Archival properties of digital negative

It's amazing how I can flip open my binder and pull a negative from 1997-98 and print it, but a digital file shot 6 months ago has just evaporated into who knows where. Is it possible to make digital negatives last a long time like regular negatives?

A valid question, and the answer is probably just to print another one when you need it, but we've moved discussions of hybrid traditional/digital techniques to APUG's sister site--http://www.hybridphoto.com.

I'm closing this thread, but encouraging you to post this question on the hybrid site, where you'll probably get more responses.