VPRS 12011 General Correspondence Subject Files, Fisheries and Wildlife Division

VPRS 12011 General Correspondence Subject Files documents the core functions and policies of government agencies that controlled the fisheries and wildlife function.The series consists of files of inward and outward correspondence maintained by the various Victorian Government Agencies responsible for the. Fisheries and Wildlife function under its various administrative structures. The basic arrangement has remained consistent however the symbols used to control and access the contents have altered over time.1. circa 1850-1954Correspondence was registered and filed in a subject classification system. Inward and outward correspondence was registered in the Inward and Outward Correspondence Register 1952-60 (VPRS 4042). Correspondence was filed by subject and an abbreviation of the subject content of the correspondence was recorded in the register to indicate on which file the correspondence had been placed. For example PR: public relations, W/M: wildlife management.2. circa 1954-circa 1967Circa 1954 a numeric code system was developed to indicate the subject of the correspondence. All inward correspondence was listed by sender and classified by subject in the Inward and Outward Correspondence Register 1952-60 (VPRS 4042). Each item was allocated a code indicating subject, for example, 1: administration, 4: finance and 7: wildlife management. Outward mail was listed by name of creator of correspondence, intended recipient and correspondence subject. Inward and outward correspondence continued to be filed together by subject.3. circa 1967-circa 1987By 1967 a multiple numbering correspondence system was adopted. Correspondence was classified by reference to a List of Authorised File Classifications. File numbers were made up of three elements, for example 36/1/25. The primary or first number is the section of the Division the correspondence relates too, for example 36: fish. The second element is the secondary number that relates to the sub-section of the correspondence subject. An example of this would be under the classification of Administration 1: general and 3: delegations. The third element of a correspondence file number is the consecutive file number in that classification.VPRS 12011 General Correspondence Subject Files is the previous series to General Correspondence Files, Multiple Number System (VPRS 11559). There are some files in VPRS 12011 that were created by the multiple number system but for pragmatic reasons they have been kept in the subject file series.