NCIC Database Search Tips

The Search Tips provided below specifically address accessing and refining searches using the NCIC Livelink™ Databases. For a three-page PDF guide to Searching the N.C. Industrial Commission Databases, click here.

If you have any additional questions not addressed on this page, please feel free to Contact Us.

Logging into the Workers’ Comp Livelink™ Database

Please Note: The America Online (AOL) web browser is not compatible with the Livelink™ software. When using AOL as an Internet Service Provider, please log in to AOL and then use Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox for your searches.

To use the Livelink™ full-text searchable databases, please follow these steps:

1. Click Here to access the database web page.
2. Type public in the Username: text box. There is no password required for public access.
   (Note: The Username: text box is case sensitive. Please type public in lowercase letters only.)
3. Press the Enter key or click the Log-in button to access the Livelink Search Public Page

The six full-text searchable database options are:

• Deputy Commissioner, which includes all Deputy Commissioner decisions filed since March 1, 2000.
• Enterprise (formerly Everything [Public]), which allows the general public to search the following four databases simultaneously: Deputy Commissioner, Full Commission, N.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, and Statutes.
• Enterprise [All Versions], which allows the user to search the following four databases simultaneously: Deputy Commissioner, Full Commission, N.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, and Statutes.
• Full Commission, which includes all Full Commission decisions filed since December 1, 1994.
• N.C. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, which includes all precedent-setting decisions filed since 1994. (Note: Hypertext links to PDF versions of selected Rule 30(e) non-precedent -setting decisions can be found at http://www.ic. nc.gov/ncic/pages/court.htm .)
• Statutes (formerly Statutes/NCIC Rules), which includes pertinent portions of the N.C. General Statutes—updated through the changes made by the 2010 General Assembly—plus the latest update of the N.C. Industrial Commission Rules.

Searching Multiple Databases Simultaneously

To search several databases simultaneously, follow these steps:

1. Click to select the first database, and then press and hold down the Ctrl key and click to select each additional database to search. When you have finished, release the Ctrl key.
2. Click NCIC Databases line in the Searchable Databases section (at the bottom of the page) to access the Search Term(s)
3. In the Full Text section, indicate whether to Look for: All Words, Any Words, Exact Phrase, or Complex Query.
4. To search for more than one term at a time, click the small gray + button at the far right of the Full Text section to open another search-term text box.

TIP#1: To search for citations of a specific statute, such as N.C. Gen. Stat. §97-88.1, choose the Exact Phrase option and type 97-88.1 in the text box.

TIP #2: To look for decisions filed by a particular Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner, choose Exact Phrase and type, for example, by theresa in the text box to find decisions filed by Deputy Commissioner Theresa B. Stephenson.

Scope of Search

In the Scope section, click to select the database(s) to search. To search more than one database at the same time, click to select the first database, and then press and hold down the Ctrl key and click to select each additional database to search. When you have finished, release the Ctrl key.

Search Results Page

Displaying Files in HTML

Click Filename.doc at far left to display a file in HTML (hypertext markup language).

Downloading Files and Displaying Files in Microsoft Word and HTML

Click the small blue-and-white Functions Icon (▼), located immediately to the right of Filename.doc, to display menu options. Select options include:

• Download: Save file to disk (or view it online in HTML).
• Fetch: Retrieve file in its original format (i.e., Microsoft Word).
• View: View file in HTML.

Downloading Files in Microsoft Word

Fetch the file. When the Fetch process displays the file in a Microsoft Word window, go to the Menu Bar at the top of the screen, choose File and select Save As…, and save the file on the drive and in the directory of your choice.

Problems Saving Documents

If the Menu Bar in Microsoft Word does not allow you to choose File and select Save As…, click into the document anywhere, then press Ctrl A (select all), Ctrl C (copy), Ctrl N (open new document), and Ctrl V (paste). The entire document, including headers and footers, will be pasted into the new document, which must then be named by choosing File and selecting Save As…, and typing in the I.C. Number for the file name.

This page was last updated 20 April 2011