Administrative Skills ARMA Filing Rules Administrative Skills

Why have rules?

“The real test of an efficient records storage system is being able to find records quickly once they have been stored.”

1. Why is consistency in filing so important?

Indexing Determining the filing segment (or name) by which the record will be stored and retrieved. The name most likely to be used in requesting the record is the one to be used for storage.

Coding Marking the record to indicate the field (name, number, subject) by which it is to be stored. / between each word Underline the key unit Number remaining units

2. Why are indexing rules important when filing names alphabetically?

Rule #1 Personal names Business names Surname (last name) Given name (first name) Middle name or initial Business names As written (on letterhead) Each word is a unit

Remember: Nothing comes before something. A blank space comes before a letter. Baker / William Bakersly / William

Rule #2 – Minor Words and Symbols in Business Names Articles: a, an, the Prepositions: to, at, on, of, for Conjunctions: and, but, or, nor Symbols: &, %, $

Are separate indexing units Symbols indexed as if spelled out “The” as the first word is considered the last unit.

Rule #3 Punctuation All punctuation marks are disregarded Names are indexed as written Doggydaycare.com is indexed as doggydaycarecom

Rule #4 – Single Letters and Abbreviations Initials in personal names are separate units Nicknames are indexed as written Business acronyms and abbreviations are indexed as written

Rule #5 A title before a name, a seniority suffix, or professional suffix after a name is the last indexing unit. Numbers are filed before alphabetic suffixes. Royal and religious titles followed by surname only are indexed as written.

Business names --- titles are indexed as written.

Rule #6 Prefixes – Articles and Particles “A,” “an,” or “the” in another language used as part of a person’s name De La Hoya D’Agostino Le Fleur

Mac or Mc Von, Van, Von der, Van der O’ Saint, St., San, etc. Ten, Ter, Te All are combined with the name that follows to form a single unit. Punctuation and spaces are disregarded.

Rule #7 – Numbers in Business Names Numbers written as digits are filed before letters or words. Numbers spelled out are filed alphabetically. Digits are filed ascending. Arabic numbers before Roman numerals. Disregard ordinal suffixes (rd, nd, etc.)

Rule #8 – Organizations and Institutions Organizations and institutions are indexed and filed according to the names written on their letterheads. 1st National Bank = 1/ National/ Bank St. Vincent’s Medical Center = StVincents/ Medical/ Center

Rule #9 – Identical Names If two people or organizations have identical names, filing order is determined by address. City name State or province names Street names House or building numbers

Rule #10 – Government Names Indexed first by the name of the governmental unit. Indexed next by the distinctive departmental name

The first three indexing units of a U.S. federal agency are: United States Government (always!)

State and local government: the first indexing units are the names of the state, town, county, etc. Next, index the most distinctive departmental/unit name.

Foreign government agencies are indexed by the first distinctive English name, then by the rest of the official government name, then by divisions of the government.

Cross-References Personal Names Unusual Names Hyphenated Surnames Kim David could also be David Kim Cross reference as: David Kim See Kim David Hyphenated Surnames Mary Jones-Stamford needs a cross-reference as: Stamford Mary Jones See JonesStamford, Mary

Alternate Names When an individual uses more than one name, such as a professional name (DBA, AKA) Mrs. Jennifer Reed in private life is Ms. Jennifer Jackson in professional life. Jackson Jennifer Ms. See also: Reed Jennifer Mrs.

Names with multiple spellings Jason Snyder Snider See also: Snyder, Shneider

Business Names Compound Names Jasper, Nilson, and Fister, CPAs should be cross referenced under each name. Nilson, Fister and Jasper, CPAs See Jasper, Nilson, and Fister, CPAs

Acronyms and abbreviations NELA should be cross referenced: Northwest Educational Loan Association See NELA

Popular or Coined Names Spokane Falls Community College should be cross-referenced: SFCC see Spokane Falls Community College