An intake table that survives shift changes
Overnight handoffs break more air-gapped reviews than exotic malware. Someone moves a drive “just for a second,” a sticky note falls, and the morning witness inherits a shelf that no longer matches the log.
Name the piles out loud
Use three physical zones with permanent labels: Arrived, In Review, Ready for Courier. Avoid clever names. If a contractor cannot pronounce the zone in one breath, rename it.
One row per object
Your intake table should treat each piece of media as a row with a media ID, source system, arrival time, and current zone. Do not merge multiple sticks into a single “batch” row unless they share a sealed bag with one ID.
Shift stamp, not status essays
At changeover, the outgoing reader initials a single stamp field: “Zones match table.” If they cannot honestly stamp, they fix the shelf before leaving. Essays in chat do not replace that stamp.
This pattern shows up again in Controlled Media Review Studio Module 2.