Corporate Records Management Branch

2.6 Secondary Number and Title

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Secondary numbers and titles designate specific series or groupings of records relating to the function covered by the primary.  Secondary titles describe specific types of records and secondary numbers link them to the records retention and disposition schedule.  The two-digit secondary number is added to the primary number to form a complete file number, for example, 100-20 or 23120-04.

All offices must use the same secondary number to refer to the same series or grouping of records.  Standardization ensures continuity and consistency in retention and disposition of operational records.

Three types of secondaries exist within ARCS: reserved secondaries, subject secondaries, and case file secondaries.

2.6.1 Reserved Secondaries

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Reserved secondaries are secondary numbers used to cover records series which are repeated in several primaries.

Secondaries -00 and -01 are reserved in ARCS and throughout all ORCS.

Secondary number -00 is always reserved for "Policy and procedures" records.  These are records that document the general goals and management decisions concerning how an organization carries out its functions.  They include draft and approved policy documents, working materials and correspondence, precedent-setting documents, procedural guidelines and manuals, and standards documentation.

Secondary number -01 is always reserved for "general" records that cannot be classified in the specified subject or case file secondaries.  Within each primary, the standardized secondary -01 is reserved as a general file.  Records which meet one or more of the following criteria may be filed in the general file:

• The document does not relate to any of the existing secondaries, but does fall within the primary.
• There is no existing classification number for the document.  The general number is used TEMPORARILY, until the subject is significant enough to warrant creating a new primary or secondary number and title.  If you need to use the general secondary in this way, contact your Records Officer and see 3.14, regarding amendment and update of ARCS.
• The document contains information of a general nature and does not reflect actions or decisions of the creating office.

Note when filing anything under secondary -01 that its retention period may be shorter than that of the related subject or case file secondary, and/or the related secondaries may be scheduled for selective or full retention for the government archives.  If this is the case, it is imperative that the file be reclassified before disposition.

If a document relates to two or more secondaries, you should be more precise and file the original or a photocopy of the record in each specific file.  It is not appropriate to file such documents under "General" because this will cause access and scheduling problems.

2.6.2 Secondaries -02 to -19 (subject secondaries)

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Within a primary, secondaries -02 to -19 represent files for specific subjects and other non-case file series, that is, records filed chronologically in one file folder (e.g., inquiries or reports).  These are commonly referred to as subject files.  In the sample primary, secondaries -03 (extraterrestrial reports and statistics) and -04 (visits by unidentified extraterrestrials) are subject secondaries.

While the files covered by most subject secondaries can be organized chronologically, some need to be broken down into files covering different aspects of the same subject, different types of report, or some other organization.  In these cases, subject secondaries may be coded.  For an explanation of coded series, see 2.6.4.

Most subject secondaries in ARCS are intended to cover background materials used for reference purposes, rather than records of actions and decisions.

2.6.3 Case File Secondaries (-20 and higher)

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Case file series consist of many different files relating to a common function or activity.  Each case file contains records pertaining to a specific time-limited entity, such as a person, event, project, transaction, product, organization, etc.  The component records within each file in a case file series are generally consistent; that is, a file may contain a variety of documents (such as forms, correspondence, reports, and photographs), but this variety will be consistent with other files in the same series (for example, the same form may appear in every file).  Case file series are assigned secondary numbers -20 and higher (-30, -40, -50, etc.).  In the sample primary, secondaries -20 (extraterrestrial registrant case files) and -30 (the Extraterrestrial Registration System) are case file secondaries.

2.6.4 Coded Series

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Case file secondaries are usually subdivided through the use of codes.  A code identifies the specific person, event, project, or other entity covered by the file.  Codes can take the form of proper names, acronyms, or alphanumeric codes developed within government.  Consult your Records Officer if you wish to develop an appendix for your own set of codes.  For guidelines on developing codes, see Appendix A.

In special cases, subject files may also be coded to facilitate retrieval (e.g., studies on different aspects of one interprovincial agreement).  Coded subject files usually consist of many different files, each dealing with a different aspect of the same subject.  Codes may take the form of names, titles, abbreviations, or other alphabetic codes.

In references to coded files, an oblique (/) separates the identifying code from the secondary number.

In the sample primary, secondary -20 is indicated to be a coded case file series with a qualifier "(arrange by registration number)".  A reference to one of these files might read "23120-20/000326".

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