|
|
Human rights information in the Library
Page contents > Introduction | General resource guides | Regional resource guides | Directories, encyclopedias and bibliographies | Intergovernmental organisations | Status of instruments, decisions, reports, reservations, etc. | Government information | Non-governmental organisations | Periodicals and newspapers | Periodical indexes | Theses | Conference proceedings | The Internet | Archives | Microforms | Contacts
(
Introduction IntroductionThere is an acknowledged inter-relationship between the varieties of human rights – human, civil, economic, social, cultural. There is also an awareness of the rights of different categories of persons – children, women, employees, the unborn, medical patients, etc. – as well as of animals. The format of human rights material may also be various- books, pamphlets, journals, official (government and inter-government) publications, archives, and electronic sources of information. Some libraries have special human rights collections which aim to bring together these elements. In our Library, however, material is scattered throughout the building – some is arranged by the Library of Congress classification scheme, other items are kept according to their format. This guide aims to indicate the main tools for human rights research in the Library and where they are located. It also points users to Web sites where relevant information may be found. General resource guidesIn general, to find information regarding books and pamphlets, you should search the Library’s Catalogue. Type in the keywords human rights or civil rights – try both of these terms since the Library catalogued items under civil rights up to a few years ago when it changed to human rights. Add the country name if you wish to narrow down the search. It is recommended that you add the Boolean operator "and" in between the keywords, eg: human and rights and El Salvador. If doing a thesaurus search on the catalogue, use human rights or civil rights or related headings such as womens' rights; childrens' rights; asylum, right of ,etc. Most of the general books and journals on human rights are shelved at classmark MAIN COLLECTION JC571 (books and periodicals are both on the Second Floor - but in separate areas). Books on human rights in specific countries or regions are shelved at MAIN COLLECTION JC599 (Second Floor). Books on human rights law will be found in the Law section (general material is at MAIN COLLECTION K3239 - K3240 (First Floor)). The Reference Collection (also on the First Floor) has some major guides to human rights information – such as: Tobin, J.Guide to human rights research. Harvard Law School, 1994, shelved at REFERENCE COLLECTION JC571 T62 (First Floor) and the Web version is here. Tobin is the major research tool for human rights – use it to find listings of major reference works, textbooks, journal titles and material covering special human rights topics (such as women’s rights, economic, social and cultural rights). Regional resource guidesSee chapter 2 of the book by Tobin mentioned above for research guides and bibliographies by region. Latin America
Africa
Asia
Directories, encyclopedias and bibliographiesHuman rights directories and encyclopaedias are at REFERENCE COLLECTION JC571... (First Floor). Eg:
Bibliographies are mostly to be found in the Reference Collection (First Floor) or the Main Collection (also First Floor) with a ZJC571... classmark. But some may be found in the law bibliographies. Eg:
See the resource guides in the section on The Internet below for Web-based directories and bibliographies. Intergovernmental organisationsUnited Nations (UN)The Library has been a depository for United Nations sales publications and documents since 1946. See the separate guide to UN documentation (printed and also via a Web version) to see how this material is arranged and accessed. You will find the sales publications (on the First Floor in the IGO section) by a search on the Library catalogue but most of the documents are kept in a Closed Access area and need to be fetched for you. Search the networked Web site UNBISnet or AccessUN (and off-campus access here) to trace the document number (this can be done using keyword searching) – ask at the Information Desk as to how to use UNBISnet and AccessUN. Fill out a fetching slip at the Service Counter quoting the document number. Please note that from December 1992 onwards, documents are also available electronically using the UN's Official Documents System - ask at the Information Desk about this. Many documents are also available via the various UN Web sites - see below. Various UN bodies are concerned with rights. Some are mentioned below, others include the A good starting point is the Yearbook of the United Nations (1946/47-) at UN (R34) with the latest issue at REFERENCE COLLECTION JX1977.A37 (both on the First Floor) and the networked CD-ROM version covering 1946-2002 (via the Electronic Library) See also:
The basic treaties in human rights emanating from the UN (eg: the international Bill of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) may be found on the University of Minnesota's site of international human rights instruments and also on the Treaty Body System (with status of ratifications, etc.). The Secretary-General transmits many reports with human rights content to the General Assembly, ECOSOC and other bodies. Transmittal notes, letters, etc. of this type may have various document numbers - it's best to check UNBISnet by keyword to find the numbers. The Secretariat's annual report, which has human rights discussion in it, is a General Assembly Official Record, supplement no. 1 shelved at INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS UN (R1/1), First Floor. The Centre for Human Rights is a part of the Secretariat. Its documents are at ST/HR/... . in Closed Access. The UN documents series International human rights instruments, is shelved in Closed Access at HRI/... The UN's Third Committee of the General Assembly (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) concerns itself with human rights:
The Library holds documents from both the Charter-based bodies and the Treaty – based bodies: Charter-based bodies:Commission on Human Rights
Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities
Treaty-based bodies:Human Rights Committee.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
Committee against Torture.
Committee on the Rights of the Child.
It is well worth looking at the following UN Web sites:
The Refworld (CD-ROM (78) at the Service Counter) is from the High Commissioner for Refugees and worth looking at as regards refugees and general information on human rights (see the web site at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld ).
Council of EuropeThis is the major human rights body for Europe (roughly the European Union countries plus others from Central and Eastern Europe). It has a Human Rights Directorate (also a DGII web site here) in Strasbourg but functions mainly through the European Court of Human Rights and the former European Commission on Human Rights (ceased functioning in 1999) – set up as a result of the European Convention on Human Rights of 1950. The Council’s Web site has the Convention (and its protocols), as well as other human rights legal texts. Use the Library catalogue to find specific reports from the Council. The majority are shelved at classmark INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS CE (...) , First Floor. However, some of the more legal material is shelved in the Law section, also on the First Floor. The European treaty series is at INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS CE (23), First Floor. The European social charter is available via the Web and at INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS CE (797), First Floor. The Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights is shelved at MAIN COLLECTION KJC5132.A4195 Y31 on the First Floor. Also close-by is the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission on Human Rights:
The European Commission of Human rights ceased to function in October 1999 and was replaced by the new European Court of Human Rights. The Human rights information bulletin (formerly Information sheet) at CE (R62), First Floor, reports on the Commission, the Court and the Council’s activities on a semi-annual basis. Human rights files are at INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS CE (282/...), First Floor. Some useful indexes are:
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has a Web site with its reports (via HUDOC). The Web site of the European Court of Human Rights includes a list of pending cases and hearings with full-text versions of recent cases. Basic texts and press releases are also given. The Hudoc database gives full texts of all judgements of the Court along with Council of Ministers resolutions and reports of the Commission (from 1959). It allows searching by case name, respondent, etc. Although the Library has the publications of the Council of Europe, it has only a (generous) selection of its documents. These are to be found, in the human rights sphere, at the Human Rights Documentation Depository at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (17, Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR Tel: 0207 636 5802). This holds the Council’s documents and has an on-line link to the Council’s database in Strasbourg. As well as the Council’s documentation and decisions, the European Commission’s admissibility decisions are also available here. For a listing of the human rights documents put out by the Council, see: Documentation sources in human rights. Council of Europe, 1998 at REFERENCE COLLECTION Z1039.C8. European UnionThe European Union has become increasingly involved in human rights in recent years. The Treaty on European Union, which entered into force on 1 November 1993, is said to mark a new phase in EU policy on human rights and democratic principles. For the first time, Community action in this area is based not on the preamble but on the body of the text. Respect for human rights is one of the main prerequisites for membership of the European Union, and a basic principle informing all its activities. The European Court of Justice and the European Parliament are both active in the area of human rights. The European Court of Justice has been developing a body of relevant case law over the years, whilst the European Parliament has been working to develop EU policy in this area through Committees such as the Committee on Civil liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the DG External Affairs, Human Rights Unit. Use the Library catalogue to find specific publications of the European Union. The majority is shelved at classmark INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS EC (…) on the First Floor. However, some of the legal material is shelved in the Law section at MAIN COLLECTION KJE (First Floor). Useful publications include:
For the case law:
To trace periodical articles and documents concerned with human rights, such as European Parliament resolutions and reports, use ECLAS . For items published in the Official Journal of the European Communities C-Series, use the print version shelved at INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS EC (R2a), First Floor or use the electronic version from Justis.com. From 2001 onwards, Official Journal C series material is also to be found on CELEX. European Parliament Reports are shelved at at GOVERNMENT MICROFORM EC (R5), Ground Floor and are continued, from 1997 onwards, at the European Parliament web site. An overview of the Union’s policies on human, civil and political rights is available on the Web. The Council of the European Union has produced an Annual report on human rights (1999); 2000 2001 (also at INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS EC (R418) - First Floor). International Labour OrganizationA main area of the ILO’s work is concerned with the rights of working people. It promotes these largely by means of labour standards, conventions and recommendations (eg: against forced labour, child labour, etc.). See the international labour standards Web site. The full texts of ILO conventions and recommendations are to be found on the ILOLEX database. (The Library also has the CD-ROM version - at CD-ROM (R3), Service Counter). Publications from the ILO are catalogued on the Library catalogue and are shelved at INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS ILO (...) on the First floor (including printed versions of the Conventions). You can also search for bibliographical information in terms of books and journals on Labordoc. The print version is International labour documentation (1957-) at MAIN COLLECTION ZHD4815, First Floor (discontinued). See Cornell Law Library's ILO research guide for a description of the ILO's work. Organization for Security and Co-operation in EuropeThe OSCE (formerly the CSCE) is a European security organisation which includes participants from non-European countries. As well as monitoring security and elections in the European area, the OSCE also has an Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights based in Warsaw and a High Commissioner for National Minorities based in the Hague. The Library’s holdings are on the Library catalogue and are to be found at INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS OSCE (...), First Floor. Quite a number of OSCE documents (as well as newsletters and press releases) are to be found in full-text form via the OSCE documents library Web site. The University of Minnesota's Human Rights OSCE documents site gives the basic documents (Helsinki Fianl Act, Budapaest Document of 1994, etc.). Organization of African Unity/ African UnionThe members of the OAU signed the African (Banjul) Charter on Human and People’s Rights in 1981 – also shelved at INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS OAU (9), First Floor. The cases that are dealt with by the Commission are reported in its Annual activity report. See the Web site of the African Human Rights Resource Centre for these. Organization of American StatesThe OAS exists to promote the solidarity, security and independence of 35 American states. The American Convention on Human Rights (1969) is the major instrument in this field. See: Buergenthal, T. and Norris, R. Human rights : the Inter-American system 1982- 5 vols, looseleaf at MAIN COLLECTION KDZ574 H91, First floor, for the basic documents and case decisions. The OAS has two main bodies responsible for human rights matters: The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Search the Library catalogue for specific reports (at OAS numbers on the First Floor). See also the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library mentioned below under 'Internet' to access the case law of the Commission and the Court. Status of instruments, decisions, reports, reservations, etc.The best place to look for this information is on the Web. The ASIL guide to electronic resources for international law : human rights gives a comprehensive listing of what is available. A selection of the most important printed items relating to status of human rights instruments:
Country reports, decisions, observations, etc. are to be found in the electronic and printed items mentioned above under 'Intergovernmental organisations', as well as below under 'Government' and 'Non-Governmental organisations'. For a regional resource guide, look at the Regional materials page from the University of Minnesota's Human Rights Library. Government informationUnited States. Department of Statehe Department’s Web page for human rights has the Country reports on human rights practices from 1993 onwards. The reports for 1986-1992 are available on microfiche at: Y4.F76/1-15:... shelved on the Ground Floor. House of Representative committee hearings on the country reports are shelved at: Y4.In8/16-15:... in the US microfiche collection on the Ground Floor. Check the USGPO index (off-campus access here) for bibliographical details of United States Government material (networked via the Electronic Library). Other governmentsThe Library holds many reports from governments relating to human rights in their respective countries Eg: Annual report of the Canadian Human Rights Commission at 71(R788), Lower Ground Floor. Search the Library catalogue for these. The UK Government's Human Rights Unit (Lord Chancellor's Department) responsibility is to 'ensure the successful implementation of the Human Rights Act of 1998'. The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office has its annual report on the promotion of human rights around the world here, along with links to other online reports. Non-governmental organisationsThe Library has reports and pamphlets from organisations such as Amnesty International, Article 19 and Human Rights Watch. Search the Library catalogue to find these by keyword or by using the name of the organisation as the author (go into 'Browsing' and then 'Author browse'). For the Web sites of the various NGOs involved in human rights, see the section on the Internet below. The Human Rights Internet databases are useful in tracking down this material. Use the HRI reporter journal at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Library to keep track of NGO work in the human rights field. The Cingranelli-Richards CIRI Human Rights Dataset contains standard measures of 195 governments' respect for human rights across 13 variables between 1981 and 2004. Notable in the Schapiro Collection (Third Floor) is A chronicle of current events: journal of the human rights movement in the USSR (formerly A chronicle of human rights in the USSR). Periodicals and newspapersSearch the Library catalogue to find the location of a periodical (journals, magazines, periodicals, etc. are sometimes called 'serials' in the Library). Use the 'Journal title browse' in the "Quick search" option to get an alphabetical listing of both the printed and electronic versions. Tobin (op. cit.), chapter 2 has a useful list of the main human rights journal titles - some of the more relevant printed periodicals are shelved at the Library as follows:
Journal titles that exist on all subjects can be tracked down using Ulrich's periodicals directory at REFERENCE COLLECTION Z6941 (and networked via the Electronic Library). For titles to be found across the University of London and the University of Westminster, use the Union list of serials. For newspaper articles, the best service to use is Lexis-Nexis Executive,, available via the LSE's network (LSE staff and students only). This has full-text newspapers from the UK plus some European and USA ones as well, 1981 onwards. Alternatively, try the CD-ROM versions via the Electronic Library. Periodical indexesArticles from journals are not catalogued on the Library catalogue (unless they are reading list offprints). To search for journal articles, you must use one or more of the commercially-produced indexes. The best ones to use are networked on the Web or on CD-ROM (since you can search by keyword in a one-stop search) – see the list on the Electronic Library to see what is available. The Library does not have a specific human rights database. A search on the ISI Citation Indexes or the International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (off-campus link here) would be a good way into the material. Then search the Library catalogue to see whether the Library holds the journal titles you have retrieved. These two titles also provide book reviews. Indexes such as Westlaw UK, the Legal journals index,(via Westlaw), the Index to legal periodicals and the Index to foreign legal periodicals are good places to look for journal references on human rights. Find these via the Electronic Library. Also try the PAIS database (off-campus access here) database - covering economic, political and social issues. Other, printed, indexes to be found in the Reference Collection will also be of use – for example ABC Pol Sci, British humanities index, etc. ThesesSearch the Library catalogue using the quick search option and the keywords human rights or civil rights – set the item type option to theses. This will retrieve the relatively few theses done at LSE since 1979 in the field of human rights. For British and Irish theses, search the Index to theses - (off -campus access here) Web site via the Electronic library. For United States and Canadian theses, search Digital dissertations (no off-campus access available), also via the Electronic Library. A Retrospective index to theses of Great Britain and Ireland, 1716 - 1950, is at REFERENCE COLLECTION Z5055.G B59. Only LSE theses are kept in the Library. Others may be requested via the Inter-Lending request system via the Library catalogue (for LSE staff and postgraduate students). Conference proceedingsTry using the ZETOC service to trace conference proceedings 1993 onwards. For USA conference proceedings, use the ISI Citation Indexes which has ISI Proceedings on it. Proceedings in print (1967 - 1987 only) is at REFERENCE COLLECTION Z5051. The Index to social science and humanities proceedings is at REFERENCE COLLECTION Z5051. The InternetMany Internet sites have been quoted above. A good place to start searching the Web is via:
There are quite a few guides to human rights research on the Web - for example:
Try the Project Diana sites - currently spread over three libraries in the USA and Canada:
Each library provides a comprehensive set of human rights documents with the intention of building an overall collaborative database. ArchivesThe Archives Department of the Library holds a certain amount of material relating to human rights. Two notable collections are:
The Archives Department also holds much material from the League of Nations Union and the United Nations Association, some of which deals with human rights matters. Call in at the Archives Special Reading Room on the Ground Floor to find out more or visit their Web page . MicroformsThe Library has the following noteworthy collections:
Contacts
|
This page links to a number of pdf documents.
About this page |
Comment on this page |
Privacy statement |
Disclaimer
Copyright ©