Letters and emails

Rule 10: The file names of correspondence should include the name of the correspondent, an indication of the subject, the date of the correspondence and whether it is incoming or outgoing correspondence, except where the inclusion of any of these elements would be incompatible with rule 2.

The file names of correspondence should include the following elements so that the record can be easily identified and retrieved:

  • Name of correspondent (sender or receiver as appropriate)
  • Subject description (where it is not given in the folder title)
  • Date of letter/email/memo
  • If incoming correspondence, include ‘rcvd’

You should normally order the elements in the same order listed above, as it is likely that correspondence will be retrieved on the basis of the correspondent. However, order elements in the most appropriate way, and avoid repetition.

Order elements appropriately

Avoid repetition and redundancy

The sender is responsible for filing correspondence and any attachments or enclosures. In the case of incoming correspondence, the first named recipient is responsible.

Multiple emails on the same day

If more than one email is received from the same person, on the same day, on the same subject and the latest email does not include the whole string of the correspondence, the time of the email can be included in the file name to differentiate it from the email received earlier in the day.

Further guidance is available for managing your emails and when and how to save your emails to a shared drive.

Managing your email

Example

Correct file name
/…/Complaints/
BloggsJ20031205.rtf
BloggsJ20040105rcvd.rtf
BloggsJ20040220.rtf
ThomasH20030610rcvd.txt
ThomasH20030710.rtf
(Ordered alphabetically as the files would be in the directory list)
Incorrect file name
/…/Complaints/
EmailFromHelenThomas10Jun03.txt
LetterFromJoeBloggs5Jan04.rtf
LetterToHelenThomas10Jul03.rtf
LetterToJoeBloggs20Feb04.rtf
LetterToJoeBloggs5Dec03.rtf
(Ordered alphabetically as the files would be in the directory list)
Explanation:
All the correspondence with Mr Joe Bloggs appears together in chronological order and it is easy to pick out the incoming correspondence because it is indicated by ‘rcvd’. The same is true of the correspondence with Miss Helen Thomas. You don’t need to include an indication of the subject, as it’s given in the folder name.
Correct file name
EvansWAppeal20040715rcvd.rtf
EvansWAppeal20040820.rtf
EvansWAppeal20040905rcvd.rtf
(Ordered alphabetically as the files would be in the directory list)
Incorrect file name
/…/Complaints/
WilliamEvans15Jul04.rtf
WilliamEvans20Aug04.rtf
WilliamEvans5Sep04.rtf
(Ordered alphabetically as the files would be in the directory list)
Explanation:
All the correspondence is listed in chronological order, it is easy to see what the correspondence is about, who it is with and whether it is incoming or outgoing correspondence. In reality, you probably don’t need to include an indication of the subject matter in the file name because the folder title would be likely to be ‘appeals’. We don’t recommend that you give folders very general names such as ‘correspondence’.

This article was published on