Accessible within the UN System
Media/Press Coverage of International News
The
News Monitoring Unit
's
News Bulletins
offer summaries of breaking news stories reported by major international news agencies. They either focus on activities conducted by the UN, events affecting the UN or issues that are of interest to the UN.
The Daily Clippings consist of selected news stories, editorials, op-eds, analyses, interviews and commentaries from leading international print and electronic media, focusing on global media coverage about the UN, its officials and international developments / events that are of concern and interest to the Organization, as well as UNIC-prepared reviews from local press.
Finally, the Cyberguide offers an impressive list of dozens of links to a wide range of international media, from the Afghan News Network to The Zimbabwe Independent.
NMU products are strictly for use by staff and they are therefore located exclusively on iSeek, the intranet.
The Dag Hammarskjöld Library also provides access to major newspapers from around the world through its subscription-based electronic resources. These can only be accessed through iSeek.
Third-Party News, Intelligence Reports and Encyclopedias available through the UN Libraries
The
Dag Hammarskjöld Library
offers access to a wealth of databases, intelligence reports and encyclopedias online.
Samples of reference material among hundred others available include the Economist Intelligence Reports (available at UNHQ, ECA, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA, UNOG and UNOV), Facts on File (available at UNHQ, UNOG and UNOV); Europa World ; the Statesman's Yearbook ; and Stratfor reports (available at UNHQ, UNOG and UNOV + Limited number of peacekeeping missions are given password access).
For general reference, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is available at UNHQ, ECA, ESCWA, UNOG and UNOV) with versions in French, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and Korean.
For legal information resources see the Dag Hammarskjöld Library’s Legal Branch page on iSeek, including access to the Westlaw e-Library with Black's Law Dictionary and other key legal reference works (available at UNHQ).
The Reference Team of the Dag Hammarskjöld Library can also be consulted on information issues:
- telephone: + 1 212-963-7412
- email: unreference@un.org
Tools for writing
Editing
Manuals - We all know there are three ways of drafting a text: the right way, the wrong way and the UN way. That’s what the United Nations Editorial Manual , which is available also in French , is all about. You will learn for example that the name “United Nations” should not be abbreviated in English,” although “the form 'ONU' is acceptable in French” and that “the most common units of weight and measure, such as cm2, kg and km, need not be written out”.
The Editorial Control Section also provides the UN Correspondence Manual in English and in French - a little red book “worth its weight in gold”, which at one time existed in print only, is now available free of charge in a pdf version. Its full title is “A guide to the drafting, processing and dispatch of official United Nations communications".
For specific guidance about the English language, the
Chicago Manual of Style is available as a service of the UN Dag Hammarskjöld Library (At UNHQ only).
Writing Classes - The UN Language Courses in New York offer specialized courses, including classes on Writing & Grammar, Correspondence and Summary Writing, Writing for the Web and Report Writing.
Translating from other languages and translating UN terms
If you have never done so before, take at least 10 extremely rewarding minutes to browse through the
Electronic Resources that are made available through the Dag Hammarskjöld Library.
Dictionaries - From within the UN complex you can access the
Concise Oxford English Dictionary ,
from the Library’s Electronic resources page.
The link is tied to your UN IP address and will not work from the outside.
Oxford Reference Online, the same resource that gives you the
Concise Oxford English dictionary also provides access to the
Oxford English Dictionary - 600,000 words, 3 million quotations (available at UNHQ, ECA, ECLAC, ESCAP, UNOG and UNOV) and to a number of thematic and language dictionaries in
English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish, and thematic reference dictionaries (available at UNHQ, ECA, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA and UNOV).
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Through cooperation with DGACM, the Library’s Electronic Resources page also gives you access to the French dictionary Petit Robert (available at UNHQ, ECA and ESCAP starting 1 August, 2011), and the Trésor de la langue française .