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Organizing Electronic Records:

Organizing Electronic Records:. A Basic Approach. How you should organize your electronic records. No filing strategy: You create no folders, keeping all emails in the inbox.

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Organizing Electronic Records:

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  1. Organizing Electronic Records: A Basic Approach

  2. How you should organize your electronic records. • No filing strategy: Youcreate no folders, keeping all emails in the inbox. • Filing system: You use a simple filing scheme based on topical areas. In this way, you can incorporate your office’s records retention and disposition schedule. • You use a combination of filing system and usage of inbox to store emails.

  3. Planning a Filing Structure • Deal with bad electronic filing systems now, the problem will only get worse as more records are created. • Plan ahead--coordinate with paper filing system. • Create a directory tree with primary subjects divided by secondary subjects. • Keep all files together in a central directory/ folder.

  4. Planning a Filing Structure • Each folder and each file needs a logical place in the filing structure, so arbitrary decisions are limited. • Filing structures must be easy to understand. • Focus on business processes, not records. • Define activities associated with each business process. • Determine how records are retrieved and accessed. • Use consistent terminology.

  5. Planning a Filing Structure While there are no limits to the number of sub-folders that you can create, your filing system may become confusing if you have more than 3 or 4 levels of sub-folders.

  6. Naming Electronic Files • Follow the ABC Rule; use titles that are: Accurate, Brief, and Concise. • Use default application file extensions. • Titles should have only one interpretation. • Avoid repeating the folder name in file name. • Determine subject content when naming. • Use version numbers, if necessary (useful for e-mail attachments) • Be consistent with case numbers, dates, upper vs. lower case

  7. Managing Filing Systems • As new projects are started and new records are created the filing system will need to change. • As some folders grow they may get too large and will need to be divided. • Eventually some folders may need to be eliminated or combined with others. • Managing a filing system is an ongoing process.

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