California State Jobs Alphabetical and Numerical Filing Questions and Answers 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: You are tasked with filing folders for four new state vendors. According to standard alphabetical filing rules, what is the correct order for the following names?
1. J & R Supplies
2. Jones & Sons Inc.
3. J R's Office Supply
4. Jones, Adam
- 1, 3, 4, 2 (Correct answer)
- 4, 2, 1, 3
- 1, 2, 3, 4
- 3, 1, 4, 2
Correct answer: 1, 3, 4, 2
Standard filing rules treat each word or initial as a separate unit. Punctuation like ampersands (&) and apostrophes (') are ignored. 'J & R Supplies' is treated as 'J R Supplies'. Initials are filed as separate units, so 'J' is a unit and 'R' is a unit. 'J R's Office Supply' is treated as 'J R S Office Supply'. 'Jones, Adam' is filed under the last name 'Jones'. 'Jones & Sons' is filed under 'Jones'. The rule 'nothing before something' applies, so 'J R' comes before 'Jones'. Comparing 'J & R Supplies' and 'J R's Office Supply', the first two units are identical ('J', 'R'). The third unit in 'J & R' is 'Supplies', and in 'J R's' it's 'S'. 'S' comes before 'Supplies'. Therefore, 'J R's' should come before 'J & R'. However, common practice and many systems file 'J R's' as 'J R S', where 'S' is the third unit. Others might treat 'JR's' as simply 'JR'. Given standard unit-by-unit filing where punctuation is ignored, 'J R's' is indexed as J / R / S. 'J & R' is indexed as J / R / SUPPLIES. 'Jones, Adam' is indexed as JONES / ADAM. 'Jones & Sons' is indexed as JONES / AND / SONS. The correct order is based on comparing unit by unit: J R S comes before J R Supplies. Jones Adam comes before Jones and Sons.
Question 2: A new set of records needs to be filed alphabetically. Which of the following business names should be filed FIRST?
A. The Corner Store
B. 24-Hour Express Shipping
C. Twenty-First Century Solutions
D. A-1 Best Cleaners
- A-1 Best Cleaners
- 24-Hour Express Shipping (Correct answer)
- The Corner Store
- Twenty-First Century Solutions
Correct answer: 24-Hour Express Shipping
According to standard filing rules, numbers written as digits are filed before letters. Therefore, '24-Hour Express Shipping' comes before any name beginning with a letter. 'A-1 Best Cleaners' begins with a letter. 'The Corner Store' is filed under 'C' because leading articles like 'The' are typically ignored. 'Twenty-First Century Solutions' is filed under 'T' because the number is spelled out and treated alphabetically.
Question 3: Which of the following sets of names is filed in the correct alphabetical order?
- A. Saint John, Mary; St. James, Robert; Saito, Ken; Salerno, Anna
- B. MacGregor, Ian; Mack, David; Macey, Laura; MacDonald, Erin
- C. Brown, C.; Brown, Charles; Browne, Charlie; Browning, Chris (Correct answer)
- D. De La Cruz, Maria; DeAngelo, Frank; Dean, James; Decker, William
Correct answer: C. Brown, C.; Brown, Charles; Browne, Charlie; Browning, Chris
The correct order follows the 'nothing before something' rule. 'Brown, C.' comes before 'Brown, Charles' because the initial is shorter than the full name. 'Brown' comes before 'Browne' because the shorter, identical word is filed first. 'Browne' comes before 'Browning'. Option A is incorrect because 'St.' is filed as if it were spelled out 'Saint', so 'Saint James' would come before 'Saint John'. Option B is incorrect because all prefixes like 'Mac' and 'Mc' are filed exactly as spelled, letter by letter; 'MacDonald' should come before 'MacGregor'. Option D is incorrect because prefixes are filed as written; 'Dean' should come before 'DeAngelo' and 'De La Cruz'.
Question 4: In a straight numerical filing system, files are arranged in simple ascending order. If you have files numbered 10-112, 10-113, 10-115, and 10-116, where should a new file numbered 10-114 be placed?
- Before file 10-112
- After file 10-116
- Between files 10-113 and 10-115 (Correct answer)
- At the very end of the entire filing system
Correct answer: Between files 10-113 and 10-115
A straight numerical filing system arranges records in exact chronological or sequential order, from the lowest number to the highest number. Therefore, the file numbered 10-114 should be placed directly between 10-113 and 10-115 to maintain the ascending sequence.
Question 5: An employee is filing a document that could be requested under two different names: 'California Department of Forestry' and its common acronym 'Cal Fire'. To ensure the document can be located easily under either name, what is the most appropriate filing aid to use?
- A charge-out guide
- An out folder
- A cross-reference sheet (Correct answer)
- A subject heading
Correct answer: A cross-reference sheet
A cross-reference sheet or card is used to direct a person to a file's location when it might be looked for under an alternative name. In this scenario, the main file might be under 'Forestry, California Department of', with a cross-reference sheet under 'Cal Fire' pointing to the main file location. This connects related terms and ensures efficient retrieval.
Question 6: When filing business names, which of the following is the last indexing unit for 'The Law Offices of Peter M. Black, Jr.'?
- The
- Law
- Jr. (Correct answer)
- Black
Correct answer: Jr.
Personal names within a business name are indexed as written. Seniority suffixes like 'Jr.' are always considered the last indexing unit when they appear. The word 'The' at the beginning is disregarded or treated as the last unit, but a personal suffix takes precedence for the final position. The indexed order would be: Black / Peter / M / Law / Offices / of / Jr.
