Tips

This office was neat, but all of this came out of their files, off shelves and desk drawers.

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Filing Guidelines

Colored file folders:
• Color by category: all personnel files are green; all research files are blue.
• Color by subject: personnel changes go in the orange folder; management retreat documents go in the purple folder.
• Color by priority: all To Dos go in the red folder; all correspondence to be answered goes in the pink folder.

How to Establish a Records Retention Program

• Inventory the records currently in use, and note the present retention period for each record. You may discover needlessly long retention periods. Responsible persons in each department should be asked to recommend a minimum retention.
• A committee of the records manager, office manager, and company counsel should analyze this information in view of statutory requirements.
• Develop a company-wide record retention program, and put it into manual form. The manual should be distributed to all those having responsibility for records. Put someone permanently in charge of the manual.

Nothing Comes Before Something

A last name, when used alone, stands ahead of a last name with a first initial. This in turn precedes a last name with a full first name.

Adair
Adair, J.
Adair, James
Adair, James R.
Adair, James R., Jr.
Adamson, John
Adamson, John, Jr.

Prefixes Are Part of Names
Consider all prefixes as part of the name to which they are attached. Arrange them exactly as spelled.

Deems, A.
DeLuca, F.
Des Jardins, Charles
Fitzherbert, Mary
FitzPatrick, James
MacIntosh, L.B.J.
McDonald, Lewis
Sainforin, Roger
Saint John, Oliver
Saintjohn, Richard

Arrange Hyphenated Names As Written
Goldthwaite-Smythe, Lisa
Goldthwaite-Smythe Mortuary
Goldthwaite-Smythe, Norma

One Word is Better Than Two
Any two words ordinarily written as one word should be treated as one word.

“ Interstate” not “Inter State”
“ Northeast” not “North East”

Two-Word Geographical Names Are Filed as Though They Were One Word

Des Moines
New Haven
New Jersey
Rio de Janeiro
Winston-Salem
--are all filed as though they were one word.

Rules for Alphabetizing

• File in strict alphabetical order. Smith, James comes before
• Smith, Joan.
• All words are considered part of the alphabetical filing unit, except
• for “the.” Thompson Associates comes before The Village Voice.
• Spell out symbols and file alphabetically. # becomes number,
• $ becomes dollar, & becomes and.
• Ignore punctuation. Hyphenated words are considered one word.
• Arabic and Roman numerals are filed sequentially before
• alphabetical headings.
• 1-Stop Shopping
• 5-Minute Martinizers
• 15-Minute Messenger Service
• VII Samurai Teriyaki
• If the surname is not evident, file by the last word, and cross-reference
• the folder by the first word as well. Ying Yuen Li—file as Li, Ying Yuen
• and as Ying, Yuen Li.

Nine out of ten times
buying more filing cabinets is not necessary!
Call Mary to update your file system!
423-581-9460 or 865-607-9460 or
Toll-free 888-835-6335

Mastercard, Visa and Discover cheerfully accepted.