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Or maybe time for a little bit of benchmarking. Or both.

I'm wondering what documents other certifiers retain, and for how long.

My paper files include all of the originals of the certificates, maps and supporting documentation for every course I have measured since my first one in 1987 and every course I've certified since becoming a certifier in 1988. That's now over two thousand courses, and they fill both drawers of a 36" wide lateral file plus two drawers of a 30" deep traditional upright file cabinet. The Chicago files alone account for one of the drawers of the lateral file. I also have all of the two-sided certificates stored in a number of three ring binders.

Given that any course certified before 2001 has now expired and must be remeasured, I'm wondering what, if any use there is in holding on to the original documentation on any course whose certification has expired and cannot be extended. If someone asks, I still have copies of the course maps on the certificates in the binders and, since the certification has expired, the other documents would have to be produced anew, anyway.

I'm sure there's some historical value here- but my file cabinets are filling up, and I'm not sure where I would put another one.

Is there an RRTC policy on this? What is everybody else doing?

Thanks.
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Fortunately didn't start back in 87, so my records only go back to 1996. I was one of the early users of computer generated maps, and I created an Excel version of the forms I submit so those are all electronic too.

I've kept a lot of my paper doc that was source material, but since the bulk of it is electronic I'm able to satisfy my inner pack-rat without running afoul of my spouse. I did get rid of all the paper maps I'd gotten from the county office for elevation because I can get the same information online from the counties GIS system

Since the maps are electronic, I do pull them up and use them as a base for new courses in the same area.
I’m much like Jay with paper files for all the courses I measured and certified between 1986 and September of this year. These files fill a couple of file drawers and several boxes. But in September, I met my storage limit and have since gone to a digital file system. Measurers submit their applications and maps via email. Everything seems to be going well, with fifteen course files now on disk.

I plan to keep all of my paper files.
Here is my position on this matter. The Regional Certifiers only needs to save the Certificates for a 5 year period as well as the Vice Chair. The Registrar should save them for 10 years.

As Registrar, I have all the stuff backed up on my computer, an external hard drive and I also use another external source for all my data(I use Carbonite).

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