Quick Guides – Which Search Should I Use?

This guide helps you to choose the search screen that best suits your research needs. Parlianet offers a range of powerful search facilities:

• Search Wizards – the easiest way to search
• Advanced Search – allows you to use all available fields
• Free Text – for full flexibility to construct the search you need
• Saved Searches – to save and re-use your favourite searches

Search Wizards

Parlianet wizards help you to find information on pre-defined topics. Field choices and drop down menus directly applicable to the topic you have chosen enable you to quickly find what you are looking for. For instance, there are Search Wizards for:

• Researching Parliamentary Questions
• Identifying MPs and constituencies
• Investigating MPs’ contributions
• Tracking legislation
• Retrieving summaries or listings of Bills or Acts
• Locating Statutory Instruments
• Unearthing information relating to Select Committees
• Finding specific publications

Search wizards prevent you using fields that may confuse your search results and pull-down menus allow you to select from a set of available options. For more on the Search Wizards, see our Getting Started Guide.

Advanced Search

The Advanced Search screen displays all searchable fields in the Parlianet database and provides greater searching flexibility than is available using the Search Wizards. You can carry out more detailed searches by using a combination of Legislature and Type of record, plus fields such as: Session or Date, Member, Name, EDM Sponsors, Responding Minister, Corporate Author, Subject Terms, Legislation, Reference, EC Reference, PQ Number, Party, Constituency, Region, Interest Declared and Free Text.

For example, you can:

• Search any combination of legislatures, such as the National Assembly of Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly
• Search for all types of record relating to a specific topic, such as questions, legislation and publications
• Use a Hansard reference or PQ number to retrieve a specific document using the relevant fields
• Find occurrences of a particular person (other than an MP) by using the Name field

Free Text Search

The Free Text screen can be used for any type of search but is most suitable for experienced users. If you don’t want to bother with fields, or if you don’t know which field to use, just type a word or phrase in the Free Text box and click the "Go" button. The main limitation of free text searching is the tendency to produce unmanageably large results lists.

This is the search option to use if you are an experienced Parlianet user and want to make full use of the power of Boolean operators. For example:

session[99/00] and member[Banks, Tony] and type[OPQ or WPQ or EDM] not football

For more information on Boolean operators please refer to the Parlianet Help files.

Lookup Button

You can use the Lookup button to help you select the right search terms.

If you don’t know what search terms to use, simply click the button next to a field to access a range of pre-defined options. This includes the Word Index, which allows you to check whether a word is present in the database. Select the words you want and these will be automatically copied to the appropriate field box.

Saved Searches

Every Parlianet user can take advantage of the ability to save searches. This is particularly important for those who search Parlianet on a regular basis. It doesn’t matter how complex or simple your search is and you can save as many searches as you like.

Brief guide to Saved Searches.

For more information you may want to:

• Consult our Help files
• Contact our Help Desk
• Read the Parlianet FAQs
• Refer to the other Parlianet Quick Guides:
  Getting Started
  Saved Searches
  Results and Analysis

Last updated 22nd February 2002