The second IV in PIM study, involving the scanning of 745 items (13,500 pages), is complete. It largely confirmed the Draft PIM Retention Criteria identified in the first study with only two small changes in the wording being identified:

6. “Small publications of around A4 size or less with fixed spine bindings and/or special papers”  to be changed to “Publications with fixed spine bindings and/or special papers”

14. “Aesthetic or artistic quality” to be changed to “Aesthetic or artistic quality including photos”

This was a major milestone in the Document collection since it completed the scanning of some 32 archive boxes which was started in 1996 – a very long and arduous process. The collection now consists of an index and around 200,000 electronic files all on my laptop; and about 440 original documents (14,000 pages) retained in three filing boxes in my study. In principle I can get to any and every item in the collection very rapidly from my study desk.

The final stage of the IV in PIM study will investigate mementos – very different material from the office documents that have been investigated so far – and it is anticipated that this will provide a demanding test of the PIM Retention Criteria that have been identified to date.