Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs)

Legal Research Guides

Updated July 19, 2007; PRJ.

See also the Gallagher guides on European Union Research and United Nations Research.

Generally

Research strategies include: gathering background information, checking MARIAN and the UW Libraries catalog, talking to Gallagher Law Library and UW Government Publications reference staff, and searching official and unofficial web resources. The UW Libraries is a depository for the United Nations and the European Union.

• Yearbook of International Organizations: Guide to Global Civil Society Networks, JZ4836.Y43, current at Reference Office: volumes 1A and 1B (Organization Descriptions) and 3 (Classified Subject Guide and Index) only. This comprehensive directory provides contact information and extensive profiles that include history, activities, and organizational structure. Selected information from the Yearbook is available on the Internet.
• International Governmental Organizations (from Northwestern University Library)
• International Agencies and Information on the Web (from the University of Michigan Documents Center)

Research Guides

International Information: Documents, Publications, and Electronic Information of International Governmental Organizations, 2d ed. (Peter I. Hajnal, ed.). JZ4850.I58 at Reference Office
Two-volume work includes chapters on the United Nations, European Union, OECD, World Trade Organization, and International Monetary Fund.

Robert V. Williams, The Information Systems of International Inter-Governmental Organizations: A Reference Guide. JZ4850.W55 1998 at Reference Office
Focuses on print and electronic publications and documents.

Selected Organizations

Council of Europe

The Law Library collects Council of Europe treaties, reports, and many human rights publications.

• Main website
• European Treaty Series includes full text of treaties plus charts of signatures and ratifications.
• European Conventions and Agreements (European Treaty Series), 1949/61-date. KZ625.8.E86 at Reference Area
• European Court of Human Rights website includes recent judgments and a searchable database.
• Recueil des Arr�ts et D�cisions=Reports of Judgments and Decisions. European Court of Human Rights, 1996-date. KJC5138.A5 at Classified Stacks. Continues Publications de la Cour Europ�enne des Droits de L'Homme. S�rie A. KJC5138.A5 at Classified Stacks
• Anne Burnett, Guide to Researching the Council of Europe.

International Maritime Organization (IMO)

The Law Library collects selected IMO sales publications, including a few codes. The UW Libraries has a larger collection of IMO codes.

• Main website includes news, status of conventions, and the full text of circulars. Site generally does not have the full-text of documents.
• Resolutions and Other Decisions. K4150.A2I57 at Reference Area

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

The Law Library collects selected OECD sales publications.

• Main website
• SourceOECD is a UW-restricted service containing full-text monographs, reports, and periodicals. Available through the UW Libraries Research Databases.

Organization of American States (OAS)

The Law Library collects some OAS human rights documents, but publication is slow and many titles are moving to the Internet. The OAS website is often more current than our print collection.

• Main website links to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Inter-American Commission of Human Rights under �OAS Structure.�
• Inter-American Yearbook on Human Rights, 1985-1998. KDZ574.A58.I57 at Classified Stacks
  Includes reports and decisions of Inter-American Court of Human Rights and Inter-American Commission of Human Rights.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

The Law Library collects some WIPO publications. Search Marian by author: World Intellectual Property Organization.

• Main website includes the Collection of Laws for Electronic Access (CLEA) database, which contains the full text of WIPO treaties and the intellectual property legislation of a number of countries.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

The Law Library collects some WTO publications. The UW Libraries was a GATT/WTO documents depository until 2000.

• Main website now contains all official public GATT documents.
• Stanford University Libraries, GATT Digital Library makes available more than 30,000 documents dating from 1947 to 1994.
• WTO and GATT Research
• World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Decisions: Bernan's Annotated Reporter, 1998-date. K3943.A495W67 at Classified Stacks