Rules for Alphabetic Filing

1 There are three types of Alphabetic Filing : (1) letter by letter (in which spaces between wordsare disregarded), (2) word by word, and (3) unit by unit (in which every word, abbreviation, andinitial is considered a separate unit). ARMA International (formerly the Association ofRecords Managers and Administrators) recommends the use of the unit-by-unit basic principles of the unit-by-unit method (see pages 2 3) and the more specific rulesthat follow are consistent with the ARMA standards.*However, many acceptable alternativerules and variations are currently in use. The important thing to remember is that the goal ofany set of Filing standards and Rules is to establish a consistent method of sorting and storingmaterials so that you and others you work with can retrieve these materials quickly and eas-ily. Therefore, it makes sense to modify or change the following Rules as necessary to accom-modate the specific needs of your office or organization.

2 Make sure, however, that everyonewith access to your files knows what the modifications are so that a consistent set of stan-dards can be maintained. For guidelines on how to create a computerized file name, see NOTE:Before names can be placed in Alphabetic order, they must be indexed; that is,each name must be broken down into units, and the units must be arranged in a certain se-quence. Once indexing is completed, the names can be compared unit by unit and alphabeticorder can then be of the following Rules is accompanied by a chart that shows names in two ways: the firstcolumn (headed Name) shows the full name in a standard format, that is, as it would appear inan inside address of a letter; the remaining group of columns (headed Unit 1, Unit 2, and so on)shows the name in an indexed format, arranged unit by unit in a sequence appropriate for al-phabetizing. Note that the inside address format presents the names in caps and lowercase,with punctuation as necessary.

3 The indexed format presents the names in all-caps because forpurposes of alphabetizing, the differences between capital and lowercase letters should be ignored. Moreover, the indexed format ignores punctuation; it even ignores a space or ahyphen between parts of a you want to use a computer (1) to print names in Alphabetic order and (2) to insert names ininside addresses as well as ordinary text, you may have to create two name fields one using thestandard format, the other using the indexed format as shown in the following 1 Rules for Alphabetic FilingAPPENDIX CCopyright 2011 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.*Establishing Alphabetic , Numeric, and Subject Filing Systems,ARMA International, Lenexa, Kansas, 3 ReferencesC 2 Rules for Alphabetic FilingCCopyright 2011 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights PrinciplesAlphabetizing Unit by names by comparing the first units letter by second units only when the first units are additional units only when the first two units are : If two names are identical, they may be distinguished on the basis of geo-graphic location.

4 (See Rule 11.)*Nothing Comes Before single letter comes before a name that begins with the same Unit 1O OOasis OASISO beron OBERONName Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Fox Hill Company FOX HILL COMPANYFox Hill Farm FOX HILL FARMFox Hill Farm Supplies FOX HILL FARM SUPPLIESFox Hill Incorporated FOX HILL INCORPORATEDName Unit 1 Unit 2 Foley Associates FOLEY ASSOCIATESF oley Enterprises FOLEY ENTERPRISESF oley Industries FOLEY INDUSTRIESF oley Mills FOLEY MILLSName Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 AlphaNumerics ALPHANUMERICSB utterfield BUTTERFIELDE agleton EAGLETONE aton EATONE berhardt EBERHARDTE berhart EBERHARTERGO nomics ERGONOMICSO ffice Space

5 Designers OFFICE SPACE DESIGNERSO ffices Incorporated OFFICES INCORPORATEDO fficial Stationers OFFICIAL STATIONERS* Rules 1 13 appear on pages 3 C Rules for Alphabetic FilingC name consisting of one word comes before a name that consists of the sameword plus one or more other name consisting of two or more words comes before a name that consists of thesame two or more words plus another word, and so Which Name to UseARMA International advocates Filing under the most commonly used name or title. This helpful principle provides the basis for choosing which name you should use fora person or an organization when alternatives exist. Select the form most likely to beused and then provide cross-references for the alternatives. In that way anyone whois searching for material under an alternative name will be referred to the primaryname being used for Filing purposes.

6 (See Rule 4c, Rule 6e, Rule 7a, note, and Rule8b, note, for specific instances in which this principle can be applied.)Personal NamesRule 1: Names of each part of the name of a person as a separate unit, and consider the unitsin this order: last name, first name or initial, and any subsequent names or any punctuation following or within an Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Jacobs JACOBSL. Jacobs JACOBS LL. Mitchell Jacobs JACOBS L MITCHELLS tephen Jacobson JACOBSON STEPHENS tephen Brent Jacobson JACOBSON STEPHEN BRENTS teven O K. Jacobson JACOBSON STEVEN OKB. Jacoby JACOBY BB. T. Jacoby JACOBY B TBruce Jacoby JACOBY BRUCEName Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4 Oak Creek OAK CREEKOak Creek Home Furnishings OAK CREEK HOME FURNISHINGSOak Creek Homes OAK CREEK HOMESName Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Operations OPERATIONSO perations Management Consultants OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTSO perations Technologies OPERATIONS TECHNOLOGIESR ules for Alphabetic FilingCCopyright 2011 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

7 All rights on page C 4 Part 3 ReferencesC 4 Rules for Alphabetic FilingCCopyright 2011 by the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights you are dealing with a foreign personal name and cannot distinguish the lastname from the first name, consider each part of the name in the order in which it is writ-ten. Naturally, whenever you can make the distinction, consider the last name a name like Mar a L pez y Quintana,the last name consists of three separatewords. For purposes of alphabetizing, treat these separate words as a single unit(for example, LOPEZYQUINTANA).NOTE: If you are using a computer, insert a hard (or nonbreaking) space betweenthe parts of a name such as L pez y Quintana. Then the last name will be sorted asthough it were typed without spaces, but it will appear with spacesin an alphabet-ized list of names. For the treatment of hyphenated personal names, see Rule 2: Personal Names With a prefix as part of the name, not as a separate unit.

8 Ignore variations in spac-ing, punctuation, and capitalization in names that contain prefixes (for example,d ,D , Da, de, De, Del, De la, Des, Di, Du, El, Fitz, L , La, Las, Le, Les, Lo, Los, M , Mac, Mc,Saint, San, Santa, Santo, St., Ste., Ten, Ter, Van, Van de, Van der, Von,andVon Der).NOTE: If you are using a computer, insert a hard (or nonbreaking) space betweenthe parts of a name such as De La Cruz(shown above) or Mac Kay(shown at thetop of page 5). Then the last name will be sorted as though it were typed withoutspaces, but it will appear with spacesin an alphabetized list of Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3A. Serafino Delacruz DELACRUZ A SERAFINOAnna C. deLaCruz DELACRUZ ANNA CMichael B. DeLacruz DELACRUZ MICHAEL BVictor P. De La Cruz DELACRUZ VICTOR PLaVerne F. Delano DELANO LAVERNE FAngela G. D Elia DELIA ANGELA GPierre Des Trempes DESTREMPES PIERREB rian K. De Voto DEVOTO BRIAN KP.

9 Henri Leclair LECLAIR P HENRIP aulette G. Le Clair LECLAIR PAULETTE GPerry T. LeClair LECLAIR PERRY TDoris B. VanNess VANNESS DORIS BJan P. Van Ness VANNESS JAN PMarian L. Vanness VANNESS MARIAN LName Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 kwong Kow Ng kwong KOW NGNg kwong Cheung NG kwong CHEUNGP hilip K. Ng NG PHILIP KAppendix C Rules for Alphabetic FilingC the prefixes M , Mac,and Mc exactly as they are spelled, but ignore theapostrophe in M . Consider a name such as O Keefe as one word, and ignore the prefixes Saint, San, Santa, Santo, St., and Ste. exactly as they are : If you are using a computer, insert a hard (or nonbreaking) space betweenthe parts of a name such as Saint Clair or San the last name will besorted as though it were typed without a space, but it will appear with a spaceinthe alphabetized list of 3: Hyphenated Personal NamesConsider the hyphenated elements of a name as a single unit.

10 Ignore the Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3S. T. Laverty-Powell LAVERTYPOWELL S TVictor Puentes-Ruiz PUENTESRUIZ VICTORJean V. Vigneau VIGNEAU JEAN VJean-Marie Vigneau VIGNEAU JEANMARIEJean-Pierre Vigneau VIGNEAU JEANPIERREName Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 George V. Sahady SAHADY GEORGE VKyle N. Saint Clair SAINTCLAIR KYLE NJeffrey T. Sakowitz SAKOWITZ JEFFREY TAnnette San Marco SANMARCO ANNETTEF elix Santacroce SANTACROCE FELIXP eter St. Clair STCLAIR PETERO. M. Ste. Marie STEMARIE O MName Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Marilyn R. Mack MACK MARILYN RIrene J. MacKay MACKAY IRENE JRoy F. Mackay MACKAY ROY FWalter G. Mac Kay MACKAY WALTER GF. Timothy Madison MADISON F TIMOTHYA gnes U. M Cauley MCAULEY AGNES UPatrick J. McKay MCKAY PATRICK JAndrew W. O Hare OHARE ANDREW WAlice R.