On Fri, 22 Aug 2008, Leslie Johnston wrote:

> Agreed that you need a label for the function/tool/platform.
>
> I have been in many discussions that went around and around on the word
> "repository."  Some folks liked it because it was a reasonably generic
> term for a class of tool that had some physical association with a place
> where things are stored/saved.  Some folks hated it because, well, who
> knows what the heck a repository is, and how do you explain it to people
> who have no clue what it might be or how it would be of use to them?

I was at workshop a few years back, and my boss made a comment that 
'repository' comes from 'repose', which suggests that the materials are 
being placed there to never be used again.  'Archive' suggests that 
the materials have value, and are being stored for some later use.

Of course, this is also the same person who's been known to refer to our 
archive as 'write once, read never'.  (jokingly, of course, as we have 
regular connections from other sites, trying to mirror our whole 
collection)

-Joe