Organizing and Managing Your Files Records Management Program Suffolk University Archives 617.305.6255 617.305.6275 (fax) [email protected]
Jan 02, 2016
Organizing and Managing Your Files
Records Management ProgramSuffolk University Archives
617.305.6255617.305.6275 (fax)
•Introduce basic principles of classification and arrangement
•Discuss electronic and manual filing systems
•Tips for implementing new strategies
•Questions?
ArrangementArrangement OrganizationOrganization FeaturesFeatures
•Alphabetical By Name, SubjectGood for small
volume
•Numerical By number, codeAccurate, but may
require index
•Chronological By date Good for small volume
•Hierarchical By system of headingsFast retrieval,
changeable
•Classified By subject Complex, requires index
•In order to efficiently and quickly locate records (either manually or electronically), you should reduce the amount of records you have to search through
•By subdividing your records into successively smaller groups of related files, you will have fewer groups of records to search when you are trying to find a particular file.
•One way is to organize your records by function and activity, and then by the type or date of file
•Organizing your files and folders hierarchically will reduce the area of search. Rather than searching through one big pile of records to find a file you need, you could break the pile down into categories (headings) based on function.
•You could then take the category and separate it further based on activity (secondary heading), and separate each of those by transaction (tertiary heading), and so on as needed…
That way, identifying a needed record will be much more efficient
For Example:•Human Resources is one function defined
by the Records Retention Schedule. Within that function are several activities:
oPersonnel
oAffirmative Action
oSearch and Appointment
•Within the Personnel activity, there are several types of files:
oEmployee Personnel Records
oFaculty Personnel Records
oMedical and Personal Records
oFamily and Medical Leave
Human Resources
Affirmative Action Personnel Search and Appointment
Employee PersonnelRecords
Faculty PersonnelRecords
Family and MedicalLeave
Medical and PersonalRecords
Applied to a manual filing system, it would look like this:
Human Resources
Personnel
Family and Med.. Leave
Med./ Personnel Records
Employee Med. Records
Faculty Personnel Records
Affirmative Action
Search and Appointment
•Establish headings and subheadings as needed—don’t over classify (perhaps 10 records or more would establish a new heading, otherwise move to a higher level)
•Make sure your paper and electronic structures are the same
•Color coding can enhance the retrieval process
•Apply additional arrangements within the general hierarchy. For example…
Using our earlier arrangement:
•Human Resources
Personnel – hierarchy by status (current or former), then alphabetically
Search and Appointment - Chronologically
•This simply means arranging in order to easily apply retention periods according to the General Records Schedule
•For example, let’s look at 1420 Special Events Records Description: Documents events sponsored or co-sponsored by the university or individual departments and offices. This may include commencements, convocations, lectures, dinners, ceremonies, visits, tours, retreats, and other social events.
Examples: Records may include planning and arrangement records, announcements, program flyers and brochures, participant registration and attendee lists, agendas, presentation materials, photographs or videos, evaluations, minutes and notes, and any substantive correspondence. Retention Period: a) Planning and arrangement records, registration and attendee lists, and transitory correspondence: Retain until administrative use ceases, and then destroy. b) All other records: Retain for 5 years after event, and then transfer to Archives. (
Organizing for Disposition
So, in order to create a steady flow of records OUT of the office that (hopefully) matches the
steady flow of records IN to the office, your files might be arranged:
•Separate series: arrangement and planning records – don’t mix with facilities, for example
•Separate folders w/in series: payment records, catering arrangements - maybe also for meeting minutes, programs and fliers, presentations
•Same folder: phone messages, any other very short term records
•Retire files when a project is over; at end of fiscal year, stop filing in that folder and start new
☼ Everyone’s office is a bit different - they create different types of records, and use them in a variety of ways
☼Try to arrange the files the way you will look for them - if you normally search by name, don’t arrange by subject…
“What information will the user know as they approach the file?”
Name of sender Name of location
Name of recipient Title
Date Name of program
Project Name Subject
Account Number Report Number
1. File on a regular basis
2. Color code your files
3. Retire your files at the end of each year and start new folders
4. Write the disposition date and action on the file folder
5. Eliminate extra copies
•The specific arrangement of files is not as important as consistency and documentation--especially when it comes to electronic documents
•When organizing electronic files and folders, it is critical to base names on some type of controlled vocabulary
Being consistent in naming files and folders has many advantages:
Assists in maintenance and disposition
Assists in easily and quickly locating files
Assists in determining ownership
Eliminates use of synonyms resulting in duplication
Restricts use of personal file names
Electronic files relate to organization's paper records
indexes
•Naming your electronic files with the date first can assist in disposition.
•For example, a file about billing records that were paid on February 8, 2005 could be named 20050208_FIN_PD
•Note that the date format is year_month_day and the month and day are written with 2 digits…this format will achieve chronological order when sorting electronically
●Nothing comes before something (New York comes before Newbury), so avoid spaces.
●Underscores work well to space necessary elements of a file name
For example, a draft of a files management workshop could be saved as:
DFT_files_management_April_2007
●Humans can be taught to ignore “the” at the beginning of a term but computers generally can’t be, so avoid using articles (a, an, the)
●Numbers will come before letters--docket and case numbers make naming easier
All words and symbols are considered--keep in mind how the names will sort
Establish consistent patterns
Prefixes and suffixes
Abbreviations
Acronyms
Controlled vocabulary-avoid synonyms
*Document/index your choices*
Sample Abbreviations
Document Type Name
Draft # 3 DFT003
Final Copy FNL
Memorandum MEMO
Contract CTR
Schedule SCD
Month Jan or 01
Year 2007 or 07
Once again, the specific scheme is not as important as consistency and documentation
Create a plan and stick to it: different people will come up with different names, so conventions need to be laid out and followed
Try to match your electronic names as closely as possible to the paper file names
Chronological filing can be accomplished through naming conventions, thus assisting in disposition
• Ease into a new system slowly…set up major (primary) categories, one file series at a time
• Weed unnecessary files according to the relevant records schedule entries
• Choose a natural starting point
• End of fiscal year
• End of an audit
• End of the school year (more time, less interruptions)
Contacting Records Management
•Interpreting the records schedule
•Transferring permanent records to the archives
•In-office records consultations
•Customized training and instruction
•Office moves and cleanups
•Large-scale scanning or digitization projects
Michael Dello Iacono, University Records Manager
Suffolk University Archives617.305.6255
617.305.6275 (fax) [email protected]