Guides & frequently asked questions
Wherever you see the i icon on the search pages, click it for context-specific help. Or jump to the FAQs below.
Using PIO FAQs
How can I get access to PIO?
PIO is a paid-subscription website. When you subscribe, you or your organisation will be issued with a username and password. Access is also available via Athens authentication or by IP range.
Subscription is by Parliamentary session. Once paid for, you can access every publication issued in that session, permanently.
Where can I get help using PIO?
The search pages include context-sensitive help. For anything not covered in these FAQs, email the PIO webmaster at support@publicinformationonline.com.
How do I find records in PIO?
Two ways:
- Browsing - browse records in each Parliament by Category, Corporate Author (UK Parliament only), Committee (Scottish Parliament only), or by paper number.
- Searching - run advanced searches specifying the records you are looking for in detail.
What are UK Parliament index terms?
PIO uses the House of Commons Library subject index terms, a thesaurus of over 5,000 constantly-updated terms. Records are updated daily, but there can be small delays on the most recent papers. Index terms for papers are not currently added to PIO; we hope to have these back in future.
What are COPAC terms?
Non-Parliamentary index terms are taken from COPAC and include: Title (TI), Author/Editor (AU), Volume (MV), Series (SE), Edition (ED), Scale (SC), Publisher (PU), Year (PY), Physical description (PD), Document type (DT), Language (LA), ISBN/ISSN (IS), Notes (NT), and Keywords (KW).
COPAC terms are no longer updated on PIO.
How do I browse PIO?
Parliamentary material: select the Parliament, then the category of paper. Use the drop-down boxes at the top of the screen to narrow by session, or to sort numerically or alphabetically by title.
Non-Parliamentary material: categorised by Corporate Author. Choose an author, then a year, then browse by month or alphabetically. Some authors (e.g. ONS) have an additional level of categorisation for periodical titles.
How do I search PIO? (Parliament, Session, Categories, Number, ISBN, Date)
Parliament: by default, searches run across all Parliaments you subscribe to. Click "Select…" to refine to one Parliament, or choose Non-Parliamentary.
Session: by default across all sessions you subscribe to. Non-Parliamentary material is grouped by year and is automatically included unless changed.
Categories: by default across all. Click "Select…" to narrow by publication category.
Number: search by paper number numerically, e.g. '144' or 'HL 144', not 'House of Lords Paper 144'.
Published under ISBN: enter a known ISBN.
Date From / Date To: use the calendar icons to pick a date range. Click the displayed month for all 12 months; click the year for a 12-year picker.
Title and keyword search, terms, phrases, modifiers
PIO uses the Apache Solr search engine. A query is made up of terms and operators.
- Single term: one word, e.g. origin.
- Phrase: words in double quotes, e.g. "natural selection", matches variations (Nature/Selection/etc.). Tick Exact match to disable variations.
- Wildcards: ? (single char), * (multi-char). Cannot be the first character.
- Fuzzy: roam~ matches similar words; optional similarity roam~0.8.
- Proximity: "Galapagos species"~10, within 10 words of each other.
- Boost: Galapagos^4 species, higher factor = more relevance.
Boolean operators and grouping
Boolean operators must be ALL CAPS. The default between terms is OR.
- AND / &&: "natural selection" AND "Charles Darwin"
- + (required): +Galapagos selection
- NOT / !: "natural selection" NOT "Charles Darwin" (cannot be used with just one term)
- - (prohibit): "natural selection" -"Charles Darwin"
- Grouping: (natural OR selection) AND Darwin
- Field grouping: title:(+origin +"natural selection")
Escape special characters (+ - && || ! ( ) { } [ ] ^ " ~ * ? : \) with a leading backslash.
What information is displayed in search results?
The Search Results page lists each matching document with: Paper Number, Date of publication, Title, Corporate Author, and ISBN. Non-Parliamentary material also includes Class, Description/Extent, Notes, and a brief abstract.
Sorting and paging search results
Results are sorted by relevance. You can re-sort alphabetically (by title), categorically (grouped by type), or chronologically (earliest first). Ten results per page; use Next / Previous / First / Last to navigate.
Where can I obtain hard copies of publications?
All publications on PIO are free to download for subscribers. Hard copies can be purchased separately via our print partner.
- Shop: publicinformationonline.com/shop
- Phone: +44 (0)207 624 2993
Accessibility FAQs
Can I change the background or foreground colours?
PIO uses black text on white background to ensure best accessibility. Users cannot currently change colours or contrasts.
What is the maximum font size, does text re-flow?
The maximum font size on PIO is 24. When the font is enlarged, text re-flows automatically so no information is missed.
Are there keyboard-only equivalents for all mouse actions?
Not currently, something we hope to add in future development.
Are there shortcut keys to reduce tabbing?
Not currently, something we hope to add in future development.
Is text marked up to allow meaningful navigation?
Yes, headings and other text are marked up to aid meaningful navigation.
Can text be read by text-to-speech tools?
Yes. PIO supports text-to-speech tools when text is selected.
Are alternative text descriptions available for images?
Not currently, something we hope to add in future development.
Training videos
Short walkthroughs covering search, the PvH tool, and a full overview of PIO.
