2. Subject Records Management
“Is an alphabetic system of storing and retrieving records
by their subjects or topic” (Read & Ginn, 2015, p. 189).
“Subject filing is recommended when the range of topics
used within an organization is broad and may” include:
• Correspondence and reports
• Catalogs and inventory lists
• Research data
• Product development plans
• Etc. (Read & Ginn, 2015, p. 189).
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3. Subject Records Management
Advantages
• Related records are
filed together
• Files can be easily
expanded by adding
subdivisions to main
subject titles
• Correspondents’ names
are not shown on
folders
• Subjects are easier to
remember than names
Disadvantages
• Concise subject titles
and consistent coding
are needed
• Experienced filers are
required
• Indexing, coding, and
cross-referencing take
more time
• Main subject titles and
subdivisions may
overlap as the list of
subject titles grow.
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8. OUT Indicators
Records that have been removed from the file are listed
on OUT indicators (Read & Ginn, 2015, p. 200).
***The indicators use subject titles for records rather than
names (Read & Ginn, 2015, p. 200).
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9. Subject Indexes
An indirect access system requires the use of an external
index (Read & Ginn, 2015, p. 200).
Indexes are electronic/digital or printed lists.
Indexes are created in text or database files.
A print copy is placed in the storage area for reference.
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12. Numeric and Names Indexes
Numeric index
A list of all files arranged by file number (Read & Ginn, 2015,
p. 202).
Used in systems that assign numbers to subject titles (Read &
Ginn, 2015, p. 202).
Name index
A list of correspondents’ names stored in a subject file(Read
& Ginn, 2015, p. 202).
Includes the name and address of each correspondent and
the related subject title (Read & Ginn, 2015, p. 202 & 203).
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13. Storage and Retrieval Procedures
Inspecting—checking a record to determine whether it is
ready to be filed (Read & Ginn, 2015, p. 204).
Indexing—the mental process of determining the subject
filing segment to be used (Read & Ginn, 2015, p. 205).
Coding—marking the filing segment on the record (Read
& Ginn, 2015, p. 205).
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16. Storage and Retrieval Procedures
Storing—placing a hard copy into an appropriate
location or saving an electronic record (Read & Ginn,
2015, p. 210).
Retrieving—using indexes to help locate records and OUT
indicators to provide information about records removed
from the files (Read & Ginn, 2015, p. 210).
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17. Resource
Read, J., & Ginn, M. L. (2015). Subject Records Management. In
Records management (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage
Learning.
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