United Nations Depository Library

Publications and documents of the League of Nations and the United Nations

Formation and Location of the Fund

The present collection was established from the 1920s onwards in the context of the nascent studies on the law of international organisations, either as a result of subscriptions by the University to the publications of the League of Nations, or as a result of the establishment of an inter-institutional exchange relationship, and occasionally through private agreements.

The most recent part is the result of the United Nations depository library status acquired in 1949 by the Institute of International Law and Comparative Legislation (later merged into the Department of Legal Sciences and then the current IUSLIT).

The printed collections date back to 2013, when the paper distribution of United Nations documents was closed. This profoundly changed the nature of the depository libraries, which from places of preservation and consultation became centres of information, orientation and access to the new exclusively digital archives.

Housed from the outset in the Institute's (and later the Department's) premises, since 2020 the collection has been located at the Gorizia campus of the University of Trieste, where the International and Diplomatic Sciences course is active.

2. Consistency and characteristics

The collection occupies about 250 linear metres and within it about 3500 monographic and 250 serial titles have been identified and catalogued.

It can be considered substantially divided into two parts: the first, consisting of publications and documents of the League of Nations from its origins in 1920 until the report of dissolution published in 1947, consists mainly of 18 series of documents divided according to the main themes of intervention by the Society: economic relations, political affairs, minorities, mandates, intellectual cooperation, hygiene, drugs, slavery, etc… There are also the proceedings of the Assembly, the collection of registered treaties, the Journal officiel and numerous periodicals with factual and statistical data that photograph the world and regional situation.

The second collection consists of documents and publications of the main organs of the United Nations, the collection of treaties and volumes and periodicals concerning the work of some thirty subsidiary or specialised organs. Among the official documents, the most comprehensive series are the minutes and resolutions of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Security Council, which include numerous supplements containing reports of special commissions or devoted to specific problems.

3. Enhancing the collection

In 2020, as part of the PaDNU (Peace Human Rights and the United Nations) project, promoted by the Department of Political and Social Sciences and financed by the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the collections of the depository library were transferred to the Gorizia Branch in a specially equipped space, where they were reorganised and given specific library treatment.

All the material, document series, books and periodicals have been described in the online catalogue with the aim of enhancing the historical holdings and at the same time integrating the University of Trieste's paper collections with the UN's digital archives. To this end, the catalogue cards have been enriched with links to the available electronic documents.

Dossiers which, by virtue of their quantity and small format, were not described independently were sorted according to their official numbering, and in the case of several documents on the same subject, factual collections were created in the catalogue.

In order to facilitate the consultation of the files of the 18 League of Nations document series kept in purpose-built folders, a detailed outline of the consistency of each series was included inside, and a summary of the topics contained outside.

Another enhancement intervention was the inclusion of folders for the treaties registered by the League of Nations concerning Italy and in particular the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region.

In the future, it is planned to describe the cartographic material attached to documents and reports.

4. Significant specimens

The part consisting of publications and documents of the League of Nations constitutes, due to its historical value, remarkable completeness and excellent state of preservation, the flagship of the library.

An interesting part of the collection also concerns reports to the Trusteeship Council on the situation in the administered territories.

Essential Bibliography

A. Carlin, L. Lores, ‘Presi nella rete’: una biblioteca dell’ateneo tra le depositarie delle Nazioni Unite, in Biblioteca Europa – Scienze Giuridiche: patrimonio librario, fondi e collezioni, a cura di P. Ferretti e G. Maragno, EUT, 2024, p. 33-45
< https://www.openstarts.units.it/handle/10077/36223>

G. Conetti, I fondi documentali della Società delle Nazioni e dell’Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite, in Biblioteca Europa – Scienze Giuridiche: patrimonio librario, fondi e collezioni, a cura di P. Ferretti e G. Maragno, EUT, 2024, p. 47-50
< https://www.openstarts.units.it/handle/10077/36224>