The Twentieth Century Parliamentary Papers has been purchased by JISC Collections and is available free of charge in perpetuity to UK Higher and Further Education institutions and Research Councils.
Institutions now have free online access to the filmed images of over 100,000 papers and 5.2 million pages of documents going up to 2004.
Twentieth Century House of Commons Parliamentary Papers extends the coverage of the Nineteenth Century House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (1801-1900) from 1901-2004 using the one seamless interface and allowing researchers to track papers and themes across more than 200 years of official records.
JISC Collections has already purchased the Nineteenth Century House of Commons Parliamentary Papers on behalf of the UK academic community. This resource extends the coverage of Parliamentary Papers by another 104 years.
The Twentieth Century House of Commons Parliamentary Papers includes the complete file of twentieth century papers, filmed images of 104,902 papers, covering 5.2 million pages of working documents of the British Government from 1901-2004. The digitised collection is based on Chadwyck-Healey’s microfiche collection.
Content is drawn from the HMSO General Alphabetical Indexes covering 1901 to 1979 and the Parliamentary On-Line Information Service (POLIS) database from 1979. POLIS became the Parliamentary Information Management Service (PIMS) in 2005. These indexes have been overlaid with broad subject categories based on the 19th century Subject Catalogue, updated for more recent material.
These official documents encompass all areas of social, political, economic and foreign policy. Including:
- World War I & II
- Independence of Australia, India, Pakistan and African nations
- Creation of the BBC, the Welfare State, the Commonwealth
- Cold War
- Immigration
- Terrorism
- European Union
- Iraq War
Further information is available online.
Subject areas
History, political science, economics, international relations, philosophy, political economy, sociology, urban studies, area studies, geography, law, english, and women’s studies
Academic level
All levels.
Timeline
1901 -2004
Additional content
The Nineteenth Century Parliamentary Papers are also available via a JISC agreement.
Comparable resources
Some papers from the very end of the period covered by this resource are available on www.parliament.uk, www.opsi.gov.uk, or other government websites. However, there is no other resource covering the majority of the twentieth century or offering a comprehensive archive of papers for any part of the period.
Complementary resources
By subscribing to 18th Century House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, 19th Century House of Commons Parliamentary Papers and 20th Century House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, over 300 years of official parliamentary records can be cross-searched on a single platform.
This resource is free and there are no access fees to pay until at least the 8th January 2013.
Full text linking
Durable URL Bookmarking.
One-click bookmarking allows direct access to frequently used pages with OpenURL links. All works in the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, as well as all search and browse screens feature a 'Durable URL' button which opens a satellite window containing a durable URL link. These links can be pasted into emails, web pages, reading lists and e-learning systems to allow direct linking for other users from subscribing institutions.
Federated searching
The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers will become Z39.50 compliant in a future release. Information on how you can configure your Z39.50 software to search the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers will become available at the Administrator Resources page.
The resource is not currently a target for inbound OpenURL linking.
MARC records
MARC records for this resource's database can be downloaded from the Administrator Resources page, free of charge.
Search options
Keyword(s), Paper Title Keyword(s), Subject Keyword(s), Paper Chair/author, Session, Paper Number, Year range. The Search screen also allows users to limit searches by paper type (House of Commons Papers, Command Papers, Bills, Reports, Accounts) or limit searches to papers containing maps/plans, tables/graphs, or photographs/illustrations. Results can be sorted chronologically by session date, alphabetically by title, or by relevance.
All fields support use of a truncation operator (*), Boolean AND/OR/NOT, and proximity operators Near and Followed By. (For example, treaty NEAR.5 Netherlands; health FBY.4 housing).
This resource incorporates Peter Cockton's Subject Catalogue of the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, 1801-1900. The subject terms can be included in searches or the entire index can be browsed separately from the Browse 19th Century Subject Catalogue tab.
Supporting information can be found in the Information Resources area, including a Guide to Parliamentary Papers, a List of Principal Ministers in Cabinets, an online demo of the database and its features, and a Glossary of terms.
Post-search options
From a list of results, users can select records and add them to their Marked List or add the search to their own password protected work area - My Archive. From the Marked List or My Archive users can print, email and download records in a variety of formats, i.e. Plain Text, ProCite, EndNote, Reference Manager and RefWorks.
Search History functionality facilitates re-execution and combination of search sets (AND, OR and NOT). Document images can be downloaded in their entirety or in part in PDF format and document pages can be downloaded in TIFF format.
Usage statistics
Usage statistics are modelled as closely as possible on the requirements for web statistics produced by the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC). Though some changes were necessary because of the nature of the database, the publishers have kept to the spirit of the ICOLC requirements.
Customizable usage statistics reports are available to librarians and systems administrators in a password-protected Administrator Resources area.
Authentication
This resource is UK Access Management Federation Compliant. Access can also be via ATHENs; IP range; Username and Password; Referral URL.
Personalisation of the resource
Users can create a password protected work area called My Archive. Here they can save searches and records by selecting records and adding them to their Marked List or add them from the Search History.
Librarians can customise the interface at an institutional level by adding library branding. This is available under Customisation Options from a password-protected Administrator Resources area.
Accessibility
The Accessibility Statement for this resource is available at http://parlipapers.chadwyck.co.uk/marketing/access.jsp
Information about software requirements are available at http://parlipapers.chadwyck.co.uk/infoCentre/software.jsp