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File Structure

The document provides guidance on developing an effective filing system for both paper and electronic records by outlining 7 steps to establish a new system including reviewing current practices, determining user needs, considering alternatives, analyzing costs and benefits, selecting options, implementing, and following up. It emphasizes establishing standard naming conventions, procedures, and an indexed structure to organize records hierarchically by function for easy retrieval.

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108 views3 pages

File Structure

The document provides guidance on developing an effective filing system for both paper and electronic records by outlining 7 steps to establish a new system including reviewing current practices, determining user needs, considering alternatives, analyzing costs and benefits, selecting options, implementing, and following up. It emphasizes establishing standard naming conventions, procedures, and an indexed structure to organize records hierarchically by function for easy retrieval.

Uploaded by

rajivkubal
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Dir/ Policy 01/2009 Jan 2009

FILING SYSTEM AT HALANI

Now where did I put that E-mail message?

In words like these, thousands of decision-makers continually call for needed information. The facts
come fast from your records—if the records are carefully organized, if they are systematically maintained,
and if the requester gives the right clues. If not, work falters and tempers flare. Finding an E-mail
message, a word processing document, or a spreadsheet on the shared drive of a computer network, or
placing a document into a paper case file seems a simple matter—until something cannot be found. Then
an office comes face-to-face with the age old problem of recordkeeping. Both managers and staff wish
they had mastered the basic principles when the files were first established and had consistently applied
these principles in their daily filing. This toolkit was prepared to offer guidance to Federal offices that have
a few file cabinets or share workspace on the organization’s local area network, and where specified
employees keep the records as a collateral duty.

Why is a File System necessary?

Managing paper records or documents continues to be a formidable task. This in spite of the development
and availability of computers. Because it is progressively easier to create, print, copy and transmit
documents, the paperless office remains a myth. Because of this problem and the ongoing need for
organizations to have the right information available quickly, files management is a critical business
function. The process of designing, documenting, and implementing standard procedures for classifying,
sorting, and storing information to ensure its cost-effective and timely retrieval is called file system
development.

Major Components of an Active File System

· Standard File Structure or indexing scheme, usually including a file coding or numbering pattern for each
level of the index
· Written rules for file terminology. Standard spellings for key words and terms, a requirement to spell out
acronyms, and alpha and numeric
· filing rules.
·An up-to-date listing of all file titles (paper and electronic)
· Standard procedures for updating the system. Also procedures for transferring
the files to inactive storage in an offsite records center, or digital records, online or offline storage. .
· Written procedures for end users and for employees who maintain the file
system, and training.

Steps in File System Development.


Step 1: Review the current status. Determine whether your agency has implemented any part of a
records/information management program and whether this program includes any file systems or a
current records retention program. Does a filing system of any kind exist and do people use it? How are
electronic files being saved and arranged on the shared drive of the server?

Step 2: Determine User Requirements. Ask and listen to the people who actually file things and retrieve
paper and electronic records. Ask them to describe specific problems they have encountered. This helps
you determine what type of filing system to use and how complex or simple it should be, and it helps you
in gaining user buy-in to the system. User acceptance cannot be overestimated as a success factor.

Step 3: Review Alternatives. Consider more than one type of file arrangement; enumerate the strengths
and weaknesses of each, and know that there is no perfect filing system in existence.3

Step 4: Analyze Costs and Benefits. Determine the costs of implementing a new system, as well as the
ongoing costs of NOT implementing a new system. Factor in lost time and business opportunities
resulting from the status quo.

Step 5: Select Alternatives: Make a recommendation based on the expected benefits, costs, and
resources available to implement the new system. Provide two acceptable (at least) options from which
users can choose.

Step 6: Plan and Execute Implementation. Develop a timeline of when and by each physical
implementation phase will be completed. Develop target dates and fallback options if unexpected
situations arise.

Step 7: Follow Up and Revise. About three months after a new system is implemented, conduct a follow
up study to determine whether corrective actions are needed. If so, go back to Step 3. Schedule a review
annually thereafter.

Records Survey.

Any survey should collect information on the following:

· office name and function;


· for each office, where the records come from and go to, and how they are used in that office;
· what formats (paper, electronic, etc.);
· how frequently are different records in the office referenced by users;
· how long are the files needed for everyday business and when do they start to become inactive;
· how long are records maintained (is the retention schedule followed);
· how do people name their files;
· is a list or index to the files maintained somewhere

File structure

HG/RMC/001
HG/HSPL/001
HG/GHSPL/001

The numbering sequence will be as follows:-

Admin- 001-099
Technical- 100-199
Operational- 200-299
Quality-300-399
Finance- 400-499
Miscellaneous- 500-599
Analyze the Survey Information. After completing the walk through and survey, start planning the
system and analyzing the data you gathered. Consider the following: active and inactive records found;
activity level, especially for electronic records; whether to classify a records at the document or folder
level; the options for sequencing files—numeric, alphabetic, chronological, alpha—numeric, subject, etc.;
keyword indexing; associating the files to the retention schedule; structuring the index.4

Arrange records “hierarchically” and “functionally”.

> Hierarchically means arranging your information from the “general to


the specific.
Admin
Technical
Operational
Quality
Finance
Miscellaneous

Functional arrangement means that you name things and categorize them by the core business functions
of your agency (which rarely change), rather than by the current organization chart (which can change
frequently).

A Word On Electronic Filing.

Always keep in mind the KISS (Keep it Simple and Straightforward) principle when developing filing
systems. Especially ones for shared electronic files. Electronic filing systems should mirror the paper file
to some extent, but they should not be nearly as complex and should have no more than five to seven
levels of hierarchical electronic folders. Always develop naming conventions for electronic file names in a
standard format that everyone is required to use. For example: file name ddmmyy

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