The eArchiving Reference Architecture aims to support stakeholders involved in the European Commission's eArchiving Initiative, as well as newcomers interested in digital archiving. The Reference Architecture focuses on the interoperability of information, reflecting the solutions and best practices commonly adopted within our community.
At the heart of the eArchiving Reference Architecture is a series of Archimate elements and views. These views are diagrams developed following the ArchiMate diagram language rules. The online edition of the model is tailored for a broad audience, including professionals who have an interest in digital archiving but may not be experts in ArchiMate or enterprise architecture.
The first version of the eArchiving Reference Architecture was developed by the E-ARK Consortium in the Commission’s eArchiving Building Block program. This second major iteration has been developed by the E-ARK Consortium in the scope of the eArchiving Initiative.
Key features of version 2.0 include:
- The model now includes a set of views supporting the Archiving by Design approach. These views focus on the capabilities required by the new approach as well as the relationship between the functions of the new approach and the OAIS reference model functional entities.
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The core model also includes new views to be used together with the eArchiving Capability Maturity Model. These views support the Maturity Model’s self-assessment process by correlating its requirements with the relevant business layer elements of the Reference Architecture.
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Business layer views have also been reviewed and reworked (often simplified) as part of the alignment of the model with the Maturity Model.
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The online edition has been revamped with a fresh design, now featuring both light and dark themes to enhance viewing comfort.
The eArchiving Reference Architecture v.2.0 is available here