CHAPTER SIX
RECORD MANAGEMENT AND FILLING
Outline the purposes maintaining business records.
- To measure the progress of the business overtime.
- Proper study of the position of the of the firm.
- Comparison of businesses.
- In case of dispute
- Past records, events, progress etc. are very necessary to decide policies and plans.
- Certain records are kept for a number of years from the legal point of view.
- Records are good evidence in court of law in case of suits.
- For general use.
Give a classification of a business records
- Personal records
- Correspondence records.
- Accounting records..
- Other business records.
- Legal records
Outline the principles of record management.
- Verification-Records can be verified whenever needed
- Classification-Records must be classified according to their use.
- Records must be maintained for some justified reasons.
- Information-The require information must be a available whenever needed.
- Record system must be elastic in capacity so that expansion or contraction of records is possible,
- Reasonable cost. The cost of record management must be a reasonable one.
What is filling?
Is a process of classifying and arranging the records so that they can obtain without delay.
What are the advantages (importance) of filling
- Serves the purpose of ready reference.
- They saves time and increase efficiency
- Safeguard the documents against loss.
- Files serve as reliable basis for future planning and action.
- Past records are good evidence in case of dispute.
- A proper control is facilitated
What are the characteristics of a good filing system
- Compactness-Should take up too much space especially floor space for filing cabinet
- Accessibility
- Simplicity
- Simple
- Elasticity
- Cross-reference
Give the procedure of keeping documents
- They are first classified under headings like orders invoices correspondences etc.
- After this, they are filed in respective filed on the basis of classification system followed by the organization.
- The documents are kept for a specific period say , 5 years based on the retention policy of the organization.
- After this period these documents re destroyed.
What are advantages and disadvantages of centralized and departmental filing
Centralized filling
- Leads to development of specialist filing staff.
- All files are controlled in one room.
- More supervision and control files is possible.
- It ensures that all correspondence about the same subjects are filed together.
- A Uniform system of filing can be established throughout the organization.
Departmental filling
- Files are quickly made available as they are not too many.
- As every department keeps its files within, they are readily available.
- The filing system is not so large and therefore easier to handle.
- It doesn’t need a specialist staff for filing and this reduces costs.
- Its more suitable for confidential documents as they aren’t open to every member or the filing department.
Explain various filing classification, giving their advantages and disadvantages
- Alphabetical.
-Documents are filed according to the first letter of either name of the sender or subject.
-Similar to words in English dictionary or telephone directory.
Advantages
- Convenience of grouping paper by name of the company etc.
- Direct filing with no need for index i.e. the first letter will tell you where the document is located
- Simple and easy to understand even explaining to new staff
- Its possible to open one file for miscellaneous papers which can’t make up their own files
Disadvantages
- In large systems it takes longer time to find papers
- Congestion under common names
- For large organizations ,papers may be reasonably be filed under different headings
- It’s difficult to forecast space requirement for different letters of the alphabet.
- There are possibilities of a document being filed under a different name due to differences in spelling etc.
- Numerical
Correspondence are arranged according to numbers rather than letters
This system is useful for filling orders or other items kept in numerical sequence
An index is necessary for locating the correct file
Advantages
- They have unlimited possibilities for expansion
- Highly accurate system
- Cross referencing is simpler than with other systems
- The file number can be used as a reference for correspondence
- The filling index may be used for other purposes e.g mailing lists as well
Disadvantages
- It takes longer to free material as it involves two operations i.e the recording of paper on the card index and the filling of the document
- Filing and finding in indirect
- A separate index must be provided
- It takes time for a new employee to fully understand the system etc
- Geographical
Files are divided according to their places of origin eg countries or by provinces in a country
File within each group are arranged alphabetically
Advantages
- Suitable for companies that have several branches spread over different parts of the world ,country ,county etc.
- Convenience of reference where the location is known
- pDirect access for filling purposes
Disadvantages
- Possibility of error where knowledge of geography is weak
- Geographical location must be known in addition to the correspondents name
- Index is necessary for occasional reference
- Chronological
All documents are filed in order of their dates of receipt
Advantages
- Useful if dates are known
- It provides for unlimited scope of expansion
Disadvantages
- It is not always suitable
- Incoming letters might become separated from outgoing ones .
- Subject classification-files are classified according to subject headings or topics
Advantages
- All documents referring to a particular subject are kept together in one place
- The files can easily be expanded or contracted by simply adding or subtracting old ones
Disadvantages
- Determining the list of divisions is difficult and requires someone with a knowledge of the business and its files
- Determining under which subject heading it should be filed, requires a trained and careful employee
What is filing equipment and what purposes do they serve
- These are equipment designed for storage of information in an organization and consists of covers, folders filing cabinets etc.
- They serve the following purposes
- protection of documents against loss, damage and deterioration
- prevention of theft or unauthorized use
- insertion, location and extraction of documents must take less time or effort
Discuss the various aspects of filing cabinets
- A file is a collection of papers or documents dealing with one person or topic
- The equipment in which they are kept is known as a file cover or binder
- Filing equipment includes file cover and filing cabinets.
- These are different types of file covers
- Box files
These have a solid box like construction and spring loaded compression pad which holds down the filled material firmly
Box files may be used to keep letters, leaflets, catalogues etc.
- Lever arch files
These contain metal devices opened and closed in the center of the folder operated by the lever
- Concerting files
These are made up of a number of succession pockets into which similar documents can be collected readily for processing like petty cash vouchers and such documents which don’t need to be punched e.g. certificate etc.
- Ring binders
These are made of hard covers and two or more rings which open to allow the insertion and removal of documents
Explain various types of filing methods
This refers to how file covers or binders are kept in the filing cabinets
- Vertical filing
This is the keeping of files within the drawers, racks or in the shelves when one is on top of another
They lie horizontally i.e. east to west
- Suspension filing
The files stand in vertical positions, but in order to prevent them from falling off from the filing cabinets, two metals are fixed on the sides of a filling cabinet’s drawer
- Lateral filing
This is where the files are stored on a shelf or in pockets suspended side by side from frames
This method saves space because of great height
- What is indexing?
- Outline the importance of indexing?
- What are the different types of indexing?
- Briefly explain what is meant by cross reference?
INDEXING
An index is a device for finding the position of a document or file in a system quickly and easily
Filing index helps the location of any letter, record, files etc. Thus it provides quick reference which is essential of a good filing system
Classification and indexing are not the same.
Classification-is a method of filing and the manner in which the files of different subjects are arranged.
Indexing-is a method of making reference to the files
Importance of indexing
- Indexing is an essential part of a good filing system as it is a guide
- It provides a ready reference
- It facilitates easy location of files
- Even if the files are arranged in self-indexing methods, index will further speed the work.
- It possesses minimum information
Types of indexing
- Page index
This is when the contents of a particular folder or cabinet are summarized on a piece of paper together with their position and placed at either the front or back of the folder e.g. one found at the back of a text book
- Loose card indexes
This is a small cards showing the names of all correspondents and the files where their information is filed,
The cards are kept together and whenever a file or documents is required, reference is first made to the it is located.
- Visible card index
They are filed together with the documents and overlap so that one line of entry on each card projects and is visible thus forming one line index.
- Strip index
The cards stand upright in cabinet drawer boxes. The name and other identifying features are exposed to view. The cards are sub divided into section using letters of alphabet with projecting guide cards.
This system is useful where correspondence is removed frequently for reference.
Strip index
It’s the method of recording information on a strip of paper for quick reference. The strips are bound together one on top of the other with a position of each one being visible
This system is useful where correspondence is removed frequently for reference.
- Punched card index
A series of holes are punched in the edge of each card, each hole represents on item of information such as department, age, gender etc.
CROSS REFERENCE
It’s possible for a correspondence to be filed in 2 or 3 different files but only one file is available.
A good cross reference system is needed .Its a form of a card or folder directing a person to where a document which can be filed under more than one is found.
E.g. A letter Akola-Okubu might be filed under Akola-okuba file or in Okubu-Akola file
Where a letter from Akola-Okubu is filed under Okubu-Akola file a cross reference card is put under Akol-Okubu file to direct where its located’
Akola-Okubu
See
Okubu-Akola.
In big firms where a photocopying machine is available, several copies are made and filed in all relevant files reach bearing the information on where the original is.
Importance of cross referencing
- when more than one name is used by a person or company
- when correspondence may be sought under more than one name
- when firm is known by its initials
- when the name has changed
Marking absent files (out card)
If a file is likely to be removed for a couple of days marked folders should be inserted in the place to collect any paper referring to the absent file.
What is micro filming?
Is a method of retaining or keeping information by photographic records to reproduce when needed.
The record are micro-photographed and kept either on roll film, micro-fiche, aperture card or jacket
-When needed for reference the negative is shown on a screen or a copy is made.
-Micro filming is only important only when a great multiple of permanent records must be kept e.g. office of register of births etc.
Advantages
- Save space and weight .Bulky files are replaced by compact cartons of films.
- Documents can be sent abroad -Micro filming reduces cost of postage if information has to be sent by expensive air mail.
- There is little risk of misplacing.
- There is saving of filling equipment as well as floor space.
- A film can be enlarged on a paper thus providing quick and accurate duplicate copies of the original documents.
- A film is more durable than paper and provides a much more permanent record. A film is more wear resistant than paper.
Disadvantages
- A reader is required in order to refer to the inform action
- Its difficult to locate the information required from the film
- Poorly prepared film will not be readable
- It requires special equipment which is expensive
- Specialized knowledge is required to prepare the film and to refer
- Retrieval of information takes time
