Trusted Digital Repositories in Context: Definitions, Diagnoses, and Directions for Better Practice

The purpose of this paper is to defi ne the concept of a trusted digital repository (TDR) not only in a broad context but also in elemental terms and to measure the eff orts of professionals, operations, and technological infrastructure at the Fashion Institute of Technology – State University of New York, against this clearly defi ned concept. Method/Approach: The author will examine not only the scholarly literature to better understand TDR, but also she will examine a sample institution's operational and technological infrastructure to measure its ability to deliver trustworthy resources and information. The latter phase of inquiry will involve qualitative research in the form of interviews with relevant professionals employed at the sample institution. For context, this author selected her home institution not out of convenience but rather because it is a publically-funded institution with very limited resources including time, money, and human resources. She wanted to investigate if a compromised setting could deliver what was expected regarding such TDR concepts and deliverables and to see how close to «best practices» the sample institution actually practiced given limited resources. Results: This paper will place the concept of a TDR in a broader context – one that hinges on traditional archival practice, one that refl ects the infrastructure and goals of a sample institution, and one that reports the TDR successes and challenges of a sample institution vis-à-vis trusted digital repositories. Conclusion/Findings: Trustworthiness comes at a price paid with commodities such as time, money, and human resources. With enough, or the right combination of these, digital repositories, and their contents, can be trusted and they can deliver data, information, knowledge, or even wisdom that is or are expected and required for equally trusted, reliable, and even wise decision-making.