Digital Preservation and Data Repositories: just what does "long-term" mean anyway?

Abstract

As the University of Washington Libraries began writing policy for the institution's data repository currently under development, we found ourselves in a quandary: "how long is long enough?" Within the framework mandated by the US Government's Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) memo on access to federally funded research, and given the myriad challenges of digital preservation, what are libraries committing to when planning a repository to provide long-term access to research data? This snapshot will stir conversation on a topic that needs to be addressed within a community jumping head first into the development of institutional data repositories.