I was recently asked a great question about Bates numbering.  I was assisting a new Breezer with his initial processing job. The numbering method I recommended required a prefix, five zeros, and then the number one (BATES000001).  The Breezer then asked, “If my Bates number scheme begins with number one, why would I put all of those zeros before the first number?”  My short answer is “We need to add leading zeros to our numbering scheme to ensure our pages will sort properly in our database”. Let’s take a look at how and why this bates numbering scheme is setup in this way.

Prefix

A bates number prefix, if used, can be a great way to distinguish documents from one source or another.  The custodian name, facility name or document type could be broken down to begin a Bates number series.  For example, documents received from Southwest Hospital could begin with any one of the following prefixes:
 
SOUTHWESTHOSPITAL                    SW-HOSP
SWHOSPITAL                                    SWHOSP

After we have decided on a Bates prefix, we can then choose a counter length.

Counter

The counter is the space in the Bates number where each page is assigned a number.  The most important thing to consider when establishing your counter is an estimated number of pages you will receive from that source.  This will give you an idea of how many leading zeros to place before your first number.  A leading zero count, also called zero padding, is the number of zeros placed before the first number in a Bates number sequence.  The Bates numbering scheme below has a total of five leading zeros:
SWHOSP000001
This numbering scheme will allow for 999,999 Bates numbers to be used.  If you anticipate 1,000,000+ pages, then add another leading zero.  If you anticipate 10,000,000+ pages, add two zeros to the original scheme.  I typically recommend six leading zeros.  My Bates numbering scheme would look like:
SWHOSP0000001

Separator

A separator is a character that separates any section of the Bates number.  I am going to add the separator “-“ to my Bates number scheme:
SWHOSP-0000001
Now, the Prefix and Counter portions of the Bates number are separated.  It is most common to see a separator when a Suffix is being used.

Suffix

The suffix is a page counter similar to the Counter portion of the Bates number.  When we add a Suffix to a Bates number scheme, we are inserting pages into the document population.  Sometimes these pages are called “A pages”.  The “A pages” are typically stamped in an alpha sequence which is added to end of the preceding bates number.  For example, if it were discovered that the back side of a check needed to be added after the page SWHOSP-0000045, you could add the new page as an “A page”:
SWHOSP-0000045A

Another method of using a suffix is applying the suffix in the document numbering scheme.  For example, I assign electronic numbers to exhibits for use in trial.  I setup my exhibit numbering convention similar to the following convention:
EXHIBIT001.0001

I hope these examples helped to crack the Bates numbering code.  Do you have any interesting experiences with Bates numbering schemes?  I would love to hear your funny/exciting stories or words of wisdom on this topic.

Have a good one!