Alphabetic Indexing Rules

1. Alphabetic Indexing Rules OT 122 Chapter Two

2. Intro • Must be a consistent system to work! • Indexing? • Selecting the filing segment under which to store a record and determining the order in which the units should be considered • Most of the time it’s… • Alphabetic by last name • Could be DOB, SSN, patient number, etc. • There are 10 alphabetic indexing rules

3. Rule One • Indexing Order of Units • Unit = …word… • Personal Names • Last name, aka… • Surname • First name, aka • Given name • Middle name or initial • Initials are considered separate indexing units • NOTHING GOES BEFORE SOMETHING! • Bridget J. Bergiel vs. Bridget Bergiel

4. Rule One (cont’d.) • Business Names • Indexed as written • Each word is a single unit • Businesses with same names • City name is the last indexing unit

5. Rule Two • Minor Words and Symbols in Business Names • Small words are considered separate indexing units • Articles, prepositions, conjunctions • Symbols are spelled out • If ‘the’ is the first word, it is used as the last indexing unit

6. Rule Three • Punctuation and Possessives • IGNORED WHEN INDEXING!! • Apostrophes (‘)? • Ignored • Commas (,)? • Ignored • Exclamation points (!)? • Ignored • Dashes, hyphens, periods, question marks (-/.?) • Ignored • Ignored • Ignored • IGNORED!!!

7. Rule Four • Single Letters and Abbreviations • Personal Names • Initials, abbreviated names and nicknames are considered separate units and indexed as written • Business Names • If single letters are separated by a space, each letter is a separate unit • D & S Delivery Service • If single letters are separated by a period, IGNORE periods and index the letters as one unit • JJ Dental Ceramics • Acronyms (ARMA) are treated as one unit • Hint – If letters are pronounced separately (WWCC), treat as separate letters. If pronounced as a word (NASA), treat as an acronym.

8. Rule Five • Titles and Suffixes • Personal Names • Both of these are the last indexing unit • If a name has both, the title is the last indexing unit • Dr Roy Jones, Jr • Numeric suffixes are filed before alphabetic • Dr Roy Jones II, M.D. *Royal and religious titles followed by a name are indexed as written • Princess Di • Business Names • Titles are indexed as written • Mr. Ed’s

9. Preparing Cross-Reference Cards • Unusual Names • If you can’t decide which is the surname, use the name in the usual surname position, then prepare a card with the first name as the key unit • Hyphenated Surnames • Write 1st card with entire hyphenated surname as the key unit (without the hyphen), then prepare a card treating the 1st part of the hyphenated name as a middle name

10. Preparing Cross-Reference Cards (cont’d) • Alternative Names • Prepare a cross-reference card when a person is known by more than one name • Abbreviations and Acronyms • Prepare a cross-reference card with the entire name • Similar Names • When names sound similar but are spelled differently, prepare cross-reference cards with the other spellings

11. Rule Six • Prefixes – Articles and Particles • Article? • Foreign • a la, d’, la, el, etc. • Combined with the part of the name following it to form a single unit • Spaces, cases and punctuation are ignored

12. Rule Seven • Numbers in Business Names • Numbers spelled out are treated as words • Numbers in digits are filed before words • This goes for 1st units, as well • Arabic numerals (?) are filed before Roman numerals (?) • Groups of numbers are filed by the first • If number follows text, then file alphabetically until word without a number • When indexing numbers with text, ignore text and consider numbers only

13. Rule Eight • Organizations and Institutions • File according to official name (Haven’t we been doing that already?!?)

14. Rule Nine • Identical Names • Order is determined by address • City names • State or province names • Street names • Numbered streets before alphabetic • Compass directions are considered as written • House or building numbers • Zip codes are not considered

15. Rule Ten • Government Names • 1st by location (country, state, county, or city) • 2nd by distinctive name of dept, bureau, office or board • Federal • 1st unit is “United States Government” • State and Local • Location, then distinctive name • Foreign • 1st translated location name • Followed by remainder of formal name

16. Cross-Referencing Business Names • Compound Names…? • Bus Com 1?? • Prepare a cross reference card for the other surnames • Abbreviations and Acronyms • Same as before • Popular or ‘coined’ names • File initially by most commonly used name, then cross-reference under full name

17. Cross-Referencing Business Names • Hyphenated Names • Flip flop hyphenated terms on cross-reference • Divisions and Subsidiaries • Cross-reference the parent company • Changed Names • Cross-reference old name • Similar Names • Includes names that could be considered one or two units • Only the similar part of the name is cross-referenced

18. Cross-Referencing Business Names • Non-English Business Names • File original with English spelling • Cross-reference foreign version • Foreign Government Names • Same as businesses • File original with English spelling • Cross-reference foreign version