Library & Archives

The minutes of the Council are part of the League of Nations Official Journal, and the minutes of the Assembly are part of the League of Nations Official Journal, Special Supplement. The two collections are available in the national libraries, as well as in the main universities libraries. The League of Nations Official Journal is also available through the database HeinOnline (Ask your library for it): http://home.heinonline.org/

The archives do not provide scans of the documents. However, researchers are allowed to photograph them in the archives reading room.

At the moment, only the documents distributed to the Council "C" (e.g. C.395.1928.V), and the documents distributed to the Council and to the States Members "C...M" (e.g. C.196.M.70.1927.V) are available online, through the UN documents search engine. The reference of the documents can be found in the guide: League of Nations Documents and Serial Publications, 1919-1946.

The League of Nations Archives consist of the original files of the Secretariat of the League, such as correspondence, draft reports and internal communications, as well as the official documents and publications of the League, the records of external League offices and commissions, and photographs and other visual materials, covering 1919-1946. In addition, the Archives maintain records of organizations and individuals involved in international peace movements and personal papers of figures associated with the League, its work and international issues of the time, spanning 1870-1986. The UNOG Archives contain the records of UNOG itself, as well as the records from some individuals and UN-related agencies headquartered in Geneva, most notably the Economic Commission for Europe. These materials date from 1945 to the present. More detailed information is available in the catalog and in the Archives Research Guides.

The United Nation Archives maintain an online catalogue, which is complete to the series level for the complete collection. If you cannot locate specific materials in the catalogue, please contact us, as more detailed descriptions are in progress, and some portions. The Archives Resource Guides provides an overview of some fonds and collections, as well as links to digitized content and additional external research tools.

The research of specific names in the large volume of documents constituting the Nansen Fonds for refugees is quite complex. Indeed, a central repository with the names of all refugees does not exist. Some lists of names, as well as the correspondence exchanged between the refugees themselves and the Nansen Office, are scattered in various record groups, but are often incomplete and can require significant time to review. As a result, it is not possible for our staff to perform thorough searches for individuals or families. However, researchers would be most welcome to our reading room to conduct their research in situ. In order to better identify the folders that might be of interest, researchers can consult our online catalogue and do a search by keyword.

The catalogue is available at the following URL: http://biblio-archive.unog.ch/suchinfo.aspx

The UNOG archives reading room (B.340) is located on the 3rd floor of the library building (B.building) in the Palais des Nations.

All access information can be found here

Getting to the Palais des Nations:
Enter the Palais des Nations through the Visitor's entrance at Pregny Gate, on 14 Avenue de la Paix, 1211 Geneva in front of the International Committee of the Red Cross building and next to the Geneva Hotel School.

Public transport:
Transports Publics Genevois
Palais des Nations transit stop are Appia and Nations.

Access from Cornavin railway station:

• Bus lines 8, 20, 60 ("Appia" stop)
• Bus line 5 or tram line 15 (“Nations” stop), then a 5 minutes' walk to Pregny Gate

Access from Cointrin airport:

• Bus line 5 (“Nations” stop), then a 5 minutes' walk to Pregny Gate
• Other bus lines with stop at “Nations”: 11 and 22, then a 5 minutes' walk to Pregny Gate

To organize an event with Cultural Activities Programme: All proposals need to come from either a Permanent Mission or an International Organization. The Cultural Activities Committee (CAC) reviews and approves all new proposals at least three months prior to the actual event to allow enough time for the organization. Events in the frameworks of Cultural Activities have to be artistic in nature (e.g. paintings, concerts, artistic photography, etc.)

All proposals have to be in line with UN values, shall not single out any Member States and shall not be too graphic. Venues can be pre-reserved on a first-come, first-served basis and will be confirmed once the CAC has approved the project. In case a project does not fit into the frameworks of Cultural Activities, it could be organized as a Side Event to a meeting or conference at the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).

The Library is located inside the United Nations compound in Geneva, in Building B of the Palais des Nations.

Getting to the Palais des Nations:

Entry for visitors is possible at Peace Gate and the Pregny Pavilion bis from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. after passing through security screening. 

Public transport: Transports Publics Genevois
Palais des Nations transit stops are Appia and Nations.
Access from Cornavin railway station:

• Bus lines : 8, 20, 60 (“Appia” stop), then a 5 minutes' walk to the Pregny Gate (Pass & ID accreditation services), or directly to the Peace Gate
• Bus 5 or tramway 15 (“Nations” stop)

Access from Cointrin airport:

• Bus lines: 5 (“Nations” stop) 

Other bus lines with stop at “Nations”:

• Bus lines 11 and 22.

Reminder for all external attendees: If you are not in possession of a UN badge, you should register to the event of your choice on indico.un.org, and bring a valid ID on the day of the event to the UN visitors entrance, the Peace Gate.

To visit an ongoing exhibition, please follow the normal procedures either registering through the e-mail address or the link provided on the flyer for the event. You can also visit our website for an overview of upcoming events and register directly there.

Please see the following information on event venues inside the Palais: https://ask.unog.ch/events/faq/178198