Of all the questions we are asked on a day to day basis, most are related
directly to alphabetic filing rules. This is for a number of reasons -
first of all, alphabetic filing requires no master index and is usually
chosen as a filing method for small records departments. Consequently the
system has flaws when not implemented properly (ie. rules are not made
obvious to all employees), and usually the size of the system is an
indicator of the companies filing policies and training.

Most small companies do not institute a formal filing course as part of
their hiring process.

So, the following filing rules - which we find to be very helpful, tend to
be the most sought after in our industry. They are simply a template for
your business, and can be modified - so long as the modifications are made
known to all employees. We recommend posting them directly on your filing
equipment.

For a quick lesson on alphabetic filing, including purpose, advantages,
disadvantages and contrast over other filing methods, check out

http://www.infofile.ca/lesson_alpha.php
----

Guidelines to follow:

One strategy would be to follow how a computer organizes numbers and
letters. Computers place numbers before letters. Computers also put nothing
before something. In other words, a computer sorting the numbers 1 through
10, as if they were text would place the number 10 before 2. Consistency in
number format is required to keep the numbers in order. So to get the number
2 to be sorted before the number 10 preceding the 2 by a zero is required.
(01, 02, 03, 04, ... 10 )

A second strategy would be to follow how the phone book is organized.
I used to feel that this was very effective, but I have found of late, that
it seems to break its own rules. It appears to follow the concept of forget
all spaces and treat all words, names as one big word and organize the names
that way. Yet at other times it does not.

A third strategy would be to follow the rules as set out by ARMA
(Association of Records Managers and Administrators). After all they have
published a guideline consisting of 40 pages of rules and examples. If you
wish to receive a copy, ARMA can be reached at http://www.arma.org/. I
however feel their rules are far too difficult to follow for most
applications. After all Rule #3 is to keep it simple.

Rule #1 These are rules, so treat them as such.

Rule #2 If you want to break the rules, let all know of
changes and add them to the rules.

Rule #3 Keep the rules simple, so all can follow. This is
why it is best not to make special considerations for "this" and something
else for "that".

Rule #4 Nothing comes before something.
ie. "Johnson"comes before
"Johnson, A." which comes before
"Johnson, Al"
This rule also means Initials precede names.

Rule #5 Has two options.
A) Numbers come before letters.
ie. "123 Company" comes before
"ABC Company"

or

B) Treat numbers as if spelled out, "123" becomes "One Two
Three".
ie. "ABC Company" comes before
"456 Incorporated" which comes before
"123 Company".

Rule #6 Disregard Hyphens, Periods, Commas, Dashes and
Apostrophes. Hyphenated words are to be considered to be one word.
ie. "James, Sam" comes before
"Jame's Shop" which comes before
"James-Smith, Jean"

Rule #7 Treat all abbreviations as spelled out. In other
words "&" becomes "and","St." becomes "Saint".
ie. "St. James, Lisa" comes before
"Sather, Brenda"

If you make exceptions to this rule, than make sure all
are aware. If you wish to file the "St." as printed. The problem with this
kind of strategy is you can wind up with the "St." and "Saint" in two
different locations. So be careful when not spelling out abbreviations.

ie. "Saint James, Mike" comes before
"Spencer, Wendy" which comes before
"St. James, Lisa"

Rule #8 When dealing with company names that start with
"The" or "Le", they become the last filing unit.
ie. "Water Store" comes before
"Water Store, La" which comes before "Water Store, The"

Rule #9 Names that have a prefix like "Mac" or "Van" are
part of the name.
ie. "MacIssac, John" comes before
"Mack, James" which comes before
"Mactavish, Lynne"

The "Mc" and the "Mac" create some of the greatest debate.
I recommend treating them the same. This way "MacMillian" would be treated
as "McMillian" for filing purposes. You do not change its spelling on the
name label, but treat it differently for filing only. For further details on
this, contact our office.

Rule #10 Government listings, the location comes first.
ie. "Ontario, Province of" comes before
"Peel, Region of" which comes before
"St. Catherines, City of"

Rule #11 If there is more than one way to refer to
something, than cross reference. This can become very important when looking
at some names when it is difficult to know which is the first, middle or
last name.




We welcome your thoughts on this, and we hope this strategy will
assist your organization.

Vaughn Warrington, C.R.M.
Infofile Systems Inc.





----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----