Fundamentals of Treaty Research: U.S. and Non-U.S. (Electronic Resources).
| Autor | Lyonette Louis-Jacques |
| Cargo | Foreign and International Law. Librarian and Lecturer in Law. D'Angelo Law Library. University of Chicago Law School. (USA) |
Research Guides
Some basic steps to take in using electronic resources to find treaties:
Start with LEXIS or WESTLAW (both have the full text of U.S. treaties available, selected major treaties via International Legal Materials and Basic Documents of International Economic Law, as well as specialized collections of key treaties on trade, taxation, intellectual property, etc.).
Check Oceana's TIARA CD-ROM or the United Nations Treaty Collection database on the Internet (if you don't have access to LEXIS and WESTLAW or the costs are prohibitive).
Check web sites or electronic publications of international organizations (inter-governmental or non-governmental organizations (IGOs or NGOs) such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Greenpeace), government agencies (the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), for instance), research centers, educational institutions, or associations specializing in the area, etc., for texts of treaties.
Backtrack for more information (or get more information about the treaty you are looking for to begin with) by checking Treaties in Force (or other treaty indexes), library catalogs (OCLC's WorldCat via FirstSearch, RLG's RLIN Bibliographic File as a CitaDel database with Eureka interface, etc., or individually cataloged treaties - U.K. treaties for instance published as Command Papers), news stories, journal articles (TP-ALL on WESTLAW is really useful), or Internet search engines such as Altavista.
If all else fails (or time is of the essence, and some quick checks locally don't help), call treaty offices or other agencies and organizations, or ask for help on related electronic discussion groups (such as INT-LAW).
Some useful research guides exist for getting background information, references to treaty collections, and links to Internet resources, on how to look for treaties in print and electronic format. You can check any of the ones below:
Christopher C. Brown, Locating Current Treaty Information on the Internet, CoALL Scuttle, April 1998, at 6 (Colorado Association of Law Libraries newsletter online)
Edward Herman, U.S. Treaties and Other International Agreements: Government Resources (University of Buffalo Lockwood Library; includes special links to Tax and Native American treaties)
Marci Hoffman, Researching Public International Law (Part I): Treaty Sources (University of Minnesota Law Library, International and Foreign Legal Research seminar, September 1997)
Veronica Maclay, Searching for U.S. and International Treaties (Legal Information Guidepost #5; University of California - Hastings College of the Law Library, July 1995)
Marian L. Nash, "Treaty Research for Practitioners in the United States", in 1 Basic Documents of International Economic Law xv-xxi (Chicago, IL: Commerce Clearing House, 1990); available online on LEXIS in the INTLAW library, BDIEL file as 1991 BDIEL AD LEXIS 37, and on WESTLAW as "Basic Treaty Research", in the IEL database as I.E.L. TREATY (December 13, 1988)(Ms. Nash is listed therein as Editor of the Digest of U.S. Practice in International Law, Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State)
Linda Karr O'Connor, International and Foreign Legal Research: Tips, Tricks, and Sources, 28 Cornell International Law Journal 417 (1995); on WESTLAW at 28 CNLILJ 417 or TP-ALL
Radu D. Popa, International Treaty Research (New York University Law School Library, April 1997)
Ceceile Kay Richter, Search Strategies: Researching Treaties and Other International Agreements (Law Library Resource Xchange, July 22, 1997)
Amber Lee Smith, Guide to International Treaties (Los Angeles County Law Library, January 1995)
Edwin Surrency, How the United States Perfects an International Agreement, 85 Law Library Journal 343 (1993); on WESTLAW at 85 LLIBJ 343 or the TP-ALL database.
Suzanne Thorpe, "A Guide to International Legal Bibliography: International Conventions", in Contemporary Practice of Public International Law 24-38 (Ellen G. Schaffer & Randall J. Snyder eds., Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, Inc., 1997; sponsored by the American Association of Law Libraries)(includes references to electronic resources)
Leanne Walther, Treaty Research Workshop (University of Colorado Libraries, December 1, 1997; also includes link to Leanne Walther's "Finding International Treaties Cheat Sheet")
Jill Watson, ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: Treaties (American Society of International Law, March 22, 1998)
Mary Whisner, Electronic Media in International Legal Research (Special Libraries Association Conference, June 9, 1997)
Paul Zarins, A Guide to Treaty Research (Jacob Burns Law Library, George Washington University National Law Center, Legal Research Guide Series, Basic Research Guide #7, July 1995)
Commando Legal Research: International Law (Robert C. Berring; 65-minute video including segment on treaty research sources, with handbook; 1990)
Foreign Governments and International Organizations: Treaties (University of California - Davis Library)
Locating Treaties (Information Bulletin, Edwin Ginn Library, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, February 4, 1998)
Finding U.S. Treaties (Cardozo Law Library Research Guide)
Lyonette Louis-Jacques, Research of International Law Issues Using the Internet (University of Chicago DAngelo Law Library)
Electronic Discussion Groups (the INT-LAW, INTL-DOC, etc., lists):
INT-LAW (Foreign and International Law Librarians List; includes discussion of foreign, comparative, and international legal print, electronic, and "people" resources, including for Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia; exchange of international legal documentation and information).
To subscribe, send e-mail to majordomo@listhost.ciesin.org with only the following text in the body of the message:
subscribe int-law
Archives for the most recent INT-LAW messages (beginning in April 1998) are available at http://listhost.ciesin.org/lists/public/int-law/.
INTL-DOC (International Documents Librarians List; for individuals working with intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) (such as the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), OECD, WTO, etc.) documentation and other users of IGO material; queries concerning the literature of foreign national governments and of international affairs in general will be welcomed).
To subscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.acns.nwu.edu with only the following text in the body of the message:
subscribe intl-doc Your Name
More information about the INTL-DOC list is available at http://www.library.nwu.edu/govpub/idtf/intl-doc.html (this page also includes a link to the home page of the International Documents Task Force (IDTF) of the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT), American Library Association and resources on international organizations).
Additional law library-related lists worldwide that might be useful for guidance in doing treaty research are included at:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/lawlists/libslist.html.
Treaties to Which the United States is a Party
United States Treaty Collections: General
United States Statutes at Large (available on CD-ROM and via the Internet from Potomac Publishing Company):
The United States Statutes at Large (Stat.) is a
chronological compilation of laws passed by the U.S. Congress.
It is the official source of U.S. treaties concluded with
foreign nations prior to 1949 (volume 8 compiles foreign treaties
from 1778 to 1845)) and of treaties with Indian tribes (volume 7
compiles Indian treaties from 1778-1845). Volume 64 includes a
comprehensive list of all treaties published in U.S. Stat.
LEXIS (United States treaties and other international agreements in force provided by Oceana Publications from 1783 to date, INTLAW library, USTRTY file; USTRTY file not available on educational/academic accounts)
WESTLAW (United States treaties and other international agreements via the USTREATIES database; coverage begins with T.I.A.S. No. 10869 (June 18, 1979), Senate Treaty documents from the 103rd Congress in 1993, and State Department documents from State Dept. No. 90-1; documents provided by the United States Senate or Department of State)
International Legal Materials (bi-monthly publication of the American Society of International Law begun in 1962 including selected major treaties (useful to check for recent, "hot", international agreements); on LEXIS in the INTLAW library, ILM and ILMTY files from 1975 to date, on WESTLAW as ILM from 1980 to date)
TIARA CD-ROM: Treaties and International Agreements Researchers Archive (Oceana Publications' United States Treaties and International Agreements, 1783-Present; TIARA will also be available via the Internet (web-based interface) at Oceana's web site by September 1998; paper version is Consolidated Treaties and International Agreements: United States Current Document Service (Erwin C. Surrency ed.))
Avalon Project (Yale University collection of historical treaties and other documents - pre-18th Century to 20th Century)
United Nations Treaty Collection (includes the electronic texts of the United Nations Treaty Series and Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General - current (within the month) status of treaties; must register, but registration is free...
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