Breaking the Boundaries:
Exploring International Documents

Documents Association of NJ Fall Conference
Friday, November 7, 2003
Alexander Library, Rutgers, The State University

Featuring:

• Barbara Crossette, Former United Nations Bureau Chief for the New York Times. "Reporting from the United Nations: Secrets in Six Languages."
• Maureen Ratynski, Head of User Services, Dag Hammarskjold Library, The United Nations. "UNbounded Information: an Overview of Free Resources Available through the United Nations."
• Duncan Alford, Law Librarian and European Union Depository Librarian, Princeton University. "Enlarging the European Union: Sources on EU Law, Policy and Statistics."
• A. Hays Butler, Government Documents Librarian, Rutgers Law Library, Camden. "The Worldwide Effort to Combat Crimes Against Humanity: The Creation of the International Criminal Court."
• New Jersey Documents Awards Presentation
• Breakfast and Lunch included

Over the last two years current events have challenged our skills in locating international documents. Where can we find that U.N. General Assembly resolution or the most recent vote of the Security Council? Is Tony Blair's Iraq dossier on the Internet? How about Clinton's Executive Order on the Taliban?

This year's annual conference offers a timely and informative exploration of the field of international documents and information. The conference includes four programs presented by expert speakers, and our annual state documents awards ceremony. Breakfast, lunch and free parking are included in the price of registration. Mary Fetzer, documents librarian at Alexander Library and chair of the DANJ International Documents Interest Group will introduce the program.

Our keynote speaker is journalist Barbara Crossette, a reporter for the New York Times for twenty-eight years, including seven years as the Times Bureau Chief at the United Nations. She is author of four books on India, and has taught at Columbia, Princeton and Bard College. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Women's Foreign Policy Group, and serves on the board of the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs in New York.

Program Descriptions:

• Reporting from the United Nations: Secrets in Six Languages - Barbara Crossette, Former United Nations Bureau for the New York Times. Reporting from the United Nations is like no other beat assignment, not least of all because the documentation available is often difficult to verify -- when there is anything at all written down. The exception is the organization's population division, a stellar source of facts and guides to important trends. Otherwise, the United Nations, more in headquarters than in the field, reflects the mentalities of 191 national governments, the majority of which have scant understanding of an information culture. Moreover the task of finding out what is going on in, for example, the Security Council, relies almost entirely on personal contact and trust. With the big powers engaging alternately in political arm-twisting or damage control, a correspondent needs to get to know the less powerful people, who often sit and watch and have very per ceptive things to say about the spectacle.
• UNbounded Information: an Overview of Free Resources Available through the United Nations - Maureen Ratynski, Head of User Services, Dag Hammarskjold Library, The United Nations. The presentation will focus upon major resources available on the UN website (UNBISnet, UN-I-QUE, United Nations Documentation: Research Guide, UN Documentation Centre, etc.). The role of the Dag Hammarskjold Library in the development of some of these tools, as well as the support it provides to librarians, will be included. Exciting forthcoming developments will also be announced.
• Enlarging the European Union: Sources on EU Law, Policy and Statistics - Duncan Alford, Law Librarian and European Union Depository Librarian, Princeton University. This presentation will focus on sources of information on the European Union. Beginning with a brief overview of the history of the European Union and a description of the principal EU institutions, the presenter will then highlight the more important sources of information on the EU. Sources on EU law, policy and statistics will be covered, including sources available on the Web at no charge.
• The Worldwide Effort to Combat Crimes Against Humanity: The Creation of the International Criminal Court - A. Hays Butler, Government Documents Librarian, Rutgers Law Library, Camden. On July 17, 1998 the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted by the United Nations Diplomatic Conference in Rome. As the Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights noted: "The treaty provides the framework for international justice for future generations. The creation of that framework is a remarkable advance for human rights." The Rome Statute has not only been an important event in the development of international law, it has also had a major impact on domestic prosecutions for international crimes. Belgium, Canada and other countries have adopted comprehensive legislation providing their courts with universal jurisdiction over genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Mr. Butler will discuss these developments and provide insights on how the Int ernational Criminal Court is likely to evolve as an international judicial institution.

If the above sounds like a day not to be missed, we agree! Join us for Breaking the Boundaries: Exploring International Documents. Breakfast and luncheon will be served on site at the Scholarly Communication Center of the Alexander Library.

See you there!