House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
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Help: Search


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HCPP's Search page allows you to search for records based on specific criteria.

What types of search can I perform?

If you need help deciding what to enter into a search box, you can click the relevant Select from a list link. This displays a list of appropriate terms for you to select, which are then transferred back to the relevant search box when you click Select.

To narrow the scope of your search you can join together your search terms using special sets of predefined words called operators. Boolean and proximity searching provides more information on how to use these operators.

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How do I find information quickly?

To list all records containing a particular word:

  1. Enter the words you wish to search for in the Keyword box and click the Search button.

    2. Note: Use the predefined operators if you wish to perform a search for multiple keywords which are not usually found next to each other in the same phrase.

    If you want to search for a particular phrase, place quotation marks around all the words that make up the phrase. For example, "cotton weaving".

To use the "Limit keyword search to" option in your search:

  1. Enter the words you wish to search for in the Keyword box.

  2. Select one of the following radio buttons: Entire database, Full records only, Full text only. The default is Entire database.

  3. Click the Search button.

    4. Note: These options only apply to the Keyword field.

The List of Results page will be displayed, listing all records containing the word(s) you entered.

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How do I perform more complex searches?

Paper title

To search for records by title:

  1. Enter a title into the Paper title box,

    or

    choose the title you want from the Select from a list page.

  2. Click the Search button.

The List of Results page will be displayed, listing the records for your chosen title(s).


Chair/author

To list records for papers by a particular Chair person or author:

  1. Enter a Chair/author name into the Chair/author box,

    or

    choose the Chair/author you want from the Select from a list page.

  2. Click the Search button.

The List of Results page will be displayed.


Session

The Session field allows you to locate all parliamentary papers published in a particular parliamentary session. To search over a range of sessions, use the Year search field.

Session is the term used for the parliamentary year, the time during which parliament is 'sitting'. This begins with the State Opening of Parliament, usually in October or November, and ends when parliament is prorogued the following year or when a general election is called.


To list parliamentary papers published during a particular parliamentary session:

  1. Enter the year of the session (in full) in the Session box.

  2. Click the Search button.

Alternatively, follow the Select from a list link and choose a year.

The List of Results page will be displayed.


Limit to options

This area is used to select certain types of parliamentary paper for searching. The papers are listed in a hierarchy below a "House of Commons Sessional Papers" top level.

To add all paper types to the search click the top level checkbox. To add a specific paper type click the corresponding checkbox so that it shows a tick. To exclude a paper type from the search click the relevant checkbox to remove the tick, clicking the top level checkbox will automatically exclude all the papers types below it.


House of Commons Papers
House of Commons Papers are documents resulting from the work of the House and its Committees, 'Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed'. They are a large and varied body of documents, including:

From 1801 papers are numbered consecutively in a series which starts with each new parliamentary session. To locate a specific House of Commons Paper, a session year should be used along with the paper number, e.g. 1878-79 (42).


Command Papers
Command Papers derive their name from the fact that they are presented to Parliament nominally 'by Command of Her Majesty'. In practice, these papers are usually presented by a Government Minister. They are produced by government departments or Royal Commissions, and convey information and decisions from the Government to Parliament.

During the eighteenth century, Command Papers were printed as appendices to the House of Commons Journal. This method was abandoned as the number of papers the Government wished to bring before the House grew. In 1833, a numbered series began:

[1] - [4222] - 1833-1868-69
[C.1] - [C.9550] - 1870-1899
[Cd 1] - [Cd 9239] - 1900-1918
[Cmd 1] - [Cmd 9889] - 1919-1956
[Cmnd 1] - [Cmnd 9927] - 1956-November 1986
[Cm 1] onwards - November 1986 to date


Bills
Bills are proposals for new laws, to be debated by Parliament. A Bill may be amended as it is reviewed by Parliament, during the three 'readings' required. If the Bill passes through each reading, and receives Royal Assent, it becomes an Act of Parliament.


Year

To list parliamentary papers published between certain years or to search over a range of sessions:

  1. Enter the start year of the period (in full) in the Year From box.

  2. Enter the end year of the period (in full) in the Year To box.

  3. Click the Search button.

The List of Results page will be displayed.

Examples and tips

TIP: All searches are case-insensitive, so you don't have to know whether a word should be capitalized or not. For example, there is no difference between london, London or LonDon.

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How do I search in full text only?

To search for keywords in the full text only:

  1. Enter the words you wish to search for in the Keyword box.

  2. Select the Full text only radio button.

  3. Click the Search button.
    Note: This option only applies to the Keyword field.

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How can I change the number of results displayed per page?

You can choose whether to display 20 or 50 entries on the List of Results using the Display drop-down list; click the arrow to the right of the box and choose the relevant option from the list that appears.

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How can I change the order in which my results are sorted?

You can choose the order in which records are sorted in the List of Results by using the Sort results drop-down list; click the arrow to the right of the box and choose the relevant option from the list that appears. You can choose to sort your results by:

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