Does scanning old documents count as preservation or do I still need the originals?

Scanning is a useful step, but the verb you choose matters. “Digitization” means making a digital copy of an analog record. “Preservation” means keeping a record—analog or digital—usable, authentic, and trustworthy over its full retention period. A scan only counts as preservation if you also manage what you scanned: its format, metadata, integrity, and ongoing readability. A folder of loose image files is a copy, not a preservation program.

Does scanning replace the originals?

Sometimes, but not automatically. Whether you can dispose of paper after scanning depends on the rules that govern those specific records:

• Legal and regulatory requirements. Some statutes, contracts, or agency directives require originals to be retained for a set period, or require specific conditions before a digital copy becomes the official record.
• Authorization to dispose. In many programs, destroying originals after digitization requires documented approval and a quality-controlled imaging process—not just “we scanned it.”
• Evidential value. Wet signatures, seals, watermarks, or the physical artifact itself may carry value a flat image cannot reproduce.

If the originals are permanent or archival records, treat disposal with extra caution; permanent records often have preservation obligations that a routine scan does not satisfy.

What makes a scan a trustworthy record

To rely on the digital copy as the record of business, aim for:

• Capture quality sufficient for the record’s use (resolution, color, completeness), following recognized imaging guidelines.
• Metadata that documents what the record is, when and how it was scanned, and how it links to the source.
• Integrity controls so you can demonstrate the file has not been altered.
• Format and storage that remain readable over time, with planned migration as formats age.

Practical guidance

1. Check the applicable retention rule before destroying any original.
2. Confirm whether destruction-after-digitization is authorized for that record series.
3. Build quality control and metadata into the scanning workflow, not after.
4. Plan for the digital file’s long-term care—digital objects degrade through neglect, not just decay.

For more on managing digitized and born-digital records over time, see the archives and preservation topic hub.