Finding UN Sales Publications

UN Sales Publications:

What is a sales publication? | How do I find sales publications in MadCat?
What if I can't find my sales publication in MadCat? | Now that I have the Call Number, where is the publication on the shelf? | How can I get more help with UN documents?

What is a sales publication?

Sales publications are...

Issued for the general public, rather than for internal or official use
Major reports, studies, yearbooks, conference proceedings, and bibliographies are often issued as sales publications.

How do I find sales publications in MadCat?

Many of the sales sublications Memorial has are cataloged in MadCat.
Search for them in MadCat by title, subject, or author. There is no fool-proof way to search just UN sales publications in MadCat. However, you can limit your search somewhat by adding the phrase "united nations" and the word "sales" to your search.
If the sales publication is in MadCat, the MadCat record will list one of two of locations:
- "Memorial Library Stacks Regular Size Shelving." Shelved in the regular stacks, by LC call number. These publications circulate like any other book in the regular stacks, and can be checked out at the Circulation Desk.
- "Memorial Library Documents - Ask at Reference Desk." Shelved in the documents collection, on stack level 2M South. The call number in the MadCat record will be a modification of the sales publication number (a number assigned by the UN), and will start with "JYAY P." These only circulate for a week, and must be checked out at the Reference Desk.

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What if I can't find my sales publication in MadCat?

This is especially common for pre-1994 publications!

Not all Sales Publications owned by Memorial are listed in MadCat.
If you have the sales publication number, and the publication was issued before 1994, you can check aisles 2-3 in the Documents Collection, on stack level 2M South, to see if Memorial has the publication you're looking for. To do this, you have to convert the sales number to a Memorial Library call number.

Now that I have the call number, where is the publication on the shelf?

Sales Publications in the Documents Collection are shelved by a modified form of the sales publication number, the identifying symbol the UN assigns to Sales Publications.
Components of sales numbers:
- 1st component is a letter indicating the language the publication is in (older documents do not include this as part of the sales number).
  
  E = English F = French
- 2nd component is arabic numbers indicating the year of publication.
  
  89 = 1989
- 3rd component is a roman numeral (and sometimes a letter) indicating a broad subject category or the issuing body. For example:
  
  III.B = United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) III.H = United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) IV = Social questions XIV = Human rights
- 4th component is an arabic number which arbitrarily identifies the publication.

Examples of full sales numbers and what they mean:

Title	Sales number	What sales number means
Nationality of Married Women	1950. IV. 12	Published in 1950. Subject category IV (social questions). Social question publication #12
United Nations Action in the Field of Human Rights	E.74.XIV.2	Published in English. Published in 1974. Subject category XIV (human rights). Human rights publication #2.

Memorial's call numbers begin with "JYAY P" and do not use the language indicator.
- Comparison of UN sales number and Memorial call number for title Population, Resources and the Environment: the Critical Challenges, published in 1991.
UN sales number:
E.91.III.H.1
Call number in MadCat:
JYAY P 1991 IIIH 1
On the book:
JYAY
P
1991
IIIH
1

How can I get more help with UN documents?

To arrange an appointment for in-depth reference assistance, or to arrange for course-related instruction in government documents at Memorial Library, please contact:
Beth Harper
Government Publications Reference Librarian
(608) 262-9852
or Email Beth