| Table 1. Official Number on Documents Produced Up To November 1919 | |
| symbol elements | 2 digit number/number/number for example, 19/4/3 |
| 1st element | last two digits of the year the document was produced |
| 2nd element | number representing the type of document and its source |
| 3rd element | serial number issued to document |
| distribution | documents that were distributed to members of the Council and/or the Assembly |
|
location of symbol on documents |
upper-right corner of title page |
| an example | The third numbered document issued by the Council in 1919 was 19/4/3. Documents issued by the Council were labeled -/4/-. |
| variations of the system | Early numbering schemes were arbitrary. This table represents only one of a few schemes, which are too knotty to describe here. Researchers may wish to consult Reno's explanation on page xvi of his guide. |
| Table 2. Official Number on Documents Produced November 1919 - April 1921 | |
|
symbol elements |
2 digit number/number/number for example, 20/4/3 |
| 1st element | last two digits of the year the document was produced |
| 2nd element | number indicating the document's source or the members to whom the document was distributed |
| 3rd element | serial number issued to document |
| distribution | documents that were distributed to members of the Council and/or the Assembly |
|
location of symbol on documents |
upper-right corner of title page |
| an example | The third document distributed to Council members in 1920 was 20/4/3. The -/4/- indicated that the document was a Council document. |
| variations of the system | Numbers and letters represented subject matters or issuing agencies. They were often used to identify items issued by sub-committees. A fourth numerical element identified revisions or complementary documents. For example, Document 20/4/3 was a cover letter from the Secretary-General to the Council, in which he explained that he was transmitting a memo. The memo he transmitted was assigned the number 20/4/3/1. A capital letter added to a symbol indicated an appendix to the original document. For example, The first appendix to document number 20/4/25 was 20/4/25/A, the second appendix was 20/4/25/B. |
| exceptions to the rules | Certain bodies already in existence adopted a simpler form of numbering, an identifying letter or letters and a consecutively issued item number. The Ghebalis produced a list of these exceptions. |
Table 3. Official Number on Documents Produced From 1921 - 1947 |
|
| symbol elements | letter.number.year for example, A.2.1923 |
| 1st element |
|
| 2nd element | document identification number, issued consecutively, each year began at 1 |
| 3rd element | year |
| distribution | documents that were distributed to members of the Council and/or the Assembly |
| location of symbol on documents | upper-right corner of title page |
| an example | The 34th document distributed to the Assembly in 1926 was assigned the number A.34.1926. |
| variations of the system | Roman numerals were added to denote the section of the Secretariat drafting the document. These numerals were subject-based and followed those used for the sales category system. Please refer to Table 6.
CM class documents received two document numbers that were used in one symbol. For example, the report How to Make the League of Nations Known and to Develop the Spirit of International Co-operation received the symbol C.515.M.197.1927.XII. In 1927, it was both the 515th item distributed to Council members and the 197th item distributed to members of the League who were not members of the Council. The Roman numeral indicated that the content concerned intellectual cooperation. |
Table 4. Committee or Conference Number |
|
| symbol elements | letters.number for example, C.I.C.I.141 |
| letters | abbreviations of a committee or conference name, usually in French |
| number | number, issued consecutively |
| distribution | documents that were distributed to members of a League committee or to delegates of a conference |
| location of symbol on documents | upper-right corner of the title page, either alone or in combination with an official number |
| an example | C.I.C.I. was the abbreviation of Comité International de Coopération Intellectuelle (International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation). The example in Table 3, How to Make the League of Nations Known, originally appeared as C.I.C.I.141. |
| variations of the system | If committee documents were sent to the Assembly or the Council, they received a second document number. Assembly or Council documents are more available than committee or conference documents. If a document was given two numbers, it may be easier to find using the official number rather than a committee or conference number. |
Table 5. Sales number, 1926 - 1946 |
|
| symbol elements | year.Roman numeral.number For example, 1940.VII.1 |
| 1st element | year of publication |
| 2nd element | Roman numeral for subject category (Please refer to Table 6. This is the precursor to the UN sales category system.) |
| 3rd element | Arabic numeral, identified publications within a subject category began each year with 1 |
| distribution | publications sold to the public |
| location of symbol on documents | often printed in a box with the heading "Series of League of Nations Publications"
on the lower right hand corner title page or, on the verso of the title page in books published by the World Peace Foundation |
| an example | The publication High Commissioner of the League of Nations at Danzig (Carl Burckhart). Report Dated March 19, 1940. C.42.M.38.1940.VII received the sales number 1940.VII.1 |
| Table 6. Roman Numerals Used In Official and Sales Numbers | |
|
Roman numeral |
Name of section of League Secretariat, and subject category |
| I.A | Administrative Commission |
| I.B | Protection of Minorities |
| II | Economic and Financial Section |
| III | Health |
|
IV |
Social Questions (for example, the Advisory Committee on Traffic in Women and the Protection of Children) |
| V | Legal Section |
| VI.A | Mandates |
| VI.B | Slavery |
| VII |
Political Section |
| VIII | Communications and Transit |
| IX | Disarmament |
| X | Financial Administration of the League |
| XI | Traffic in Opium and Other Dangerous Drugs (documents were prepared by Social Questions, but assigned the category of XI) |
| XII.A | Intellectual Cooperation |
| XII,B | International Bureaus |
| XIII | Refugees |
| examples |
Official number on documents produced from 1921 - 1947, for example, C.658(1).M.269(1).1931.IX Sales number, for example, 1932.IX.17 These are the official and sales numbers assigned to a work in Category IX, General Convention to Improve the Means of Preventing War. In 1931 this document was the 658th item distributed to Council members and the 269th item distributed to members of the League who were not members of the Council. It was published for sale to the public in 1932. |