All those class print outs!

[Tradd]

I have a huge amount of print outs from the theological program I'm almost done with (yay!) after 2.5 years. All of our instructors also taught within our region at the university level, so they had access to theological libraries. I've got tons of journal articles, lots of odd chapters from out of print books, and the like.

I have them all on my email still (I have a special Gmail folder just for class emails) as they were emailed to us. I also have them saved on my hard drive, external drive, Google docs, and at least one flash drive. Need to burn to CDs, as well.

I'm contemplating pitching all the print outs when I'm done with the current class as well as the last class exam I'm 2/3 done with. National exam follows early next year, but I don't know what questions will be.

Other students: have you saved all your print outs or are they in digital form somewhere?

Thoughts? My impending move to temp digs has me thinking about making my load lighter!

[fidgiegirl]

I did keep mine but don't have a digital backup. Even so I only even entertained the notion of opening the box once in the last 3.5 years since finishing the degree program. If I were you, I'd be inclined to keep 'em digitally and get rid of the printouts.

I just pitched all the remaining hard copy stuff from my undergrad program. Felt good.

[Zoebird]

Digital form. I don't usually even bother to print things out anymore.

[iris lily]

I would maybe keep the print versions until the National exam is over, and then pitch them. I mean, you did originally print them out to read, correct? If you need to read and refresh for the exam, you won't be doing that on a computer, right?

[herbgeek]

I went to grad school back in the days before PCs. I threw all my notebooks out a few months afterwards. Very freeing. I did keep the textbooks for a few years later, but found I never referred to them. I only kept a couple of books from undergrad that I used.

[Bastelmutti]

I am in a certificate program right now. We pretty much only get printouts of PowerPoints and homework, and I am going to pitch them after each class. I am keeping the text books until I'm done, though. I second IrisLily's suggestion.

That said, I still have some *floppy disks* of my grad school work. Need to finally let those go, or maybe keep one or two as "antiques"!

[leslieann]

I am so happy to have digital copies of articles when I need them. However, I went to grad school back in the day (pre digital copy day) and did finally pitch MOST of my documents. I also had videotapes (yes, VHS tapes) of research participants (we used to call them "subjects") and floppies of the data. It was only last summer than I finally got around to destroying those tapes. It is funny the things we hang on to. I wonder if I thought they might take my degree away and I'd have to pull out my raw data to defend myself? It has only been twenty years.....

But having the digital files of articles I've used in the last five or seven years...yes, yes, yes. These are so good to have. If I had an exam to take, I'd be keeping the paper copies, too but maybe that's because I'm old. I like holding them and marking them up, and have better recall of material when I have interacted with it in various sensory ways...touch, seeing the coloured highlighter, noting the curl of the page, stuff like that.

[saguaro]

Tradd,

I am nearly finished with my school program too (May 2012!). I keep all my printouts until the class is done, then pitch them. Any that I want to keep for any reference afterward, I save on a flash drive as the files are downloaded via Blackboard or sent through the student email. The student email account is not forever (goes away once I am done) so I save any files from that immediately.

[Tradd]

I would maybe keep the print versions until the National exam is over, and then pitch them. I mean, you did originally print them out to read, correct? If you need to read and refresh for the exam, you won't be doing that on a computer, right?

Yes, I did print them out to read originally, make notes on, etc. Wish I could throw them out now, but that will have to wait until after exam in several months. Sigh.

[Zoebird]

My process was to read and "brief' the article. I would then take notes in class. From this, i would create an outline. At the end of the class (before the final), I would outline my outline to the essentials. Articles or cases would have 1 major description -- rule of law and relevant facts. So, it would be element (Trespass), Essential legal definitions, essential cases with description. A single course would end up with a 4-6 page outline (unlike my friends, who would have 100 page outlines -- which are too difficult to study. most of the information is in your head, after all. you just need a recall device.).

I would keep these outlines for the bar exam, and pretty much everything else would be pitched (or sold back to the school in the case of books). I kept my one constitutional law book because it gave a great explanation of how it all worked. It wasn't the typical casebook/text.

I transitioned those to digital after I decided not to take the bar exam; and recently got rid of those. I'd have to take two more years of law school at this point to even sit for the exam, and I don't plan on doing that. :)

I would suggest keeping the articles that you really like and you think you might refer to in the future -- in digital form -- and utilize your outlines for everything else, including the national exam.

But that's how I work. I know most of the information is in my brain, and I just need a recall device. Not everyone believes or thinks like that.