The ODS is the official repository for documents published by the United Nations. The full text of documents dating back to 1992 is accessible in Portable Document Format (PDF) in all official languages of the United Nations: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Documents are stored in two databases, UN Documentation, which includes documents back to 1992 and UN Resolutions, which includes resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and Trusteeship Council since 1946.

Documents are described and indexed using the structure of the United Nations Bibliographic Information System (UNBIS). They include pre-session, in-session and post-session documentation for meetings of the Security Council, the General Assembly and its subsidiary bodies, the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies and the Trusteeship Council, as well as special global conferences convened by the United Nations.

The database comprises the full text of all United Nations parliamentary documents, including resolutions and decisions, issued at United Nations Headquarters in New York and the United Nations Office at Geneva since 1993 (selected documents from 1992), and at the United Nations Office at Vienna since 1997, as well as documents from the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific beginning in 1998. In addition to parliamentary documentation, all currently valid United Nations administrative issuances (ST/AI/-, ST/IC/- and ST/SGB/-) are included in the database. Also included are the documents of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and other UN organizations.

The text of United Nations resolutions and decisions adopted by the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council from 1946 onwards are stored in official record format in this system in the "United Nations resolutions" database.

The following categories of documents are not currently available on this system:

-  documents issued at United Nations offices not listed above
-  materials issued by the Department of Public Information (DPI/-)
-  United Nations sales publications
-  documents with restricted distribution
-  United Nations Treaty Series (a password-access database exists for the Treaty Series)
-  conference room papers and working papers
-  United Nations press releases and transcripts of press briefings.

Note: Press Releases are available since 13 October 1995 on the UN web site

Language versions
Documents are normally available in the six official languages of the United Nations: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. However, not all documents are always issued in these six languages and the different language versions may not always come out at the same time. The system will indicate which language version is available.

The description of documents is based on the relevant bibliographic data that appear on the first page of each parliamentary document. This information includes the symbol identifying the document, the language (and the language of the original, if different), the United Nations body (and often subsidiary body) concerned, the session or meeting for which the document is issued, the agenda item number, the date, the title of the document, the name (using entries contained in the UNBIS authority file) and the type of distribution (general, limited or restricted). Documents are also indexed by subject, using descriptors from the UNBIS thesaurus.

Access to the system
Access to the ODS is restricted to registered users. As part of the registration process, a user receives a coded user/subscriber name and a preliminary user password. The password may be changed by the user at any time. Access to ODS is free for staff members of the United Nations Secretariat, for a limited number of users in specialized agencies and organizations of the UN System.

For more information: ods@un.org