Retaining digital evidence packs without losing the trail
Cloud folders move. Someone renames “Final_v3” during a late cleanup. A reviewer opens the link three weeks later and finds a different set of files. Retention is not only about how long you keep evidence — it is about whether the trail still points to the same objects.
Stable IDs beat poetic names
Assign a pack ID at creation and never recycle it. Display names can change for human clarity; the ID in the working paper index should not. If your platform auto-renames on move, record the ID inside a cover PDF that travels with the pack.
Export logs for system extracts
When evidence is an ERP extract, keep the export parameters: user, timestamp, filters, and row counts. Without that, “completeness” is a wish. We teach a one-screen log template in Evidence File Craft Module 4 for exactly this moment.
Say when something moved
If planning evidence is relocated into the final binder structure, write a one-line relocation note with the old path and new pack ID. Silence looks like deletion to a cold reviewer.