Title Pages in Text Documents:
When creating a text document, it is important that certain pieces of information are contained in the document so people can identify it. Is is common and natural practise for the title of the work and the name of the author(s) to appear at the top or on a title page.
VIF recommends expanding this information to include at date last
edited to the title page. The
VERSIONS Toolkit (external PDF)
also supports this:
It is a good idea to type the date yourself on the front page of
any draft or version you are working on and to be consistent about
updating this date when you save a new version. The date you add should
be the date you last worked on the manuscript. For readers this is one
of the most important elements in helping them to check they have the
version they wish to read.
Note - Word sometimes offers to insert today's date, so that it automatically updates whenever a file is worked on. Care should be taken to make sure that this only happens when appropriate, for example, if it is always important to know when a document has been printed, and not at other times, for example, when the date on the digital object is important and that valuable information is not automatically lost on opening.
The VERSIONS advice also suggests adding a note describing the version status of the document:
"Adding a note to the front page of versions of your paper is a way to convey useful information about the version in a concise form that can be easily understood by human readers. If you do this while revising your paper, you may find it easier to differentiate between versions after an interval of time. It is a good idea at least to add such notes to any version you intend to disseminate."
Word: File > Properties:
VIF also recommends making full usage usage of the properties fields provided in Microsoft Word (or alternative in other word processing packages). To access the properties, click File, then select Properties.
Here is a screenshot example:
You can download this example and see how the fields work for
yourself: Demonstration of Properties (doc,
27kb).