Records Management 101: Document naming conventions

having trouble finding a document because you can't recall what you named it if so this training is for you throughout this module you will learn about the importance of standardized document naming conventions what is a naming convention a naming convention is a consistent method for creating file names for your electronic records its purpose is to determine one the documents subject to its status 3 is it a record such as a final document wow that is a lot of information a standard naming convention is worth the effort look at this example file name it reveals little of the content we can assume it's about a contract but which contract is anyone's guess to determine the content we have to open the file who has time for that next what is the revision status is it a first draft second draft or final document once file name has complex versioning but the addition of final final draft makes it unclear is it a final document or the last draft before the final people keep it simple we need an efficient method to separate drafts from final documents lastly has anyone ever sent this document out of the office say back to the contractor is it evidence that something happened over a decision was made based on this file name we can't tell the form of the file name should be predictable to achieve predictability we separate the name into unique elements which can include contract number account number or a project number but will always include a subject and most of the time a date there could be plenty of email reports budgets and other documents relating to this contract the best way to keep all of the information together is to use a contract code that we will call for example XYZ as the first element of the file name bosses are fond of saying things like give me everything on contract XYZ if the file name includes the contract code finding the documents will be pretty simple but do people really want everything usually folks want a specific document contract negotiations is the subject of the document so it should be added to the file name finally since there are lots of back and forth on these negotiations adding a date to the file name can also be useful the file name consists of contract code subject and date simple effective and specific I need only to glance at the file name to know what the document is about and which is the most recent don't worry if you don't have a contract code just start with a subject and the date and be as specific as you can you will also notice that the file name elements are separated by underscores underscores eliminate the use of spaces within the title on a shared Drive where there is a highly nested folder hierarchy it doesn't take long to reach the maximum character length did you know that maximum character length includes the whole drive path including your file title if you reach the maximum you will not be able to save the document at all don't use special characters either they can be mistaken for computer commands if you are using the date as an element use the ISO standard of year-month-day this standard is best because it uses a general to specific principle and the date will sort chronologically at the beginning of this training we talked about document status is a draft or final revision control is a method of adding information to the file name to keep track of revisions not all documents require revision control sometimes the date is enough let's look closer at revision control for revisable documents such as presentations reports and meeting minutes working on or sending out an earlier draft of a document is embarrassing confusing and a waste of time when a revisable document is being drafted use letters a B C etc to indicate the document is in drafting stage let's take out our previous file name and add revision control first we add an underscore to separate the elements then we add Rev a now it is ready for review and discussion the document creator always controls the revisions if Lars sends a draft set of minutes to his boss John and John has comments he would add his initials after the revision letter once Lars and John are happy with the minutes they are finalized but Lawrence never labels a document final why what happens if John finds a typo if Lars puts final in the file name he would have to either say final one or maybe even worse final final no my friends this creates further confusion instead the document is finalized by removing the revision letter and replacing it with a number starting with zero when the document is ready for distribution save it as a PDF to give the distribution copy fixity other formats like Word or Excel can be easily changed to summarize a standardized naming convention should tell us one what the document is about - its drafting status 3 whether the document is in use compare this file title with this one based on the file name we know that this record pertains to a specific contract concerning negotiations taking place on January 4th 2017 it is a final revision and it is in use since it is a PDF that is a lot of information to get from a file name and format proper naming of documents doesn't need to be difficult but it does need to be applied consistently documented and shared with your unit does your unit department or faculty need a document naming convention the records management department at UBC and UB CEO can help you adapt the UBC document naming standard to fit the needs of your unit call us and refer to the resources section of this training now let's see what you have learned

Channel: The University of British Columbia

Views: 53,164

Keywords: UBC, University of British Columbia

Id: rai-fEXqnJ0

Length: 5min 52sec (352 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 17 2017