The rules on what is to be considered as a Main documents have changed throughout UNESCO’s existence. According to the definition giving in the UNESCO Manual, Secretariat handbook on administrative methods and precedures, main documents are:
Main series documents are mostly programme documents of a definitive nature which are distributed to all Member States. They include i.a. reports of meetings, surveys, analysis of replies to questionnaires and bibliographical and clearing house material.

Instructions of a temporary nature, or which are subject to frequent change, are conveyed to the Secretariat by Administrative Circulars.

Depending on the area regulated and the issuing authority, there are two types of Administrative Circular:

1. Administrative Circulars on activity, finances and property
2. Administrative Circulars on personnel matters

Circular letters (CL) signed by the Director-General are addressed to the Governments of Member States or National Commissions for UNESCO in the course of official business. For example, they are used to inform the Governments, to solicit information from them and ask for their position on certain questions, to send invitations to conferences, to invite applications for higher posts in the Secretariat.

Maps, posters and similar material produced and published by UNESCO

Series consists of official Preparatory Commission documents issued under codes corresponding to the creating committee or sub-committee.

Series consists of documentation files with newspaper clippings, typed speeches and other printed or published material gathered by the Comité to document a subject. The series does however extend to 1939, after the Comité was officially dissolved. It seems then that the staff of the Institute continued to add to the series in 1939. It is arranged into five subseries according to the original alpha-numeric classification scheme.

The Sub-fonds includes the records of the Division of Freedom of Expression, Democracy and Peace and its antecessors, part of the Information and Communication Sector of UNESCO, of all projects and programmes of CI/FED and of the numerous committees, boards, and commissions related to CI/FED whose records were/are the responsibility of UNESCO.

Series consists of files on departments and sectors of UNESCO as created during the tenure of Directors-General Maheu and Matsuura. Files primarily contain memoranda exchanged between the Director-General and the Assistant Director-General or Director of the unit concerned. Files are arranged in rough alphabetical order by unit acronym.

Series consists of subject files of the Director-General on diverse matters. The first transfer dates from the tenure of René Maheu, however, records in some files date from before this time. Each transfer is arranged in rough alphabetical order and thus the series as a whole is arranged in a repeating alphabetical order. In general, the files were transferred at the end of a Director-General's term in office. Files contain correspondence, speeches, reports, and handwritten notes.

Series consists of files from the Population Division (SHS/POP) and the Division of Population and Human Settlements (SHS/POP). The files mostly pertain to programme activities in the fields of urbanization, architecture, family planning and population. Activities include the execution of UNFPA and Participation Programme projects, as well as information dissemination and training. Files are in no particular order.

Series consists of the files of the SHS Division of Human Rights and Peace (HRS) as well as some files from its successor unit. The files date from the creation of HRS to the mid-1990s. The files cover programme activities such as the production of publications and studies, the organization of meetings, and the coordination of the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education. There are also two specific subseries: a subseries of correspondence files (COR) organized by year or by staff member; and a subseries of files (PP) on the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education .

Series consists of files related to the 1995 and 1996 UNESCO Peace Games. Documents date from the early conception and development of the games, and include research related to youth and the theme of peace; correspondence related to potential sponsorships; day-to-day correspondence; correspondence with Director-General Federico Mayor as well as delegates from Member States; an evaluation of the feasibility and success of the games; press and media coverage files; and three-dimensional souvenir objects or gifts from or related to the games. The series is arranged in four subseries, however, files are numbered sequentially despite the subseries.

Documents concerning diverse projects and countries under the responsibility of the office

Series contains documents related to the various aspects of the work of the Arab Region Department.

These sound records contain mostly floor recordings of conferences and other events, speeches of the Director General and other important persons and systematic recordings of all meetings of the General Conference and the Executive Board.

The series consists mostly of summaries of the decisions taken and agendas for the meetings of the General Assembly and Executive Board. Although the material partly duplicates information found elsewhere, the series was retained to compensate for gaps in the subfonds IBI/1 General Assembly records and IBI/2 Executive Board records.

Mission reports and memoranda destined for the Cabinet or the Director-General were centralized in the Cabinet of the Director-General. The series consists of reports and memoranda for the years 1984-1986. Other years are missing.

Series consists of the correspondence files of the IICI. They are arranged in their original order according to an alpha-numeric classification scheme.

The series contains documents on the liquidation of the Institute, mainly from 1946-1947. It includes the agreement between UNESCO and the IIIC, financial documents, as well as general correspondence. The files are in alpha-numeric order.

All official UNESCO Documents produced by the Director General of UNESCO.

Publications of the Natural Science Sector and its predecessors

Series consists of publications of the Communication and Information Sector and its predecessors.

UNESCO Collection of Representative Works (or UNESCO Catalogue of Representative Works) was a UNESCO translation project that was active for about 57 years, from 1948 to about 2005. The projects purpose was to translate masterpieces of world literature, primarily from a lesser known language into a more international language such as English and/or French. There were 1060 works in the catalog representing over sixty-five different literatures and representing around fifty Oriental languages, twenty European languages as well as a number of African and Oceanian literatures and languages. The project also included translations from one less widely known language into another.
UNESCO financed the translations and publications, but UNESCO itself was not a publisher, instead working with other publishers who then sold the books independently.

Series primarily consists of legal instruments signed between UNESCO and member states, including state agencies and corporations. Instruments include co-operation agreements, host-country agreements, funds-in-trust agreements and plans of operation. UNESCO agreements signed with local governments are also filed in this series. The series also contains agreements signed between UNESCO and international, regional or other multilateral organizations as well as all multilateral conventions and recommendations adopted by the General Conference or other intergovernmental conferences which designated UNESCO as a depository. United Nations University (UNU), University for Peace (UPEACE) and World Maritime University (WMU) agreements are filed in this series, but other agreements signed with universities, including state universities, can be found in series B. UNITWIN agreements may be filed in this series or series B. Instruments are given a reference code and registered upon receipt in the Archives and are therefore in rough chronological order.

Series consists of correspondence files from the CAME Secretariat which was based at the British Council. The series is arranged into two subseries: CAME Secretariat files (with a British Council filing scheme) and CAME Science Commission files (with a different numeric classification scheme).

Series consists of files on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) with whom UNESCO maintains or maintained official relations. It reflects the process of admission to categories of official relations as well as the ongoing activities undertaken in observance of the obligations of such categories. The files contain information on the NGO itself, but not necessarily on projects undertaken jointly with UNESCO. Files are arranged chronologically reflecting different transfers over time, and then roughly alphabetically by the French name of the NGO.

Series consists of files transferred directly from the Division for Human Settlements and the Socio-Cultural Environment (SHS/ENV) and its successor the Division of Population and Human Settlements (SHS/POP). Files cover programme activities on rural and urban habitat, reconstruction, quality of life and human ecology. Activities include missions, training programmes and division contributions to conferences such as the 1982 World Conference on Cultural Policies (Mondiacult). Files contain general correspondence, internal memoranda and final documents. They are in no particular order.

The series includes the records of the Information Society Division (CI/INF). Files include records on the Division's projects and programmes, and on the work of numerous related committees, boards, and commissions.

Series consists of files of the ODG generated from the Private Meetings of the Executive Board. Senior posts are discussed at such meetings, including matters such as nominations, appointments, extensions of contracts, salaries, and the structure of the secretariat. The files consists of PRIV documents issued from the meetings (open for consultation after 20 years in another series), as well as notes and internal memoranda circulated between members of the Directorate. Series begins at the 70th Session of the Executive Board (1965) and ends at the 155th Session (1998).

Series consists of documents relating to the cooperation activities at a national level between the Department and different states. The countries concerned are: Egypt, Lebanon, Kuweit, Saudi Arabi, Tunisia, Syria, Oman, and Qatar.

The series contains an incomplete set of transcriptions of debates from the sessions of the General Assembly. Only a few sessions have transcriptions.

The IBI Executive Council met for 57 ordinary sessions and 4 extraordinary sessions. The series consists of an incomplete set of files on the sessions, containing the Council's decision and reports on the programme activities and finances of the Organization. The series starts at the 18th Session. Information on prior sessions can be found in the reference documents of the office of the Director-General of the IBI (series IBI/5/1/1).

The Consultative Programme and Budget Committee was created by the 53rd Session of the IBI Executive Council. It held its first meetings on 27-28 February 1986 in Rome. The purpose of the Committee was to analyze proposals for programme activities and the budgets submitted by the Director-General for the years 1987-1988 and then to make recommendations based on its analysis to the Executive Council. The series mostly contains documents and correspondence exchanged by members of the Committee around the time of its meetings.

Subseries consists of original correspondence between IBI management and both internal and external correspondents. Correspondence prior to 1982 is missing. After 1982, the files appear to be complete up until 29 March 1988.

Study Series No: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16

Concerns the campaign for the safeguarding of Florence, launched after the flood of 1966.

The first documentary films produced by the organisation were published in the 1950s in order to show the activities of the organisation and to promote them to the external public. In 1958 a unit for radio and television production was established and started to broadcast regularly images taken on the occasion of official visits of state presidents, journeys of the Director General, inauguration etc.

Subseries consists of outgoing mail as registered by the Secretariat of the Director General. The series is incomplete. Files prior to 1985 are missing except for one dating from 1983. There are small gaps in files from the beginning of 1985; however, files from that point onwards to 1988 are more complete.

The series contain mostly copies of letters, memos, cables, mission reports signed by Adiseshiah or his Executive Assistants, as well as speeches and addresses delivered by him. Most items are of official character, however some are semi-official or personal. There are a few letters received in the files, however the majority of correspondence is out-going mail. There are also inspection reports and mission reports, documents on the negotiations with the representatives of Member States, as well as discussions with UNESCO representatives, officials and experts in the field. The series is arranged in 11 subseries, however, files are numbered sequentially despite the subseries.

Series consists of IICI account books and financial registers arranged into thirty-six volumes.

Series consists of correspondence files arranged into thirteen subseries. The original order and numbering scheme were maintained.

Series consists of works compiled and published by non-governmental organizations which were either in receipt of specific funding from UNESCO, as well as those publications from NGOs which had official relations with UNESCO and were exchanging information based on the conditions of this relationship.

Series consists of fellowship files created by the Division of Training Abroad. It is arranged roughly in chronological order. Files contain applications to the programme and administrative correspondence. They are often very slight (3-5 documents), but can also have final reports and more substantive correspondence.

Files consists of outgoing letters, notes and memoranda signed by the Director or Assistant-Director General of the Office of the Director-General.

Series consists of legal instruments or other documents generated when UNESCO received a donation of property. It does not include instruments related to gifts of art (with the exception of photograph C/9) or smaller regular donations of books, objects and equipment. The files are arranged in order of the reference code given upon registration in the Archives and are, therefore, roughly in chronological order.

Series contains documents on conferences organized by the Arab Region Department.

Wide range of subjects and types

The aim of UNESCO radio was to contribute to the understanding of the ideals that the Organization stands for, through discussion of issues in the field of education, science, culture and communication. Around fifteen 30-minute feature programmes were produced each year in at least three official languages of UNESCO, English, French, Spanish or Russian. Their subjects, chosen on the basis of their interest both for UNESCO and the general public, covered a vast field ranging from Aids to astronomy, from biodiversity to bioethics, from street children to indigenous peoples, from the violence of war to the culture of peace.
The recordings were offered on tape or cassette to over 400 national, public and community radios in all parts of the world (257 stations broadcasting in English, 60 in French, 60 in Spanish and 42 in Russian) as well as to international short-wave broadcasters.

Biographical files of staff members, experts, consultants, delegates etc. These biographical information do not claim to be complete in any way. They are more an arbitrary collection, updated on an irregular basis, which might be useful as additional information for researchers.

The Committee for the Revision of the IBI Convention (REVCO) was an ad hoc committee of the IBI General Assembly. The Committee was convoked when a new revision of the Convention was being discussed. The subseries in particular contains examples of possible revisions to the Convention and to the internal regulations of the Organization since its creation. The subseries consists only of working documents from the Committee’s work in the 1980s.