Ask Slashdot: Keeping Digital Media After Imaging?

New submitter rogue_archivist writes "I'm an archivist at a mid-sized university archives, trying to develop a policy for archiving computer files ('born-digital records' in archival parlance). Currently old floppy disks, CDs, and the occasional hard drive are added to our network storage. Then the physical media is separated from archival paper documents and placed into storage. My question for all you slashdotters out there is: should these disks be imaged and then the physical copies discarded? Is there any benefit for keeping around physical copies of storage media long since rendered obsolete?"

The Basics

[westlake]

I'm an archivist at a mid-sized university archives, trying to develop a policy for archiving computer files ('born-digital records' in archival parlance).

Get Your Bits Off (Old Storage Media) [loc.gov]

Demystifying Born Digital Reports [oclc.org]

Working Draft of the Levels of Digital Preservation Chart [loc.gov]

Re:Image-Discard-and back-up the image

[wonkey_monkey]

image->backup->check image and backup->discard->sign in triplicate->sent in->send back->query->lose->find->subject to public inquiry->lose again->bury in soft peat for three months and recycle as firelighters