THREADED DISCUSSION #1 Prompt:
Going “Paperless†is common in today’s business transactions. Receipts are emailed rather than printed, bills are paid automatically from an individual’s banking accounts. What will the future look like? What are some things that having paper records of would be important? Which would you prefer and why?
Make sure to be detailed in your response and make sure to comment on at least two other student’s posts.
CLASSMATE POST # 1
As Registrar of Palo Verde High, this is exactly what my job is all about. I’m basically a records keeper. At PV we have two records rooms which hold actual student files dating all the way back to the 1920’s. Its pretty neat. A students cumulative folder, follows them through out their school career, pre-k to 12th grade. So if a student transfers school, the new school requests that file and the old school has to send it by law. These files hold valuable information regarding a student. Birth certificate, immunization records, health records, special awards, transcripts, report cards, etc. These are things that in my opinion are extremely important to have on hand in paper form. Its proof of identity.
I have had students tell me that they have lost records in house fires, during moves, identity theft, gender reassignment process, court battles, background checks for jobs, so many different life situations and I was their last hope, and I’ve been able to provide copies to them of what they need. Its a great feeling to be able to help people in such a way.
There are companies now that provide a service where they go sit in your records room and scan every last file and every last paper into a data base so that it is all available on your computer, at your fingertips. Now, this would make life a lot easier for me BUT if that company goes out of business, like so many do, what happens to all those years of information? Gone. So as much as I want these programs in the end, an actual paper file is more dependable.
Paper, if kept in a safe place, is just more reliable.
I think the future will be the same way it is going now. The majority of stuff will be electronic but the real important stuff will always be kept in a paper form and in a safe place.
Personally, I keep mine and my family’s stuff the same way. All my bills are done electronically and on autopay its just easier and cleaner to have it that way but the real important stuff is in a safe box that I keep in a safe place. Some things I have in both paper and electronic form, just to be safe.
CLASSMATE POST #2
I believe the future will stay pretty consistent with how things are going presently. It is super convenient being able to pay all of my bills online without the clutter that paper bills can bring, especially when you use auto pay. It just brings a sense of comfort knowing that these things are being handled without you having to handle the paper bill and mail the check out. However, I feel these can bring a bit of unwillingness to the table when it comes to learning how to manage your money just because the auto pay and online management system can make you too comfortable with just “paying bills†and forgetting about them until the next month. There is always the latter, which makes it so much easier to manage money because of the comfortability and organization it brings.
I do believe paper is necessary for important documents such as birth and marriage certificates, bill of sale, leases, and any other agreements or contracts that could be disputed. It can be very easy to modify an official document through software which is why paper can be so much more secure. There is always the possibility of the destruction of important documents, but the same goes for documents stored on servers or hard drives. Paper does have the downside of its environmental impact, cost, and even the physical storage space that it can take up but thats why the coexistence of paper and paperless is vital to our society moving forward. My personal preference would have to be paper but I have no problem with some things being managed electronically. They both have their pros and cons but in the end paper is the way to go in terms of security and dependability.
