Since the beginning of 2003, the e-Depot is in full production, but does not contain the solution for the problem of long-term preservation yet. During the DNEP-project studies on several issues concerning long-term preservation were carried out. As part of the contract with the KB, a study and not a solution was requested from IBM as precise requirements for the functionality for long-term preservation cannot yet be defined. A working group guided and supported by IBM was conducting the study, which is described in the DNEP ltp-study overview.

The LTP Study main objective was to investigate the functionality required for the long term (hundreds of years) preservation of the digital information stored in the e-Depot. The digital form offers many advantages; it also comes with a challenge of its own: how can we insure that such documents (now, digital files) may be preserved for a long time, surviving changes in storage, computer hardware, software, formats, etc.

In december 2002 six reports were published describing the results of the IBM/KB Long-Term Preservation Studies. These studies are: