The Collection of official and personal papers documenting the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III) at the University of Virginia Law School  Library was established in the early 1980's.  The first collections of documents acquired were from United States delegates to the United Nations Conference on Law of the Sea III (UNCLOS III) who were also friends of the Law School’s Center for Oceans Law and Policy.  In the early spring of 1982 letters were sent to heads and deputy heads of all the delegations to the Conference, and to members of the U. S. Delegation below the top ranks.  The letters requested copies of official unclassified delegation reports, statements or proposals, and delegates’ personal records of the Conference.  The response from within the United States has been good.  Other states’ delegation heads who responded wrote they have turned over our request to their governments, but few documents have come in.  Not only are many governments reluctant to release these materials to an American institution, but the planning and logistics for copying and sending are time consuming and expensive.