 Records Management – An introduction to the file rules and indexing. Filing Rules – The filing rules used most frequently in business have been developed by the Association of Records Managers and Administrators. Each company adapts the ARMA filing rules to meet its specific needs. ARMA Filing Rules – Rule 1 – Indexing order of units. Personal names are indexed by surname, first name or initial, middle name or initial. Business names are indexed as written in a letterhead or trademark, or each word is a separate unit. Rule 2 – Minor words and symbols in business names. Articles, prepositions, conjunctions and symbols are considered separate indexing units. If the word the is the first word of the business name, it becomes the last indexing unit. Rule 3 – Punctuation and possessives. Disregard all punctuation when indexing business and personal names. Rule 4 – Single letters and abbreviations. Personal names – Initials and personal names are considered separate indexing units. Abbreviations of personal names and brief personal names are indexed as written. Business names – Single letters and business names are indexed as written. If single letters are separated by a space, index each letter as a separate unit. Index acronyms such as KFC and ARMA and television and radio call letters as one unit. Abbreviated words, company, incorporated and names KFC and E are indexed as one unit regardless of punctuation or spacing. Rule 5 – Titles and suffixes. Personal names – A title before a name, a senior suffix or professional suffix after the name is the last indexing unit. Numeric suffixes are filed before alphabetic suffixes. If a name contains both a title and a suffix, the title is the last unit. Royal and religious titles, followed by either a given name or surname only, are indexed as written. Business names – Titles and business names are indexed as written. Rule 6 – Prefixes, articles and particles. An article or particle in a personal or business name is combined with the part of the name following it to form a single unit. Any spaces or punctuation between the prefix and name should be ignored. Rule 7 – Numbers in business names. Numbers that are spelled out are filed alphabetically as written. Numbers in digit form are one unit. Names that include numbers as the first unit in digit form are filed in ascending order before alphabetic names. Rule 8 – Organizations and institutions. The name of an organization or institution is filed according to how it appears on the group's letterhead. If the word the is used as a first word in these names, it is considered the last indexing unit. Rule 9 – Identical names. If entire names are identical, the order is determined by address. Addresses are considered in this order. City names, state or province, street names including Avenue, Boulevard, etc. When the first unit of a street name is written in digits, the names are filed in ascending numeric order before the alphabetic street names. Street names with compass directions, north, south, etc., are indexed as written. If city, name and street numbers are identical, house numbers are used. Zip codes are not used in indexing order. Rule 10 – Government names. Government names are first indexed by the name of the governmental unit, country, state, county, or city. The second unit identifies the distinctive name of the department, office, or board. Words such as office of and department of are separate indexing units when they are part of the official name. If the word of is not part of the official name as written, it should not be added. Federal – The first three indexing units of a federal agency are United, States, Government, State and Local. The first three indexing units are the names of the state, province, county, parish, city, town, township or village. The next indexing unit is the most distinctive name of the department, board, office, or government division. The words state of or county of are only added if necessary for clarity or if they are part of the official office name. Foreign – The English name is the first indexing unit. The remainder of the formal name is indexed next if it is needed and if it is part of the official name. The names of the departments and divisions follow in order. The names of states, cities and other divisions follow and are filed by their official names as spelled in English. You have completed this learning activity, records management, an introduction to file rules and indexing.