Parlianet in the News

Remember, remember ...

5 February 2002

On 5th November – Bonfire Night – Justis Publishing celebrated the launch of its new political database, Parlianet at Politico’s Bookstore, Britain’s leading political retailer, in Westminster.

Invited guests included journalists, political commentators and librarians, plus one very special guest – Guy Fawkes, who had taken time off from his own rather radical form of political scrutiny to make an exclusive appearance in support of Parlianet!

Parlianet (www.parlianet.com) is an invaluable aid to understanding and using parliamentary information for legal, government, business and lobbying purposes. Updated daily and produced under a unique license with the House of Commons, it is a comprehensive index to the proceedings and publications of the Westminster Parliament from 1979 onwards, including Hansard, plus other information sources used by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. There are extensive links to full text data and the service also includes material from two of the devolved legislatures: the National Assembly of Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly.

Speaking at the launch, Michael Prescott, formerly Political Editor of the Sunday Times, commented:

"Even as a practising political journalist, it was often hard to find some basic information on parliamentary developments. Parlianet allows any organisation to monitor those political developments which affect them. I think it makes a very important contribution to the monitoring of political life in this country."

Also present at the launch was Priscilla Baines, Librarian of the House of Commons, who spoke on the importance of improving the accessibility of information about political and parliamentary developments for improving the relationship between politicians and the public. She also praised Justis Publishing for its work with the House of Commons Library in providing access to the Parliamentary Online Indexing Service (POLIS).

Parlianet functions with unique software which allows anyone, from expert user to novice, to research Parliamentary Questions, monitor an MP’s parliamentary activity or track specific legislation. A wide range of sophisticated display and analysis options then allow users to carry out detailed research, such as producing graphs showing the number of questions asked of different Government departments over several sessions, or analysing topics of interest by party, constituency or region. Searches can also be saved and rerun at a later date, eliminating inefficient duplication of effort.

Both speakers and guests agreed that the launch of Parlianet would make efficient and rigorous scrutiny of parliamentary affairs much easier for a wide rage of organisations, from newspapers and businesses to charities and pressure groups.

The age old problem of Parliament appearing frustratingly impenetrable to the outside world – a problem which would no doubt have resonated with Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators - has now gone some way towards being eased as more and more organisations use Parlianet to track essential information about parliamentary developments.

If you would like to know more, or take advantage of a free two-week trial, please contact Jabir Khammal on 020 7284 8114, or email jabir.khammal@justis.com.