Design Patterns in Digital Preservation: Understanding Information Flows

This paper proposes a framework to help understand the different ways digital preservation goals can achieved, and the contextual factors these choices depend on. This is done through a worked example: three different design patterns representing the three possible modes of archival information flow, each illustrated with realistic examples and practices. By helping a wider audience understand these different approaches, we can ensure implementation choices are informed by practice, rather than by default, or without even realizing a choice has been made.