CHAPTER VI: GOALS Effective office management depends on the establishment of a good working relationship between recordkeepers and professional staff, especially in deciding what to file and where to file it. The frequency of changes in committee staffing make it especially important that offices strive to establish a good tradition at the outset. Elements of good management include: Establish a smooth filing routine Reduce the number of electrostatic copies made by using a routing slip or circulating a reading file Identify transitory material such as routine requests for publications, routine letters of transmittal, routine administrative papers, and file them separately from permanently valuable files or index them separately on an automated system Techniques outlined in this chapter have been adapted for use in committee offices from various records management handbooks developed by the National Archives and Records Administration. FILING ROUTINES There are four basic tasks comprising a filing routine. It is best to have the same individual or individuals perform these tasks on a regular basis. They include: Check and sort incoming documents Checking And Sorting As the daily mail arrives, and as documents are forwarded or returned to the recordkeeper for filing, the following steps are taken: Separate the papers into groups: "Junk Mail," or items to be discarded; items requiring further action; and items to be filed. The office manager might wish to review the junk mail periodically to ensure that the weeding is accurate. Determine the disposition of publications including journals, circulars, directories, etc., by attaching a note and circulating the item to staff. Staff can check one of four choices: "dispose after circulating", "retain for X years", "save only page no. X", or "keep in revolving file." (In a revolving file the oldest issue is discarded as the most recent is filed.) Screen the material to be filed to assure that it is ready to be filed (i.e. that staff who need to see the document have done so, or that it has been routed properly). Staff might be asked to initial such documents or write "file" on them. Assemble related records and check for completeness. If action is complete, but an important document is missing, the recordkeeper should attempt to obtain the papers or copies of them for the file. Marking The File Designation Read and analyze the documents in order to determine in which file series each belongs. The quality of filing and the efficiency of recordkeeping achieved by an office is directly related to the recordkeeper's ability to understand what types of documents belong in which files. Coding and indexing documents that are created and stored on magnetic media is especially important for future retrieval and for disposition decisions. At a minimum, all committee and subcommittee offices will need to establish a "bill" file, a general subject "oversight" file series, and a file series for nominations (see Chapter II). Indexing And Cross-Referencing Some papers may concern more than one topic or piece of legislation. Recordkeepers must decide whether or not to create a separate index or interfile cross-references to such papers. Even well-planned files contain some papers that need to be cross-referenced. The cross-reference sheets may be interfiled among the papers of the main subject or bill file or among any index files. Cross-referencing may be needed when papers that normally would be filed in separate locations need to be filed together. Examples include instances when current files include items transferred from closed files or when security classified papers filed in a restricted file have a direct relationship to documents filed in unclassified files. Permanent cross-references are used for a change of name. Standard cross-reference forms, Optional Form 21, may be used for preparing either separate index cross-references or interfiled cross-references. Optional Form 22, Continuity Reference, can be used to indicate that a file has been moved from one place to another (sample forms can be found in Appendix G). Placing Papers Into Files The following techniques will result in the creation of useful, easy to use files: Remove all clips, pins, and rubber bands before papers are filed. Newsprint clippings should not be filed with permanent records. They may be photocopied onto bond paper and the copies filed instead. File material loosely in folders unless fasteners Check folder thickness-when a folder becomes Do not jam drawers to capacity. Leave about four File clippings with related material under the same classification, unless they are filed separately for a special purpose. File security classified documents in a separate file, apart from unclassified papers. A cross-reference sheet should be prepared. Bulky or oversized material should be filed separately in storage equipment suited to its size. Computer tapes, disks, diskettes, microfilm, audiovisual tapes, and sound recordings should be filed separately from textual records so that these more fragile mediums can be stored in a proper temperature and humidity controlled environment. Chargeout Cards Encourage staff to use chargeout cards (Optional Form 23) if they remove a folder from a centralized file. The card should identify the records removed, when they were removed, and who borrowed them (see Appendix G, Sample Forms). Labels Drawer labels, guide card labels, and folder labels are prepared to aid filing and retrieval of information by making the organization of a file visually clear. The following techniques are suggested: Prepare drawer labels for each file series showing the file title, the Congress, and the segment of the particular file in that drawer. Prepare guide labels to give an idea of the contents of the several folders that follow. Folder labels should clearly identify the contents, be in large type or neatly handwritten, and contain in not more than three lines the specific name, letter, geographic location, topic, bill number or symbol identifying the contents of that folder. (Bill files should always contain the bill number.) Guide And Folder Arrangement Set guide labels at two positions across a file drawer (left side or right side) to provide signposts to areas within the file. Arrange folder tabs in a straight line to avoid unnecessary eye movement. Tabs may be color coded when specific filing purposes must be served. Colors can be used to designate official file copies, to differentiate between types of files (i.e., legislative, press, administrative, investigative) to differentiate between permanently valuable material and transitory reference material, or to designate any other meaning useful to an office. A key to color coded files should be included with the office file plan and with the files. Removing Inactive Records From The Office At least at the end of every Congress, recordkeepers should dispose of inactive records according to the directions outlined in Chapter III of this handbook. To do so: Cut off the files. Call the Archivist for assistance with records appraisal. Prepare a transfer form obtained from the Archivist, for all inactive files so that you can retrieve them if necessary. Retain the list in your office. (For detailed instructions, see Chapter VIII, Records Transfer procedures.) Destroy files and weeded items authorized for destruction (see Chapter VIII for a list of items that should be weeded from inactive files). Set up new files including in them all pending files being carried over from one year or Congress to the next, leaving a continuity reference form (Optional Form 22) in the inactive file. List all files carried over on a separate sheet and file at the beginning of the non-current files, keeping a copy of the list in the office. LEGISLATIVE OR "BILL" FILES The creation and maintenance of legislative "bill" files should be the priority task in each committee or subcommittee office. Important documents normally comprising a bill file sometimes can become scattered throughout an office. In some instances, they are retained by an individual staff member and either are lost or discarded when the staff person retires or transfers to another job. The files themselves are not always labeled properly or they are buried amidst documents of a transitory, less important nature, or even scattered among the files of several individuals so that no one file adequately documents the committee's work on a bill. The bill file series should fully document committee review, research, and analysis of all bills referred to the committee. They are among the most important files maintained by committees. It is recommended that such files clearly and deliberately be established in an office, preferably but not necessarily, in one central file series. In order to determine whether to establish a central bill file or a decentralized bill file (i.e. one in which several staff have responsibility for maintaining different segments of the file), the administrative clerk should weigh the extent of mutual interest in the file. Generally, the greater the mutual interest of two or more staff, the more likely it is that a centralized file can be established. Advantages of centralizing the legislative "bill" files in an office include: Better use of personnel in that one individual can be responsible for filing papers of all legislative professional staff. Better documentation because concentrating the files provides the best opportunity to control records for complete and systematic documentation. Streamlined operations as it is easier to plan for use of microphotography, files cutoff, and records disposition. Whichever system is best for your office, centralized, decentralized, or a combination of both, the important point to remember is to maintain the system by following a regularized disposition routine. An office can have decentralized files, as long as control of the files is centralized in a filing plan. It is important to remember that if files are divided among several staff, it becomes necessary to instruct all such staff in appropriate filing techniques. SUSPENSE FILES A suspense or tickler file may be set up as part of a centralized file operation (as it is with CMS or an office automation system), or it may be established on an individual basis. The purpose of such a file is to remind that something specific must be done on a certain date. For example, the file could include a brief reminder that a report must be submitted or response to an inquiry is due at a specific time. It may take the form of a 3 x 5 inch desk card file or it may consist of copies of letters or the originals of letters filed by the date that follow-up is required. If original letters are used, they must be interfiled with the appropriate file series upon completion of the necessary action. Most offices, however, will establish this file on their office automation systems. FILING EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES Choice of filing equipment and supplies is as important to establishing orderly and workable files as is the design and implementation of an office files plan. Some considerations follow: FILE CABINETS-Senate offices most commonly use legal size file cabinets, either four or five drawer. The five- drawer are only slightly higher and provide 25 percent more storage capacity for the same floor space. ☐ BOOKCASE SHELVES-Shelves are most useful for storing reference volumes, journals, and briefing books, thus keeping these bulky items out of the file drawers. ☐ FOLDERS-A medium weight (11 point) kraft folder with reinforced tabs is best for general use. For heavy duty, folders of 18 point kraft or pressboard (25 point) are recommended. For files of permanent value, it is best to choose a folder that is strong, stiff, and durable. FOLDER LABELS-Most convenient are those in a continuous strip that may be typed, then attached to a file folder. If possible, it is best to set up prelabeled subject files. FILE GUIDES-Most economical are standard weight pressboard (25 point) guides with metal tabs for inserting labels. Such guides can be reused and should be removed before permanent records are forwarded to storage. An average subject file requires ten guides per drawer. Large numeric files require a guide for every ten to twenty folders. COMPUTER PRINTOUT BINDERS-Recommended for permanently valuable indexes. PROTECTION OF RECORDS Recordkeepers are responsible for adequately protecting records in their custody from fire, theft, and any other potential damage or loss. Routine precau- Restrict smoking above open file drawers; avoid Avoid leaving records outside on desk tops over- Keep follower mechanisms inside the file drawer Keep file room doors locked when a staff member Store sensitive or classified records in vaults or in Learn the location of the nearest fire extinguishers THE PURPOSE OF A SUBJECT FILE Subject files are set up in an office when staff The ability to distinguish between the type of docu- SUBJECT INDEXES A complete written list of topics that each office Specific subject categories should be selected and topics and subtopics. No one needs to be one hun- Useful reference guides for compiling a list of sub- (1) List topics now used in the current office sub- (2) Review your preliminary list to determine wheth- (4) Clear wording is essential for all subject topics. The biggest question in meeting these require- Processes-actions taken, such as investigations, Classes-groups of items such as State Depart- Items-specific things making up the broader class |