Scanning and Archive Writing

We are currently filming some of our documents and will be moving to scanning. However, because the retention schedule shows these as being permanent records, in order to destroy these records to make room on our shelves, the microfilm has to meet Archives standards to allow us to destroy the paper and keep the film as the permanent copy. Standards also state that when scanning documents as long as the scanned image meets the seven criteria set by the State Archives the documents can be destroyed and the imaged document therefore becomes the permanent copy.

What are your thoughts on this and would you Archive Write your information after scanning and before destruction of paper?

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Permalink Reply by John R Turner on February 1, 2010 at 7:51am: The answer in my mind revolves around how long you need to retain the files. Long retention still favors microfilm mainly due to the turnover in technology. If I save a digital file today will I be able to retrieve it in as little as ten years? Will the storage media still be supported? Will the storage media hold up to aging ten or more years? Stored properly microfilm will be around much longer than ten years. I often suggest in these cases that you scan the files to get the most efficient and convienient use from your paper to digital conversion efforts and send the digital files to microfilm for long term storage. If your future systems upgrades seem costly due to file conversions costs consider bringing the images in from the microfilm as an alternative. I usually go the extra step and store the image metadata as a supplement to the microfilm images so I can exercise this option if needed.; ▶ Reply to This