HR and L&D archive database

The search box enables you to look for books and reports, journal articles and websites in the CIPD's HR and L&D database.

• Enter search terms in the All Field Search box. You can search for an author's name, title words, a journal name or keyword, or a combination of these. Use speech marks to search for a phrase, for example "performance management".
• If you make a mistake, click Clear or select the term and press backspace or delete on your keyboard, or overtype the search. Alternatively begin a new search by clicking the New Search option.
• Once you have entered your search terms, either click the magnifying glass symbol or press enter on your keyboard.
• Results are displayed in the search results screen. Click individual records to see full details in the Summary screen. You'll automatically be shown the Summary screen if only one record is found. If no results are found, you'll see a "No records found" message.
• You can browse the search results in the search results screen and select items by checking the boxes on the left hand side of the list. You can then view full details of your selected items.
• If you wish to file, print or email your results, click Export in the left hand menu and follow the instructions.
• If you wish to Export the results of multiple searches use the Basket option in the left hand menu. You can View the content of your basket and Export the contents.
• Avoid using the 'back' button on your browser - all the options you need should be available on the screen.

See tips on finding the full-text of older CIPD publications.

Searching by fields

The Advanced search enables you to find books, reports, journal articles and websites by searching within specified fields. You can put in a single word or a combination of words. If you make a mistake, click Clear or select the term and press backspace or delete on your keyboard, or overtype the search. Alternatively to begin a new search, click New Search on the menu.

• All Fields search: Enter your search terms. This can be either a single word or a combination of words. The All Field Search enables you to search a range of fields at the same time eg author, title, journal name, keyword or phrase.
• Title and ISBN fields: Enter your search terms into the field. The title field presents a drop-down list of matching entries, from which you can select the required entry.
• Author, Corporate author and Keyword fields: After you enter the first three characters of a search term you'll see a list of possible matches from which you can select the correct term. Highlight the term you require and press Enter to paste the term into the field. You can also select terms from a list. Click Lookup to open the list and Expand All to see all terms. Click the term you want to search on and then click > arrow or double-click to paste it into the search box on the right hand side. Repeat this for as many terms as you want to search on. The system will automatically apply the AND operator between terms. You can change the setting by selecting either the OR or NOT operator. Finally, click Apply & Close and you will see the advanced search, with your selected search terms pasted into the relevant fields.
• Adding terms: To add more terms to a search field, click Repeat. You'll see another search box appear and you can enter terms into the box. You can continue to add boxes as required. You can also change the AND/OR/NOT drop-down as required.
• Publication date: You can search for a specific publication date by selecting the year first, then adding the month and then the day. You can also enter just a year. You search for a date range by entering the Start Year and End Year or combination of the two. You can also search up to the present by leaving the end date empty.
• Searching within fields: You can specify how your search terms will be used by the search engine to retrieve records. The options are:
  • All of these words - The search engine will look for records containing all of the words you have entered in the field irrespective of the order you have entered them in.
  • Exact wording or phrase - The search engine will look for records with all of the search terms you have entered in the filed in the exact order you have entered them in.
• Using AND, OR, NOT operators: You can build a search by combining within fields and adding AND/OR/NOT.
• Content and record types: You can narrow your search by content type. Click Select and specify Books and reports or journal articles or websites or a combination.

Viewing results and printing

• Once you have entered your search terms, either click Search or press Enter on your keyboard. Results are displayed in the search results screen. Click individual records to see full details in the Summary screen. You'll automatically be shown the Summary screen if only one record was found. If no results are found, you'll see a "No records found" message.
• You can browse the search results in the search results screen and select items by checking the boxes on the left hand side of the list. You can then view full details of your selected items.
• If you wish to file, print or email your results, click Export in the left hand menu and follow the instructions.
• If you wish to Export the results of multiple searches use the Basket option in the left hand menu. You can View the content of your basket and Export the contents.
• It is not advisable to use the 'back' button on your browser when using the database - all the options you need should be available on the screen.