If you're looking for a treaty, start by searching the web using Google.
If you need a hard-copy version (e.g., for a law review source-find), read the box to the right.
There are many sources for locating a desired treaty. The web has become an excellent source for finding the text of treaties. You may want to start your research by entering the treaty name into a good search engine. Listed below are some general sources where treaties are published (for bilateral or multilateral treaties).
Paper sources:
Official country treaty series (e.g., Canada Treaty Series). These series can be identified by using the List of Treaty Collections by the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs. Also check a country legal research guide or search MNCAT under the subject [country]--foreign relations--treaties. Official treaty series are usually slower in publication than other treaty sources and not all countries have treaty series. Many countries have discontinued paper versions of their treaty series. But these series are especially important for finding bilateral treaties.
IGO treaty series, such as League of Nations Treaty Series (1919-1945) or United Nations Treaty Series (1946- ). Locate these sets on MNCAT by using the subject search treaties--collections or by checking a bibliography or publications catalog for the IGO. These sets are usually slow in publication -- the U.N. is about 10 or more years behind. These are an important source for the hard-copy versions of multilateral treaties.
Official gazettes -- often the first official source (e.g., Bundesgesetzblatt, Part II for Germany). See J. Roberts' A Guide to Official Gazettes and Their Contents (Ref Office US-LC42.2:G289x) or do a subject search on MNCAT gazettes--[country].
Statutory compilations (chronological) such as Statutes at Large of the United States. On MNCAT, search under the country's name or check a legal research guide.
Looseleaf services (find one on the subject matter of the treaty using Legal Looseleafs in Print or a legal research guide). Try a keyword search on MNCAT with the subject of the treaty and the word "loose?" as in environmental law loose?. The frequency of updating for looseleafs varies from every week to every year to every 2-3 years. This can be a good source for recent treaties.
Periodical literature (e.g., International Legal Materials). Some periodicals regularly reprint major treaties and others contain articles to which the text of a treaty being discussed might be appended. Check LegalTrac (available from the Law Library) and other periodical indexes.
Electronic sources:
The most comprehensive collection is the United Nations Treaty Collection.
Listed below are some (not all) of the treaty collections available on the web. Not all of these collections contain treaties where the U.S. is a party.
Avalon Project (Yale Law School) Good historical collection.
BASE PACTE - Traités et accords de la France (in French, but provides citations to U.N.T.S. and other sources; includes multilateral treaties and bilateral treaties to which France is a party)
Hague Conventions on Private International Law
International Humanitarian Law Database
Organization of American States (select Documents)
Private International Law Database (U.S. Dept. of State) (not currently updated)
University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
One source for finding major treaties is the The Flare Index to Treaties. It is searchable by keyword, date, and other information, and includes links to the full text of treaties in many cases.
Electronic sources (subscription databases or the web). To identify relevant electronic sources use database directories, catalogs, and legal research guides. Electronic sources are good for locating very recent treaties. The biggest collection of treaties on the web is the free databases in the United Nations Treaty Collection.
Other sources of treaty texts include proceedings of international conferences (sometimes, the treaty is the "final act" of the conference); documents of international organizations and national government bodies such as U.S. Congress (Senate Treaty Documents); monographic subject compilations; newspapers (e.g., New York Times); governmental bodies (e.g., U.S. State Dept. or foreign consulates); and press releases.
Some treaties are separately published (not part of a set)--these can be found in MNCAT by doing a title search under the name of the treaty or the subject matter, to find compilations, add the word "treaties" to a subject search on MNCAT as in taxation, double united states treaties. You may also try other subject searches such as commercial treaties or european economic community countries commercial treaties.