Organizing and Managing Your Files

Records Management ProgramSuffolk University Archives

617.305.6255617.305.6275 (fax)

mdelloiacono@suffolk.edu

•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) mdelloiacono@suffolk.edu