III. Specific types of UN documents and publications

A. Works requiring less extensive analysis

Certain types of documents and publications do not normally require more than a few subject terms at the level of specificity of the work as a whole (tag 650 first level 1) and/or a few corporate or conference subject headings (tags 610 or 611).

1. Bibliographies, catalogues, etc.
2. Confidential restricted documents
3. Corrigenda
4. Press releases and press reviews
5. Public information brochures and pamphlets
6. Serial records (bibliographic level s)
7. Subsidiary bodies of UNECE and the UN Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and the Globally Harmonized System

1. Bibliographies, catalogues, dictionaries, directories, glossaries, indexes, terminology bulletins

Indexers should assign primary subject term(s) (tag 650 first indicator 1) for the overall subject(s) of the work as a whole, along with the appropriate subject term for the form of the work (BIBLIOGRAPHIES, CATALOGUES, DICTIONARIES, DIRECTORIES, GLOSSARIES, INDEXES, POLYGLOT DICTIONARIES, POLYGLOT GLOSSARIES, TERMINOLOGY BULLETINS).
It is important to assign the appropriate subject term for the form of the work since no specific Content Codes (tag 089) exist for these types of materials. They can be systematically retrieved only by subject.
The terms POLYGLOT DICTIONARIES and POLYGLOT GLOSSARIES are assigned for multilingual dictionaries, glossaries and terminology bulletins. Subject terms are assigned for the languages of multilingual dictionaries and glossaries (ARABIC LANGUAGE, CHINESE LANGUAGE, etc.).
While these types of materials are usually indexed only with primary subject terms, secondary subject terms may be assigned in case of potentially useful or important information included in the work at a subject level below the overall subject of the work as a whole.

Indexers should also bear in mind that bibliographies, catalogues, directories and indexes are sometimes ongoing serials, in which case the individual issues or numbers should be treated at bibliographic level d (See Continuing Resources - Serials) and their subject analysis should be consistent with that applied to previous issues of the serial title.

Example 1: Bibliography

191 $a A/CN.9/602
245 1 0 $a Bibliography of recent writings related to the work of UNCITRAL
650 1 7 $a INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
650 1 7 $a BIBLIOGRAPHIES
650 1 7 $a LEGAL LITERATURE

Example 2: Directory (monograph)

191 $a A/AC.105/C.2/2005/CRP.4
245 1 0 $a Education opportunities in space law : $b a directory
650 1 7 $a SPACE LAW
650 1 7 $a TRAINING PROGRAMMES
650 1 7 $a TRAINING AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS
650 1 7 $a DIRECTORIES

Example 3: Directory (continuing resource)

191 $a UNWG/2006/2
245 1 0 $a United Nations Women’s Guild, Geneva : $b directory. $n 2006/2007 = Cercle feminin des Nations Unies, Genève : directory. $n 2006/2007
610 2 7 $a UN Women’s Guild $g Members
650 1 7 $a WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS
650 1 7 $a DIRECTORIES

Example 4: Polyglot glossary

041 0 _ $a mulengrus
191 $a [ST/GENEVA/]TERM/54
245 1 0 $a English-Russian glossary on environment and climate change = $b Anglo-russkii glossarii po okruzhaiushchei srede i izmeneniiu klimata
246 3 1 $a Anglo-russkii glossarii po okruzhaiushchei srede i izmeneniiu klimata
650 1 7 $a ENVIRONMENT
650 1 7 $a CLIMATE CHANGE
650 1 7 $a POLYGLOT GLOSSARIES
650 1 7 $a TERMINOLOGY BULLETINS
650 1 7 $a ENGLISH LANGUAGE
650 1 7 $a RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

Example 5: Index (continuing resource)

191 $a ST/LIB/SER.N/18(Part1)
245 1 0 $a United Nations Documents Index. $n Vol. 5, no. 3 (Oct.-Dec. 2002)
610 2 7 $a UN. Dag Hammarskjöld Library
610 2 7 $a UN
650 1 7 $a INDEXES
650 1 7 $a DOCUMENTS
650 1 7 $a ACCESSIONS LISTS

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2. Confidential restricted documents

Some documents issued in restricted distribution are strictly confidential and will probably not be derestricted, such as confidential documents issued for the Human Rights Council (formerly the Commission on Human Rights) and its Advisory Committee (formerly the Subcommission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights). These documents are not available to users and they are not included in the Official Document System (ODS). For purposes of bibliographic control they are indexed in UNBIS, but at a minimal level of subject analysis.
Confidential human rights communications concerning Member States should be indexed only with the 650 subject term WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS, not with terms for the subject of the communication or the geographic subject for the Government. These written communications are the most sensitive types of documents. Transcribing the titles and contents notes allow the documents to be identified and differentiated, but the records will not be retrieved in subject searches for a country and will only appear in printed subject indexes under the general subject heading WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS.
If written communications are issued as addenda to reports of UN bodies, the corporate heading for the body is assigned in tag 710.

Example: Confidential restricted document containing a written communication

091 $a RES
191 $a A/HRC/Sub.1/58/AC.1/R.2/Add.8
245 1 0 $a Report of the Working Group on Communications on its 34th session
505 0 _ $a Communication concerning the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2835) in Annex : communication no. 2004/4/959.
650 1 7 $a WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
710 2 _ $a UN. Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. Working Group on Communications (34th sess. : 2006 : Geneva)

Restricted documents other than written communications (such as summary records for closed meetings) may be indexed with a few subject terms at the main subject level.

If confidential documents are derestricted, they should be analyzed at the same depth as non-restricted documents. An asterisk may appear after the distribution category printed on the document (RESTRICTED*) with a footnote informing that the document has been made public. In this case the distribution code DER should be recorded in tag 091 instead of RES. It is helpful to add a quoted note (tag 500) indicating the document’s derestriction.

Example: Document bearing distribution category RESTRICTED in masthead, derestricted

091 $a DER
191 $a CCPR/C/88/D/1181/2003
245 1 0 $a Views : $b communication no. 1181/2003 : Human Rights Committee, 88th session, 16 October-3 November 2006
500 $a Adopted 31 Oct. 2006.
500 $a “Made public by decision of the Human Rights Committee”.
650 1 7 $a CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
650 1 7 $a RIGHTS OF THE ACCUSED
650 1 7 $a CRIMINAL JUSTICE
650 1 7 $a SPAIN
650 1 7 $a WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
710 2 _ $a UN Human Rights Committee (88th sess. : 2006 : Geneva)

The rule for minimal subject analysis of confidential restricted documents does not apply to restricted documents that are not confidential, such as conference room papers (usually they have CRP in the document symbol) since these documents are restricted only in the sense of limited document distribution, draft or non-official status. They are not confidential and many of them are included in the «informal papers» section of ODS. They may be useful sources of information that is not found in other documents, and often they are the first available source for information. Therefore non-confidential restricted documents should be analyzed at the same level as any other monographic work.

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3. Corrigenda

Corrigenda are indexed as individual documents, but usually they are not assigned any tag 6XX subject fields. Exceptionally, a corrigendum may add important or useful information that the indexer feels should be brought out through subject indexing.
Content Code B19 is always assigned in tag 089 in addition to all Content Codes of the corrected document.
Indexers should be attentive to corrigenda that withdraw earlier documents, or correct meeting dates, titles or other information on document title pages, since such corrections may require updating the original bibliographic record or changing data on series symbol or name authority records.
When a corrigendum adds sponsors to a draft resolution, the additional sponsors must be added to the original record for the draft resolution.
When a corrigendum to an agenda corrects text of agenda item titles, or adds, inserts or deletes agenda items, the agenda item authority records must be updated accordingly.
Notes are added in tag 515 to indicate the nature of the correction. The most general and most commonly recorded note is: Corrects text. However, notes should be more specific depending on the type of correction, e.g.: Adds registration form and map; Replaces organizational chart; Replaces tables in Section IV.A; Inserts new paragraph 18; Deletes last paragraph on p. 2; etc.
Sometimes a reciprocal note is required on the original bibliographic record.

Example 1: Document withdrawn by a corrigendum; reciprocal note required on original record

191 $a ICCD/CRIC(5)/2/Add.1
515 $a Withdrawn by ICCD/CRIC(5)/2/Add.1/Corr.1.

191 $a ICCD/CRIC(5)/2/Add.1/Corr.1
515 $a Withdraws document ICCD/CRIC(5)/2/Add.1.

Example 2: Corrigendum requiring corrections to series symbol authority record (session dates) and addition of note to original bibliographic record

191 $a [E/ECE/]CEP/AC.10/2001/1
245 1 0 $a Provisional agenda for the 1st session, to be held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, starting on Wednesday, 27 June : $b Economic Commission for Europe, Committee on Environmental Policy, Ad Hoc Working Group on Environmental Monitoring, 1st session, 27-29 June 2001
500 $a Meeting dates changed to 20-21 Sept. 2001.

191 $a [E/ECE/]CEP/AC.10/2001/1/Corr.1
245 1 0 $a Provisional agenda for the 1st session : $b Economic Commission for Europe, Committee on Environmental Policy, Ad Hoc Working Group on Environmental Monitoring, 1st session, Geneva : corrigendum
515 $a Corrects meeting dates.

Example 3: Corrigendum requiring correction to title and addition of note to original bibliographic record

191 $a A/HRC/Sub.1/58/CRP.6
245 1 0 $a Working paper [on international judicial cooperation] / $c by Françoise Hampson
500 $a Title on item: Working paper on the promotion and protection of human rights when combating terrorism.
515 $a Title corrected by A/HRC/Sub.1/58/CRP.6/Corr.1.

191 $a A/HRC/Sub.1/58/CRP.6/Corr.1
245 1 0 $a Working paper on international judicial cooperation : $b corrigendum / $c by Françoise Hampson
515 $a Corrects title.

Example 4: Corrigendum adding substantive information, indexed with topical subject terms

191 $a A/50/401/Corr.1
245 1 0 $a Neobkhodimost' prekrashcheniia ekonomicheskoi, torgovoi o finansovoi blokady, vvedennoi Soedinennymi Shtafami Ameriki protiv Kuby : $b doklad General'nogo sekretaria : ispravlenie
515 $a Corrects text and adds substantive information on maternal and child health situation in Cuba due to sanctions.
650 1 7 $a SANCTIONS
650 1 7 $a MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH
650 1 7 $a MATERNAL WELFARE
650 1 7 $a CUBA

Example 5: Corrigendum adding substantive information, indexed with corporate subject

191 $a E/1996/23/Corr.1
245 1 0 $a Commission on Human Rights : $b report on the 52nd session, 18 March-26 April 1996 : corrigendum
515 $a Adds text, including Chairman’s proposal for restructured agenda of the Commission on Human Rights.
610 2 7 $a UN. Commission on Human Rights $g Agenda

Example 6: Corrigendum adding sponsors to a draft resolution, requiring addition of tag 710 in original record

191 $a E/CN.7/1988/L.16/Corr.1
245 1 0 $a Tightening of controls on movement through official points of entry : $b draft resolution : corrigendum
515 $a Adds sponsors: Germany, Federal Republic of, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Thailand, United States.
[Federal Republic of Germany, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Thailand and United States are added in tag 710 in the record for document E/CN.7/1988/L.16]

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4. Press releases and Press reviews

Press releases

Press releases only require primary subject terms (tag 650 first indicator 1) for the overall subject(s) covered, and personal, corporate or conference name subjects (tag 600, 610 or 611) if appropriate.

In general, the distribution category GER should be recorded in tag 091 and the Content Code B19 (miscellaneous UN materials) is recorded in tag 089.

For Secretary General’s statements in press releases ( [ST/DPI/PRESS/]SG/SM/ series) the Content Code B20 (SG's statements in Press releases) is recorded in tag 089. Personal name heading for the Secretary-General’s name is recorded in tag 700, as well as the the corporate author «UN. Secretary-General» in tag 710. Product Code SGS is added in tag 930.

For Deputy Secretary General’s statements in press releases
( [ST/DPI/PRESS/]DSG/SM/ series) the Content Code B19 (miscellaneous UN materials) is recorded in tag 089. Personal name heading for the Deputy Secretary-General’s name is recorded in tag 700, as well as the the corporate author «UN. Deputy Secretary-General» in tag 710. Product Code SGS is added in tag 930.

Note : when a statement of the Secretary-General is delivered by the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General or other high-level staff, the corporate author (e.g. «UN. Spokesman for the Secretary-General») is added in tag 710, do not add the personal name in tag 700.

Press releases are not included in the Official Document System (ODS), so indexers add links to those document texts manually in tag 856 available at the UN Press Releases and Meetings Coverage website for the English and French languages, if available.

Example:

089 $b B20
091 $a GER
191 $a [ST/DPI/PRESS/]SG/SM/10292
245 10 $a Secretary-General condemns attack on UN recreational facility in Gaza : $b [statement, 1 January 2006] / $c [by the Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General]
500 $a Available also at the UN Press Releases and Meetings Coverage website (viewed 24 Mar. 2008).
610 2 7 $a UN
650 1 7 $a BOMBINGS
650 1 7 $a GAZA STRIP
700 1 _ $a Annan, Kofi
710 2 _ $a UN. Secretary-General
710 2 _ $a UN. Spokesman for the Secretary-General
856 4 1 $3 English $q HTML $u http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sgsm10292.doc.htm
856 4 1 $3 Français $q HTML $u http://www.un.org/News/fr-press/docs/2006/SGSM10292.doc.htm
930 $a SGS
930 $a WWW

Press reviews

Compilations of press reviews and clippings only require primary subject terms (tag 650 first indicator 1) for the overall subject(s) covered, as well as the subject term CLIPPINGS, and corporate or conference name subjects (tag 610 or 611) if appropriate.

Example:

089 $b B19
099 $a UNG $b GUN $c A/CONF.191/Press Review/v.1
191 $a *** $b A/CONF.191/ c 2001
245 1 0 $a Press review : $b 3rd United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, Brussels, 14-20 May 2001. Volume 1
500 $a Contains press clippings in original languages.
611 2 7 $a UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (3rd : 2001 : Brussels)
650 1 7 $a LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
650 1 7 $a CONFERENCES
650 1 7 $a CLIPPINGS

Press or media kits in the form of portfolios containing documents and papers issued for a conference or event should be treated as monographs with the general material designator [kit] transcribed in the title tag 245 subfield $h, physical description transcribed in tag 300 as 1 Portfolio, and a note describing the contents or extent of the kit. Press kits may contain useful documents, and the subject analysis should be like that for other monographs. See Collected conference documents issued in a portfolio for an example.

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5. Public information brochures and pamphlets

Public information materials issued by UN departments and information services often require only primary level topical subject term(s) (tag 650 first indicator 1) covering the overall subject(s), as well as corporate or conference subject headings for materials concerning work of UN bodies, departments or programmes.
These materials are not official UN documents and are not included in the Official Document System. If they bear document symbols, publication dates and job numbers, those elements are often printed in an unusual location such as the back of the item and may appear in very fine print.
The distribution category GER should be recorded in tag 091 and usually the Content Code B19 (miscellaneous UN materials) is recorded in tag 089.
These materials are often issued in special formats such as leaflets, folded sheets and irregularly sized printed materials, frequently with unnumbered pages, that should be reflected in the physical description (tag 300). A leaflet or pamphlet should be identified in tag 300 $a as 1 pamphlet (… p.). Dimensions for materials that differ in size from standard UN documents and publications should be recorded in tag 300 subfield $c in accordance with AACR2 rules; it is not necessary to specify dimensions of pamphlets since the size is already indicated by the description «pamphlet» in tag 300 $a.
Indexers may choose to record a General Note (tag 500) to specify the nature of the item, e.g., Information brochure, to clearly distinguish it from an official UN document.
Since items are identified as pamphlets in the physical description (tag 300) it is not necessary to record the subject term PAMPHLETS in tag 650. The subject term PAMPHLETS is used when that is the subject of works, not the form.
The website of the issuing department should be checked since printed public information materials are often available online. In that case the appropriate fields should be added (tag 930 WWW, tag 500 Available also at ... , and link to Internet address recorded in tag 856).

Example 1: Pamphlet

089 $b B19
091 $a GER
191 $a [E/]ECE/INF/NONE/2003/34
245 1 0 $a For our environment : $b strategic environmental assessment
300 $a 1 pamphlet ([6] p.)
500 $a Information brochure concerning the ECE Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context.
650 1 7 $a ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
650 1 7 $a ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS

Example 2: Brochure

089 $b B19
091 $a GER
099 $a UNG $b GUN
191 $a UNJSPF/2003/20
245 1 0 $a Information for beneficiaries : $b United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund
300 $a 19 p. : $b form ; $c 21 cm.
500 $a Available also at UNJSPF website (viewed 16 Feb. 2006).
650 1 7 $a PENSION FUNDS
650 1 7 $a RULES AND REGULATIONS
650 1 7 $a MODEL FORMS
856 4 1 $3 English $q PDF $u http://www.unjspf.org/pdf/brochure-info.pdf
930 $a WWW

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6. Serial records (bibliographic level s)

Normally only primary subject term(s) (tag 650 first indicator 1) are assigned to cover the main subject of the serial as a whole, along with the subject term for the type of serial if applicable (e.g., NEWSLETTERS, DIRECTORIES) and a corporate subject if applicable (tag 610). The name of the issuing body of the serial is recorded in tag 710.
Individual issues of serials may be indexed in more detail (See Continuing resources – Serials for more information about analysis of serials).

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7. Documentation of subsidiary bodies of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the UN Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and the Globally Harmonized System

In addition, there are numerous subsidiary series symbols for smaller technical groups and meetings established or convened by the principal subsidiary bodies.

From December 2008, most documents issued for (a) the UNECE subsidiary series symbols (under the principal subsidiary bodies) and (b) the two Subcommittees of the UN Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (document series ST/SG/AC.10/C.3/ and ST/SG/AC.10/C.4/) are indexed minimally:

- Only primary subject terms (tag 650 first indicator 1) are assigned;

- Summary/annotation notes (tag 520) are not assigned;

- Corporate and conference subject headings (tags 610 and 611) are only assigned when corporate or conference names are the main subjects of documents.

 
The following types of UNECE documents are indexed in more depth:

- Documents of the UNECE governing body (document series E/ECE/)
- Documents of the principal subsidiary bodies that contain substantive factual information
- Sales publications
- Substantive thematic reports
- Sessional or meeting reports (final reports)
- Documents containing source texts (treaties, guidelines, etc.).

Draft sessional reports issued as restricted documents (CRP)

Draft sessional reports of UNECE subsidiary bodies and the two Subcommittees of the UN Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals are normally issued as restricted documents in a series of addenda. The acronym CRP appears in the document symbol, indicating that these are conference room papers and are only available in the Informal Papers section of ODS.

From December 2008, subject terms (tag 6XX) are only assigned to the main document of the draft report, not to the addenda, and only primary subject terms (tag 650) are assigned to the main document of the draft report. Contents notes (tag 505) are assigned to the main document and to each addendum of the draft report, in order to identify the chapters contained in each addendum, in accordance with the UNBIS Reference Manual for tag 505. The corporate subject heading (tag 710) is assigned to the main document and to each addendum.

The final report is indexed like other UN sessional reports, including appropriate primary and secondary subject terms, corporate and title subject headings.

Example:

191 $a ST/SG/AC.10/C.3/2008/CRP.3 $b ST/SG/AC.10/C.3/ $c 34
245 10 $a Draft report of the Sub-Committee of Experts on its 34th session : $b Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, 34th session, Geneva, 1-9 December 2008
505 0_ $a 1. Attendance – 2. Adoption of the agenda – 3. Explosives and related matters.
610 27 $a UN. Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (34th sess. : 2008 : Geneva)
630 07 $a UN Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods
650 17 $a DANGEROUS GOODS TRANSPORT
650 17 $a TRANSPORT REGULATIONS
710 2_ $a UN. Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (34th sess. : 2008 : Geneva)

191 $a ST/SG/AC.10/C.3/2008/CRP.3/Add.1 $b ST/SG/AC.10/C.3/ $c 34
245 10 $a Draft report of the Sub-Committee of Experts on its 34th session : $b Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, 34th session, Geneva, 1-9 December 2008 : addendum
505 0_ $a [3. Explosives and related matters (continued)] – 4. Performance of packagings, including IBCs.
710 2_ $a UN. Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (34th sess. : 2008 : Geneva)

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Last updated: 8 September 2009