There are 2 main methods of filing, which are Loose Leaf method and secondly, the Collective method.
1. Loose-Leaf method
Documents are filed individually in a normal file, holes are punched in the documents and then they are filed.
Advantages
• Documents can be filed and de-filed very easily.
• Does not occupy too much of space.
• Easy to sub-divide by just using simple dividers.
Disadvantages
• There are high chances of the documents being torn or damaged.
• Retrieving and searching for documents is very time consuming.
• Documents can be misplaced very easily.
2. Collective Method
There are 2 files, one an inner file and the second one, an outer file.
Advantages
• Less chance of misfiling as each main category is marked.
• Similarly, locating any file becomes easy as each category and sub-category is marked.
Disadvantages
• Takes up more space as the filing method is a 2 step process.
• Working with the same method in an unknown workplace is very difficult.
• Also the filing process becomes time-consuming and tedious, and hence may decrease efficiency and cause inconvenience.
