United Nations Document Codes

The United Nations issues most of its official documents in its six working languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Many are also issued in German, which in 1973 gained the status of "documentation language" and has its own translation unit at the UN. The official documents are published under the United Nations masthead and each is identified by a unique document code (symbol) for reference, indicating the organ to which it is linked and a sequential number. There are also sales publications with distinctive symbols representing subject categories, as well as press releases and other public information materials, only some of which appear in all the official languages.
A definitive list of United Nations documentation symbols is published and periodically updated by the United Nations Library. With the addition of new bodies and functions, the documentation scheme evolves to keep pace.
Online access to documents.
In 2001 the United Nations transferred its platform for electronic storage and distribution of documents, in operation since 1991, from internal accessibility to Web-based access. The revised system, to enable unrestricted public access over the Internet, was called the Official Document System (ODS). Parallel development of an Integrated Library Management System, to facilitate indexing of documents with links to ODS, was delayed until 2002 by budget cuts.
In 2004 the project to digitize older archived documents and upload them in electronic form was under way and ready to be made available once the system was opened up to the public at large. In 2007 the need for a proper content management system was recognized as a long-term solution. Since 2007, the global Making Commitments Matter Initiative is concerned with the creation of a searchable database of UN resolutions and conventions (UN-informed.org).
Elements.
While United Nations bodies share many of the same procedures, the code numbers for their sessions are usually incompatible due to the date of establishment of the body and the different timing of their session transitions. For example, the General Assembly began operation in 1947 with its session number incrementing in September every year, while the Security Council is permanently in session, so its meetings are numbered consecutively from its first sitting at its foundation.
First letter.
There are four primary document producing bodies which print documents under the mast-head of the United Nations. Other bodies, such as the World Health Organization, have their own sets of codes which are sometimes similar in nature but have a different heading at the top of the page.
General Assembly.
Human Rights Council.
The Human Rights Council, established in 2006, publishes its own series of documents, many of which are distributed under the General Assembly masthead.
Secretariat.
These are documents produced in the name of the Secretary-General but aren't filed under a code-heading for the body they were submitted to. The structure is less easy summarized. For example:
The index of the Secretariat's documents issued annually, with a name of the form: where 2007 is the year should be referred to.