Disposing of Source Records After Digitization

The whole payoff of digitization — reclaiming space and consolidating management — usually depends on being able to dispose of the paper originals afterward. That’s allowed, but it isn’t automatic, and “we scanned it” is not permission to shred.

Two conditions must be met

Before disposing of source records after digitization, you generally need both:

The digital version meets quality and metadata standards. The scan must be a complete, legible, faithful surrogate — captured at appropriate resolution and color, in a suitable format, with enough metadata to identify and manage it. Federal agencies follow NARA’s digitization standards and FADGI; others should adopt comparable benchmarks.
Disposal of the originals is authorized. The destruction must be covered by an applicable retention schedule or disposition authority. In the U.S. federal government, NARA’s rules permit agencies to digitize records — including permanent records — and then dispose of the paper once the digitization meets its standards.

Why the caution

If the digital copy is incomplete, illegible, or lacks the context to be trusted, destroying the originals can mean losing the record entirely — a serious problem for records with legal or evidential value. And destroying originals without proper authority is itself a recordkeeping violation. The risk is asymmetric: a little verification up front prevents an irreversible loss.

A defensible process

Verify quality (QC) against the standard before any disposal — completeness, legibility, metadata.
Confirm the disposition authority for the source records.
Document the digitization and the destruction (a certificate/log of destruction).
Destroy securely per the records’ sensitivity (shredding/pulping for sensitive paper).

Plan it before you scan

The organizations that get the most value decide the fate of the originals at the planning stage, not after boxes of paper pile up. Done right, you reclaim the space and consolidate management; done carelessly, you keep both the paper and the scans — the worst of both worlds. See the digitization and imaging hub and our Q&A: can I throw away paper after scanning?