The start of the new year is a time that many people choose to start new good habits.  A good habit to start for your digital life is “tidying up” your data. One way to do this is by archiving data. You likely already know the importance of making sure you have good backups and a good backup strategy to protect your data. Archiving data is different than backing up, but is just as important. 

The purpose of a backup is to have an easily accessible copy of your current work in case of data corruption or loss. An archive is for data that is no longer in active use, but still should be retained. Data stored in an archive should be searchable and accessible but not necessarily stored in the same location as data currently in use or being actively edited.

For help archiving your data, consult with the IT organization of your school or center to see if there is a preferred archive location or plan already in place. For information on the University’s resources for both digital and physical archives, see: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/index.html

The University has retention schedules for all data that must be retained for “... all University and Health System records for which there is a legal, regulatory or management retention requirement.” 

Retention schedule information can be found here: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/urc/recrdret/guide1.html