“What is a repository” was one of the first questions I faced on joining Jisc back in 2005 and, of course, it was not the first time it had been asked even then, and it has come up periodically since then. With many OA (and some open data) policies explicitly mentioning “repositories”, it might be timely to revisit this question to see whether we have a consensus on an answer or, if not, then where the major points of discussion are. To help explore this question, I have drafted a short (three page) document that I hope will lay out some of the things that might be considered in answering the question. I’d be very interested in your reactions to this thought piece.
Here it is: