of recent reports can be retrieved from the UN Documentation Centre, though UNBISnet as well as the Official Document System of the United Nations (ODS).

Prepared and maintained by the Department of Public Information (DPI), Dag Hammarskjöld Library (DHL) . Comments as well as suggestions for further additions/enhancements may be directed to the Dag Hammarskjöld Library.