I. Reports of UN bodies (annual or sessional reports)

Sessional (annual/biannual) reports of committees and commissions that report to the General Assembly are published as General Assembly Official Record (GAOR) documents. The reports often contain resolutions/decisions adopted by the subsidiary body. They may, in some instances, forward draft resolutions or decisions which are being recommended to the Assembly for adoption. Generally, the reports are issued as Supplements to the Official Records of the General Assembly (GAOR).

Sessional (annual/biannual) reports of committees and commissions that report to the Economic and Social Council are published as Economic and Social Council Official Record (ESCOR) documents. These reports deal primarily with economic, social and cultural issues and usually contain resolutions/decisions adopted by the subsidiary body. In some cases they may forward draft resolutions or decisions which are being recommended to the Council or through the Council to the General Assembly for adoption. Generally, the reports are issued as Supplements to the Official Records of the Economic and Social Council (ESCOR).

In addition, there are numerous sessional or annual reports of working groups, expert groups, task forces, meetings, etc. that report to subsidiary bodies of the Economic and Social Council or General Assembly. They are issued as masthead documents, not as ESCOR or GAOR Official Records.

1. General Notes (tag 500)
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If it is not evident from the title that the document is a sessional or annual report of a body, the indexer should add a clarifying note. It is also helpful to specify the dates and venue of sessions or meetings if they are not evident from the title or from information present elsewhere on the record.

Example 1:

191 $a [E/]ECE/TRANS/WP.30/AC.2/2007/6
245 10 $a Activities of the TIRExB : $b report / $c by the Chairperson of the TIRExB at its 31st session
500 $a Report of the 31st session of the TIR Executive Board (TIRExB) held in Geneva, 25-26 Jan. 2007.

Example 2:

191 $a [E/]ECE/TIM/EFC/WP.2/2007/8
245 10 $a Report of the Joint FAO/UNECE Working Party on Forest Economics on its 29th session
500 $a Held in Geneva, 20-22 Mar. 2007.

If sessional/annual reports include significant information or annexes, it is good practice to add a note (tag 500) recording the annex titles or referring to the included information.

Example 1:

191 $a SPLOS/191
245 10 $a Annual report of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for 2008
500 $a Annexes (p. 26-31): 1. Information on staff (2008) – 2. Information on interns (2008) – 3. Information on Nippon fellows (2008-2009) – 4. List of donors to the Library of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (2008)

Example 2:

191 $a A/CN.9/WG.II/XXX/CRP.2
245 10 $a Report of the Drafting Group : $b United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, Working Group on International Contract Practices, 30th session, New York, 1-12 March 1999
500 $a Includes draft text of the Convention on Assignment in Receivables Financing.

Example 3:

191 $a *** $b ST/ODC/
245 10 $a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime : $b annual report. $n 2005  
500 $a "Key financial data": p. 92-95.

Example 4:

191 $a [E/]ECE/TRADE/C/WP.6/2008/18
245 10 $a Report of the Working Party on Regulatory Cooperation and Standardization Policies on its 18th session
500 $a "Annex: Terms of reference for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Equipment for Explosive Environments Initiative": p. 17.

2. Corporate/conference name heading (tag 710/711)
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A corporate or conference name heading should be assigned in tag 710 or 711 that includes the appropriate session number, year and venue. The same name heading should also be assigned to each addendum to the report or draft report.
If a sessional report includes a summary by the chairperson/rapporteur, or if a statement appears on the title page specifying that the report is submitted by the chairperson/rapporteur, it is not necessary to add a corporate entry for the chairperson/rapporteur.

Example (A/62/54):

245 10 $a Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Criminal Accountability of United Nations Officials and Experts on Mission, 1st session (9-13 April 2007)
500 $a “Annex: Informal summary of the discussions of the Ad Hoc Committee on the report of the Group of Legal Experts, prepared by the Chairperson”: p. 6-13.
710 2_ $a UN. Ad Hoc Committee on Criminal Accountability of United Nations Officials and Experts on Mission (1st sess. : 2007 : New York)
[An added entry is not made for the Chairperson]

If a sessional report contains reports or texts prepared by other bodies or meetings, added corporate or conference name entries are made for the other bodies or meetings. The fact that the report contains such information should be indicated in a note.

Example (E/2007/38-E/ECA/CM.40/5):

245 10 $a Economic Commission for Africa : $b annual report, 2007
500 $a Annexes (p. 29-54): 1. Resolutions and Ministerial Statement adopted by the Commission at its 40th session – 2. Report of the 26th meeting of the Committee of Experts of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
710 2_ $a UN. ECA (40th sess. : 2007 : Addis Ababa)
711 2_ $a Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. Committee of Experts (26th : 2007 : Addis Ababa)
[An added entry is made for the Conference]

3. Content Codes for reports (tag 089)
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Assign Content Code (tag 089) B04 to annual/sessional reports of corporate bodies, assign Code A16 to annual/sessional reports of conferences or meetings, and assign Code B08 to draft corporate or conference reports. In addition, assign appropriate Content Codes for certain types of information that may appear in reports (often, in annexes to the reports), such as calendars of meetings (A03), draft resolutions (B02), work programmes (A08), adopted terms of reference (B10), draft texts (A17). Do not assign Content Code B01 to reports that contain adopted resolutions and decisions; assign code B01 only to resolutions and decisions that are indexed as separate records (for more information, see Resolutions/decisions and draft resolutions/decisions of UN bodies).

Assign the content code of the main report (A16, B04, B08, or B16) to each addendum to the report, as well as any content codes that may apply to the addendum.

Example: Sessional report including work programme and calendar of meetings

089 $b B04
089 $b A08
089 $b A03
191 $a [E/]ECE/ENERGY/49
245 10 $a Report : $b Economic Commission for Europe, Committee on Sustainable Energy, 12th session, 20-21 November 2002
500 $a Annexes (p. 13-17): 1. Programme of work 2003-2004 – 2. Calendar of meetings of the Committee on Sustainable Energy and its implementing bodies in 2003.

Example: Addendum to a sessional report including work programme and terms of reference of new bodies

089 $b B04
089 $b A08
089 $b B10
191 $a [E/]ECE/ENERGY/68/Add.1
245 10 $a Report of the Committee on Sustainable Energy on its 15th session : $b addendum
505 $a pt. 2. Actions taken by the Committee on Sustainable Energy and subsequently approved by the Executive Committee.

Assign Content Code B16, not B04, to thematic reports on specific topics prepared by committees, working groups, groups of experts, task forces, etc., that are not sessional meeting reports.

Example: Thematic report by a Working Group of the UN General Assembly

089 $b B16
191 $a A/C.6/58/L.10
245 10 $a Measures to eliminate international terrorism : $b report of the Working Group

Indexers should check indexing of previous sessional/annual reports of a body to ensure consistent approach. At the same time, they should be alert to new topics, mandates, and issues in sessional reports that may require:

- assigning subject terms that were not present in records for previous reports,
- creating new name authority records for newly established entities,
- updating existing authority records when draft texts are adopted at the session or when names of entities are changed.

Subject entries should include the following, as appropriate:

a) Main corporate/conference subject headings (tag 610/611)
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Assign the appropriate corporate or conference subject heading (tag 610 or 611) to denote the activities of the body or meeting. For annual or sessional reports, a subheading with appropriate session number, year and venue is included as part of the corporate/conference name. The main corporate or conference subject headings that have modifying terms in tag 610 or 611 subfield $g.

Examples:

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women:

191 $a A/61/38
245 10 $a Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 34th session (16 January-3 February 2006), 35th session (15 May-2 June 2006) [and] 36th session (7-25 August 2006)
610 27 $a UN. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (34th sess. : 2006 : New York)
610 27 $a UN. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (34th sess. : 2006 : New York) $g Work organization
610 27 $a UN. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (35th sess. : 2006 : New York)
610 27 $a UN. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (35th sess. : 2006 : New York) $g Work organization
710 2_ $a UN. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (34th sess. : 2006 : New York)
710 2_ $a UN. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (35th sess. : 2006 : New York)
710 2_ $a UN. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (36th sess. : 2006 : New York)

Economic Commission for Europe:

191 $a E/2006/37
191 $a E/ECE/1444
245 10 $a Economic Commission for Europe : $b annual report, 26 February 2005-23 February 2006
610 27 $a UN. ECE $g Activities (2005-2006)
610 27 $a UN. ECE (61st sess. : 2006 : Geneva)
710 2_ $a UN. ECE (61st sess. : 2006 : Geneva)

Sessional report of meeting that reports to subsidiary body under the Economic Commission for Europe:

191 $a [E/]ECE/TRANS/WP.15/AC.1/108
245 10 $a Report of the session held in Geneva from 11 to 21 September 2007 : $b Economic Commission for Europe, Inland Transport Committee, Working Party on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, Joint Meeting of the RID Committee of Experts and the Working Party on the Transport of Dangerous Goods
611 27 $a Joint Meeting of the RID Committee of Experts and the Working Party on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (2007 : Geneva)
711 2_ $a Joint Meeting of the RID Committee of Experts and the Working Party on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (2007 : Geneva)

While the corporate subject denoting the activities of the body is always assigned to the main report, the same corporate/conference subject heading is not necessarily assigned to each addendum to the report. Addenda to the report should be indexed with subject terms at the appropriate level of specificity

Example:
Main report

191 $a A/62/421
245 10 $a Globalization and interdependence : $b report of the 2nd Committee : General Assembly, 62nd session
610 27 $a UN. General Assembly (62nd sess. : 2007-2008). 2nd Committee $g Work organization
650 17 $a GLOBALIZATION
650 17 $a INTERDEPENDENCE
650 17 $a SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
650 17 $a CORRUPTION
710 2_ $a UN. General Assembly (62nd sess. : 2007-2008). 2nd Committee

Addendum to the report

191 $a A/62/421/Add.2
245 10 $a Globalization and interdependence : $b science and technology for development : report of the 2nd Committee : General Assembly, 62nd session
610 27 $a UN. Commission on Science and Technology for Development
610 27 $a UNCTAD
650 17 $a RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
650 17 $a SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
650 17 $a TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
650 17 $a CAPACITY BUILDING
650 17 $a DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
650 17 $a SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
710 2_ $a UN. General Assembly (62nd sess. : 2007-2008). 2nd Committee

Sessional reports usually provide information about organization of the session, including election of officers, adoption of the agenda, etc. While the specific modifying term Work organization may be appropriate as an added corporate subject entry for sessional reports of main bodies or major subsidiary bodies, it is generally not necessary as an added corporate subject entry for reports of smaller subsidiary bodies.

Example 1: Major Subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council

191 $a E/2007/45
191 $a E/C.18/2007/19
245 10 $a Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters : $b report on the 3rd session (29 October-2 November 2007)
610 27 $a UN. Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (3rd sess. : 2007 : Geneva)
610 27 $a UN. Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (3rd sess. : 2007 : Geneva) $g Work organization

Example 2: Subsidiary body of a subsidiary body of the Human Rights Council

191 $a A/HRC/Sub.1/58/8
245 10 $a Report of the sessional Working Group on the Administration of Justice
610 27 $a UN. Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. Working Group on the Administration of Justice (2006 : Geneva)

b) Subject terms and contents notes (tags 650 and 505)
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Assign primary subject terms are assigned for the main subjects of the report, at the appropriate level of specificity. When secondary subject terms are assigned for substantive chapters and annexes of a report, it is recommended to record them in the order in which they appear in the document, so that users may easily locate topics in the report.

Generally, before final reports are issued, draft reports are issued in limited or restricted distribution, often consisting of a series of addenda containing different chapters of the draft reports. Each addendum is indexed at the appropriate level of specificity of the chapters it contains, and therefore does not necessarily have the same primary subject terms that are assigned to the main or final report.

When addenda to reports or draft reports are issued as separate documents bearing the same title (except for the word «addendum»), and the chapters are listed on each document, it is helpful to list the chapters or parts in formatted Contents Notes (tag 505). This will show clearly to users which parts or chapters are contained in each document.

Example 1: Addendum to biennial report

191 $a E/CN.7/2007/2/Add.2
245 14 $a The world drug problem : $b 4th biennial report of the Executive Director : addendum
505 0_ $a Action Plan on International Cooperation on the Eradication of Illicit Drug Crops and on Alternative Development.
610 27 $a UN. Commission on Narcotic Drugs
610 27 $a UN Office on Drugs and Crime
630 07 $a Action Plan on International Cooperation on the Eradication of Illicit Drug Crops and on Alternative Development (1998)
650 17 $a PROGRAMMES OF ACTION
650 17 $a NARCOTIC RAW MATERIALS
650 17 $a CROP ERADICATION
650 17 $a DRUG CONTROL
650 17 $a DRUG DEMAND
650 27 $a DRUG PRODUCTION
650 27 $a LAW ENFORCEMENT
710 2_ $a UN. Commission on Narcotic Drugs. Executive Director

Example 2: Addendum to draft report

191 $a E/CN.7/2007/L.1/Add.2
245 10 $a Draft report : $b Commission on Narcotic Drugs, 50th session, Vienna, 12-16 March 2007 : addendum
505 0_ $a Thematic debate on new challenges for controlling precursor chemicals.
610 27 $a International Narcotics Control Board
650 17 $a DRUG CONTROL
650 17 $a PRECURSOR CHEMICALS
650 17 $a DRUG TRAFFIC
710 2_ $a UN. Commission on Narcotic Drugs (50th sess. : 2007 : Vienna)

While Contents Notes are generally added to reports or draft reports that are issued with addenda or parts in separate documents, judgement is used in deciding whether or not to add Contents Notes (tag 505) or annotations (tag 520) for a sessional/annual report that is not issued in separate parts. When the topics addressed by a body are quite consistent from session to session, or when the overall scope of the topics addressed by the body is quite specific and evident, it is probably not necessary to list contents of a report in a Contents Note or summarize the contents in an annotation. However, if topics vary significantly from session to session, or if the overall scope of topics covered is general and the focus in a session is quite specific, it may be helpful to add a Contents Note or annotation to indicate specific topics covered at a particular session or meeting.

Example 1: Contents Note includes titles of unnumbered decisions adopted at the session (the decisions are not indexed analytically as individual documents)

191 $a A/AC.96/1035
245 10 $a Report of the 57th session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme
505 0_ $a Introduction -- Work of the 57th session -- Conclusions and decisions of the Executive Committee: A. Conclusion on women and girls at risk -- B. Conclusion on identification, prevention and reduction of statelessness and protection of stateless persons -- C. General decision on administrative, financial and programme matters -- D. Decision on the programme of work of the Standing Committee in 2007 -- E. Decision on the provisional agenda of the 58th session of the Executive Committee -- F. Decision on observer participation in 2006-2007 -- Annexes: 1. Decisions adopted by the Standing Committee in 2006 -- 2. Chairman's summary of the general debate.

Example 2: Annotation note indicates the specific focus of the session

191 $a A/HRC/4/39
245 10 $a Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of Racial Descent on its 6th session, Geneva, 29 January-2 February 2007
520 $a The Working Group examined the theme of racial profiling at its 6th session.

c) Added corporate/conference subject headings (tag 610/611)
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Assign subject headings for corporate names (Institutes, Funds, organizations, task forces, committees, etc.) and conference names (meetings, workshops, seminars, etc.) which are the subject of significant information.

Assign appropriate modifying terms are assigned in subfield $g of tags 610 and 611, selected from the List of modifiers.

Examples:
Security Council:

191 $a A/61/2
245 10 $a Report of the Security Council, 1 August 2005-31 July 2006
610 27 $a UN $g Members
610 27 $a UN. Military Staff Committee
610 27 $a ICJ

Economic Commission for Europe:

191 $a E/2006/37
191 $a E/ECE/1444
245 10 $a Economic Commission for Europe : $b annual report, 26 February 2005-23 February 2006
610 27 $a UN. ECE. Executive Committee $g Terms of reference
610 27 $a UN. ECE. Executive Committee $g Rules of procedure
611 27 $a Regional Implementation Forum on Sustainable Development (2nd : 2005 : Geneva)

d) Corporate/conference modifying terms (tag 610/611 $g)
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Assign modifying terms for subjects such as membership of subsidiary bodies, collections of resolutions and decisions, recommendations, work programmes, calendars of meetings, agenda, list of participants, etc.

Appropriate modifying terms are assigned in subfield $g of tag 610, selected from the List of modifiers.

Examples:
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights:

191 $a E/2006/22
191 $a E/C.12/2005/5
191 $b *** $z E/2006/22(Suppl.2)
245 10 $a Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights : $b report on the 34th and 35th sessions, 25 April-13 May 2005, 7-25 November 2005
610 27 $a UN. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (35th sess. : 2005 : Geneva) $g Recommendations
610 27 $a UN. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights $g Members

Human Rights Committee:

191 $a A/61/40(Vol.II)
245 10 $a Report of the Human Rights Committee. $n Volume 2, $p 85th session (17 October-3 November 2005); 86th session (13-31 March 2006); 87th session (10-28 July 2006)
610 27 $a UN. Human Rights Committee (85th sess. : 2005 : Geneva) $g Resolutions and decisions
610 27 $a UN. Human Rights Committee (86th sess. : 2006 : Geneva) $g Resolutions and decisions
610 27 $a UN. Human Rights Committee (87th sess. : 2007 : Geneva) $g Resolutions and decisions

Sessional reports often include the agenda for the session. Even though agendas for the session may have been issued as a separate document, indexers should still add corporate subject headings for the session with modifier Agenda [as of April 2008]. In addition, if a report includes an agenda for a forthcoming session, it is useful to assign Agenda with the corporate subject heading for the forthcoming session.

If the report includes a list of documents issued for the session, add the subject term DOCUMENTS as a topical subject (tag 650).

e) Resolutions/decisions in reports
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Assign subject terms for the main subjects of resolutions and decisions contained in the report if the resolutions and decisions are not indexed analytically as individual records.

Examples:
International Civil Service Commission:

191 $a A/62/30
245 10 $a Report of the International Civil Service Commission for the year 2007
610 27 $a International Civil Service Commission (64th sess. : 2007 : New York) $g Resolutions and decisions
610 27 $a International Civil Service Commission (65th sess. : 2007 : Geneva) $g Resolutions and decisions
610 27 $a UN $g Personnel questions
610 27 $a UN System $g Personnel questions
650 17 $a INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SERVICE
650 17 $a SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES
650 17 $a WORKING CONDITIONS

f) Treaties, declarations etc. in reports (tag 630)
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Assign the appropriate subject headings (tag 630) for treaties, agreements, declarations and other international instruments discussed during the meetings.

If text of instruments is included in the report, assign tag 730 in addition to tag 630 (see UNBIS Reference Manual for Bibliographic Description tag 730 for further guidelines) and assign the appropriate Content Codes (tag 089) for the type of instrument.

Indexers should be alert to instruments that are adopted at meetings, as it may be necessary to update uniform title authority records accordingly.

Examples:
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights:

191 $a E/2006/22
191 $a E/C.12/2005/5
191 $b *** $z E/2006/22(Suppl.2)
245 10 $a Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights : $b report on the 34th and 35th sessions, 25 April-13 May 2005, 7-25 November 2005
630 07 $a International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966)
630 07 $a Harmonized Guidelines on Reporting to the International Human Rights Treaty Monitoring Bodies (Draft)

Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities:

191 $a A/AC.265/2006/2
245 10 $a Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities on its 7th session
630 07 $a Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)
650 17 $a DISABLED PERSONS
650 17 $a TREATIES (TEXT)
730 0_ $a Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)

UNECE Working Party on Inland Water Transport sessional report includes information that draft Recommendations on Minimum Requirements for the Issuance of Boatmaster's Licences in Inland Navigation were adopted at the session; authority record for the session is updated accordingly to replace «(Draft)» by «(1992)»:

5. Sessional reports of the Trade and Development Board reissued as GAOR
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• In creating a record for the GA Official Record, copy the indexing record for the TD/B/ report. Since the report is the same, both indexing records should contain the same subject terms. Add a reciprocal note indicating the symbol of the TD/B document
  

• Update the indexing record for the TD/B report to add a note indicating the document symbol and GAOR identifier
  

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Last updated: 26 August 2009