The U.N. Yearbook is the principal reference work documenting the activities of all major U.N. bodies and affiliataed agencies. Entries provide detailed and comprehensive coverage, often include the text of resolutions, and provide citation to relevant documents. Therefore, the Yearbook is an excellent place to begin research on any question involving the activities of the U.N. The Yearbook is arranged by topic, has a detailed of contents, and several useful indexes and appendices. The electronic version permits the user to search by year or date range.
The Charter of the U.N. is the organization's constitution. The following are commentaries that one may consult for information about the legislative history of the Charter and its interpretation:
The Charter of the United Nations by Authoritative, article-by-article account of the legislative history, interpretation, and practical application of each and every Charter provision. Includes coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, creation of the Human Rights Council, impact of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, as well as a chapter on U.N. reform.
The Law and Practice of the United Nations by Provides an analysis of the main legal issues surrounding the United Nations' practice, including a thorough discussion of Chapter VII of the Charter and its interpretation.
Vol. 1 covers the period from 1941-1995, with text of 140 of the most frequently used UN documents. Includes a Chronology of important documents in international law over the last 200 years and an index of former names of States and dependent territories. Vol. 2 covers the period from 1815 -1946, with the text of 107 of the most important documents from the Congress of Vienna through the League of Nations up to the founding of the United Nations.
The Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs contains analytical studies of the decisions of the principal organs of the United Nations under each of the Articles of the Charter
A Concise Encyclopedia of the United Nations by Contains brief, but fairly detailed articles on U.N. agencies, important treaties, and broad topics (e.g. Peacekeeping Operataions, Law of the Sea), together with detailed bibliographies
Great Debates at the United Nations by Includes a timeline of important events involving the U.N. through July, 2000.
Encyclopedia of the United Nations by 
Encyclopedia of the United Nations by Provides nearly 6,000 A-Z entries that shed light on the U.N.. Includes entries on peace-keeping activities, along with full coverage of every international treaty since the founding of the League of Nations, with generous quotations or full text for all key treaties, conventions, pacts, protocols, and declarations. Extensive cross-referencing and a thorough analytical index help users to navigate the many acronyms and multiple names of documents and organizations.
See also:
Historical Dictionary of the United Nations by Provides a comprehensive dictionary of nearly 900 cross-referenced entries on the UN's various committees and organizations, its leaders, terms, policies, and major events in which the UN took part. Supplementing the dictionary entries are a chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, photographs, a list of acronyms and abbreviations used in the dictionary, and appendixes, which include a reproduction of the UN's Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as a list of the Member States and when they joined.
The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations by Authoritative, one-volume treatment of sixty years of history of the United Nations written by distinguished scholars, analysts, and practitioners. Citations and suggested readings contain a wealth of primary and secondary references to the history, politics, and law of the world organization. Iincludes an examination of the UN's development since 1945 and the challenges that it faces in the twenty-first century. Also contains appendices of the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Statute of the International Court of Justice.
Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law by Includes coverage in growing areas of international law, including diplomatic law, criminal law, human rights, and more. Over 2,500 alphabetically arranged entries offer concise but substantial information on such essentials as the meaning of legal terms as used in international law, significant doctrines, prominent cases, decisions and arbitrations, important incidents, judicial and literary figures, treaties and conventions, organizations and institutions. Also provides the reader with references for further research including cases, treaties, journal articles, and websites.
Several serial titles are devoted to discussion of the U.N. and its activities, including the following:
Annual Review of United Nations Affairs (Law KZ4945 .A66). Annual review of the activities of main organs and subsidiary bodies of the U.N. Includes full text of selected documents. Supplemented by Chronology and Fact Book of the United Nations.
Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law. Includes articles and reprinted documents. Focuses on the impact of U.N. agencies on international relations and the development of international law.
United Nations Juridical Yearbook. Divided into four parts: selected documents related to the legal status of organs and agencies within the U.N. system; discussion of the activites of those organs and agencies related to legal affairs; judicial decision of national and international tribunals related to the U.N.; legal bibliography of the U.N. and related inter-governmental organizataions.
Articles from other publications discussing the U.N. and its activities can be located in many indexes. For law review articles, use the Index to Legal Periodicals, LegalTrac, index to Foreign Legal Periodicals, Public International Law, and Legal Journals Index (LJI in Westlaw). Some articles are available in full text through Public International Law, I.L.P., and LegalTrac. However, in most cases, you will need to retrieve the full text of indexed articles from HeinOnline's Law Journal Library, which contains the largest available database of full text law review articles, goine back to vol. 1 for each law review title included. HeinOnline itself supports both title/keyword and full t ext searching.
There are also many more general databases that index articles (and books) related to the work of the U.N. In particular, the researcher should consider searching P.A.I.S., Web of Science, and Academic Search. All of these indexes provide access, directly or indirectly, to many of the sources they index.
The Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law contains many articles on the main organs, subsidiary bodies, and autonomous agencies within the U.N. system. It also includes articles on the structure of the U.N. and areas of international law in which it has played a major role. All articles include citations and bibliographies, as well as links to sources, such as cases, within the Oxford Citator.
The United Nations Handbook, an annual publication put out by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, provides current information about both the principal and the subsidiary organs of the U.N. (Law Ref. KZ4970 .U65)