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3.8 Filing and Maintenance ProceduresFiling and maintenance procedures are essential to the use and maintenance of any record-keeping system. They are vital to records control. They establish rules for consistency of classification and control of location and access. They provide a set of regular operations for identifying records, incorporating them into the classification system, controlling their use, and disposing of them when no longer required. The basic activities involved in filing and maintenance are:
Requirements for records retrieval, control, and maintenance vary from office to office, and filing and maintenance procedures should reflect these needs. There are a variety of methods and systems which can provide effective operations for these basic functions. Contact your Records Officer for advice. Use of ARCS does not dictate a specific set of procedures for registration, indexing, location, charge-out, etc. Rather, ARCS is flexible so that it can fit into a wide variety of record-keeping environments. To effectively implement and maintain ARCS, offices should develop and document records management procedures. Filing and maintenance procedures are classified under ARCS secondary 423-00. Your Records Officer can help to develop appropriate procedures for your office. 3.8.1 File MaintenanceARCS covers many types of administrative records stored in various physical formats. The ministry or agency responsible for the records has special needs and requirements for its filing system. Each ministry or agency must establish standards for maintaining their files. The following system of file maintenance works well. When incoming mail and other records have been classified, they are filed in folders labelled with the complete primary and secondary number and corresponding title. Government has standardized the use of letter size file folders, paper and filing equipment wherever possible. The purpose of ending the use of legal size files is to reduce government costs by eliminating the necessity of having both legal and letter size papers for records and correspondence. Contact your Records Officer for further information about this important choice. File folder labels are increasingly generated by records management databases, however it will sometimes be necessary to generate a label manually. Prepare the file folder label with the primary and secondary number on the left and the title on the right. It is not necessary to type the full title in all cases. Type the portions of the title which make the label meaningful. Common sense is used to prepare labels which are concise, yet distinguish files adequately. The actual file sequence and physical location within the office will be dictated by access requirements and indicated on the file list. Prepare documents for filing by checking that the primary and secondary number is indicated, paper clips are removed, and duplicate copies of no further value are discarded. Documents should be filed in chronological order with the oldest on the bottom. In the case of flimsy paper, such as teletype documents and facsimile documents not produced on bond paper FAX machines, photocopy the information onto bond paper prior to filing and discard the flimsy copy. Flimsy paper facsimile documents rapidly deteriorate and the information they contain is lost when this procedure is not followed. Monitor the files for bulk and when the paper thickness exceeds the scoring on the bottom of the folder, close the full folder and start a new one labelled volume 2, 3, 4, etc. Place a coloured paper as the top document in order to indicate that a file is closed. Indicate on that coloured sheet the date range and where future information will be filed. Related volumes are stored together while they are active, and older ones are placed in semi-active storage when their active retention period expires. If multi-volume sets are frequently opened under a single classification, this may indicate the need to create new, more specific classifications. Where possible, sheets should be fastened in the file folder. When this is not possible or for ease in culling files at the end of the year, CRMB recommends attaching documents to a file back sheet. The file back should be labelled with the fiscal or calendar year and classification number. Use a closed file notice for each file back when the file is closed and mark on it the method and date of final disposition (e.g., "for DE on 1 April 1999"; "for SR on 1 January 2010"; "for FR on 1 April 2001"). Minimize misfiling in the following ways:
3.8.2 File CirculationTo avoid loss of files, especially when numerous staff refer to the same records, use circulation or "out" cards when removing a folder from the cabinet. Write the borrower's initials on the out card. Only remove papers for photocopying and return the papers to their original location in the file. Return files promptly after use. When photocopies are made for use as working papers, mark them clearly as a "copy" with a stamp which uses a colour of ink other than black. |
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| Page last updated: January 20, 2009 |