Underusing UN information resources.

• Author: Griffiths, David
• Position: A Puzzling Picture - Related article: United Nations documentation: research guide

United Nations information use presents a puzzling picture, especially in academia. Many information resources receive extraordinary use. In 2001, visitors to the main UN web site viewed an average of 500,000 HTML files daily. According to Mahbub Ahmad, Chief of the UN Website Section, that figure rose to 750,000 in 2002 and to 950,000 in the first two months of 2003. A significant portion of these page views originated in colleges and universities. However, many other digital and print UN sources are underutilized despite their quality and usefulness for research.

One of these is the Official Document System of the United Nations (ODS) which contains the full text of the vast majority of UN documents issued since 1993, as well as selected documents from previous years, making it one of the most important databases produced by any international governmental organization. However, many government document specialists in the United States report that patrons seldom use it. ODS is accessible only by username and password, which limits access, but this cannot fully explain the underutilization of this invaluable resource.

One can find many other examples of underuse. In early 2003, a professor teaching speech communication courses at a major North American university focused her students' attention on the debate concerning Iraq. Assignments required the use of supporting documentation, and the professor enlisted a librarian to help students locate appropriate sources. To make the process as convenient as possible, she created a web page with links to nine web sites and subscription databases, including two UN resources, demonstrated the use of each one and assisted students as they practised searching on their own. But only 5 of 84 students cited a UN document in any assignment, and most used web-based articles from the United States' popular press only. What are the roots of this problem?

A variety of factors contribute to the gap between the actual and potential use of UN information in academia. The most formidable is competition. In many nations, college and university libraries have invested heavily in online subscription databases, and a growing number of students and professors get most of their research information from these resources. In addition, many undergraduates have gravitated toward freely available but often unreliable web publications, accessed through web indexes and search engines.

Another obstacle is the narrow view of the...