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STANDARD CODING SYSTEM - APPENDIX AThis appendix provides file codes for municipalities and regional districts and links to:
Links to Standardized File CodesMinistry codes The British Columbia Government's Chart of accounts http://www.min.fin.gov.bc.ca/ocg/CFA/coa2001/Client2007.xls uses a three-digit code to identify ministries. Corporate Information Management Branch (CIMB) recommends the use of these codes where files need to be arranged according to individual government ministry. Provincial and Territorial Numbers CIMB recommends the use of the secondary numbers in primary 242 as standardized codes when classifying records by province. Local Government Codes The Ministry of Community Development maintains a list of municipality, regional district, and improvement district codes. Municipality and regional district codes are as follows: Local Government Codes. Improvement district codes are as follows: Improvement District Codes. CIMB recommends the use of these codes where files need to be arranged according to municipality, regional district, or improvement district. School District Codes School district codes consist of the two-digit alphabetic prefix "SD" followed by the numbering system established by the Ministry of Education. A list of British Columbia school districts and numbers can be found at http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/apps/imcl/imclWeb/Home.do. Links to Education Institutions, British Columbia Provincial Legislation, and Names of Federal AgenciesEducation Institutions CIMB recommends the standard coding system be used to create codes whenever there is a need to file by the name of a post-secondary education institution. A list of British Columbia universities, colleges and institutes can be found at http://www.aved.gov.bc.ca/institutions/welcome.htm. Provincial Statutes CIMB recommends the standard coding system be used whenever there is a need to file by the name of a provincial statute or regulation. British Columbia provincial legislation can be found at the web site of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia http://www.leg.bc.ca/legislation/. Federal Agencies CIMB recommends the standard coding system be used whenever there is a need to file by the name of a federal government department, branch, directorate, agency, board, council, commission, or other office. An alphabetical list of federal institutions can be found at http://canada.gc.ca/depts/major/depind_e.html. Five-Digit Alphanumeric Standard Coding SystemThe standard coding system is based upon a five-digit alphanumeric code designed so as to make use of existing abbreviations or acronyms whenever possible. Additional codes are easily created by following the instructions given. The system is logical and expandable, and codes are usually recognizable since they are based upon the significant words in the proper title or name of organizations, meetings, committees, associations, legislation, and other discrete file units. For example, five-digit alphanumeric codes can be particularly useful in coding administrative meetings, see primary 102; some legislation, see primaries 125 (British Columbia), 130 (federal), 132 (foreign), 134 (local government), 135 (ministerial), 145 (provincial); agreements, see primaries 146 (general), 148 (federal), 150 (inter-provincial), 151 (inter-ministerial), 152 (local government), 154 (United States); associations, clubs and societies, see primary 160; committees, see primaries 200 (general), 201 (cabinet), 202 (ministerial), 204 (inter-ministerial), 205 (international) and 206 (inter-provincial/federal); conferences, seminars, and symposia and schools, see primary 245; corporations, companies, and firms, see primary 250; individual publication and display projects, see primaries 312 (books and publications) and 316 (exhibits, fairs, exhibitions); and financial agreements and arrangements, see primary 950. This standard coding system consists of five digits. The first four are letters and the last is a number. Combined, they form an alphanumeric code unique to a specific primary number. The same code may be used for different, if often similar, purposes within other primaries. The letters provide a mnemonic for the title; the number serves to differentiate identical codes referring to different, titles. The creation of new codes is simple. Take the first letter of each of the first four significant words in the proper name or title of a file unit. Articles, prepositions, conjunctions, and punctuation are for this purpose obviously not significant. In addition, such common words as act, agreement, association, board, committee, company, conference, congress, corporation, limited, meeting, organization, report, seminar, society, statement, and symposium are not usually significant if they appear at the end of a proper name or title. Several straightforward examples are:
If a name or title has only three significant words, take the first letter of the first three significant words and the second letter of the third:
If a name or title has only two significant words, take the first letter of the first two significant words and the second and third letters of the second word:
If a name or title has only one significant word, take all four letters from the beginning of that word:
However, an exception to the foregoing is that existing acronyms should always be used to comprise as many of the four letters as possible, even if some letters represent non-significant words. Therefore, the first four letters of five-letter acronyms should be used:
Four-letter acronyms should be used as they are:
In the case of three-letter acronyms, the acronym and the second letter of the word represented by this third letter should be used:
Moreover, if an acronym is already incorporated into the proper name or title of a file unit or is commonly and logically associated with the function dealt with, it should be used to comprise as many of the four letters as possible. The above instruction should be followed in the selection of additional letters. However, such acronyms should not be used if they will not logically direct the user to the correct codes and file titles in ARCS.
The preceding "EXPO" examples illustrate well the problem that would arise in using a straight alphabetic code. The same code might appear more than once under the same primary and secondary numbers. However, with the addition on one number to the four letters, the same letters can be used a maximum of nine times within the same secondary, which is of course unlikely to occur. Normally, the default value of the fifth digit of the alphanumeric code will be "1". Even so, it must be included in all coding in case the same letters are subsequently used within a given secondary. As duplication occurs, numbers are to be assigned sequentially. They follow several examples of use of the same letters to distinguish different files within a given secondary number:
Finally, in order to facilitate both expansion and electronic sorting, all coded sub-series must be subjugated to a secondary number. This has been illustrated in the foregoing examples. Obviously, files should be physically arranged alphanumerically by five-digit code (as listed in ARCS, file names and titles will appear within a few lines of their logical alphabetical order. There should be no need to maintain a cross-reference list between codes and the names and titles they represent. An exception will be the codes in which acronyms, appearing in the middle of a name/title or reflection function, are used. |
