Government Documents for You

The United Nations Office of Legal Affairs has launched the Audiovisual Library of International Law

http://www.un.org/law/avl

The Audiovisual Library aims to provide free, scholarly resources to students and practitioners around the world, particularly in regions where there are few resources for the study of international law.

The website has three main parts:

The Historic Archives present documents, photos, and digital film footage relating to the UN role in the development of international law. This section includes the texts of treaties, some General Assembly declarations, and certain Security Council resolutions. Each legal instrument also has a procedural history and/or related documents (travaux preparatoires).

The Lecture Series contains lectures by leading scholars on topics in international law, and includes a bibliography of related materials. The 100 lectures posted so far are each about an hour long and discuss various aspects of international law. Most are in English, but other official languages of the UN are also represented. Certain scholars contribute introductory texts for the Historic Archives as well as lectures.

The Research Library provides links to other web-based research resources in international law, including other UN sources, national treaty series, and selected scholarly articles provided by HeinOnline (still in pilot/beta).

The Office of Legal Affairs is digitizing the English version of UN documents related to the procedural histories, and more will be added to the site as resources allow.

**Information provided by Ms Susan Kurtas, Reference Team, Dag Hammarskjöld Library,
United Nations**