Research Document No. 01 From the Chain of Archival Digital Custody to an Architectonic Reading of Archival Science Notes Toward an Epistemological Reconstruction of Digital Archival Science

 

PDS & Ged/A – Research Document No. 01

From the Chain of Archival Digital Custody to an Architectonic Reading of Archival Science

Notes Toward an Epistemological Reconstruction of Digital Archival Science

Daniel Flores

PDS & Ged/A Research Group (CNPq)
Digital Transformation of Records Management, Curation, Preservation, Access and Active Transparency through the Chain of Archival Digital Custody

Graduate Program in Information Science
Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), Brazil

June 2026

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Abstract

This Research Document presents the main reflections developed during the Permanent Research Seminar of the PDS & Ged/A Research Group, conducted between the second semester of 2025 and the first semester of 2026. Rather than offering definitive conclusions, it documents the current stage of an ongoing research agenda resulting from more than three decades of investigations on electronic records, digital records, digital preservation, the Chain of Archival Digital Custody (CADC), Systemic Digital Preservation (SDP), archival requirements, the OAIS Reference Model, and Digital Archival Ecosystems.

During the seminar, a broader epistemological hypothesis gradually emerged: digital transformation does not necessarily alter the foundational principles of Archival Science; instead, it makes long-standing archival problems more explicit. This observation led to the formulation of a provisional research hypothesis referred to as an Architectonic Reading of Archival Science, understood as a methodological approach for reconstructing the intellectual development of archival theory through its enduring research problems.

Keywords: Archival Science; Digital Records; Chain of Archival Digital Custody; Systemic Digital Preservation; OAIS Reference Model; Digital Archival Ecosystems; Epistemology.

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Introduction

Over the last three decades, Archival Science has undergone profound transformations driven by digital technologies. Electronic records, born-digital records, trusted digital repositories, metadata standards, digital preservation strategies, and, more recently, artificial intelligence have substantially reshaped archival environments.

Most archival research has understandably focused on technological innovation, developing standards, models and requirements capable of preserving authenticity, integrity, reliability and long-term accessibility.

The research developed by the PDS & Ged/A Research Group has followed this trajectory from its earliest stages. Initially focused on electronic records, it progressively expanded toward digital records, digital preservation, archival requirements, and trusted digital preservation environments.

Within this context, two complementary concepts were developed by the Group:

• the Chain of Archival Digital Custody (CADC), originally proposed in Portuguese as Cadeia de Custódia Digital Arquivística (CCDA);

• Systemic Digital Preservation (SDP).

During the Permanent Research Seminar, however, a different perspective gradually emerged.

For many years, our central question had been:

How do digital technologies transform Archival Science?

By the end of the seminar, another question proved to be considerably more productive:

What if digital technologies do not fundamentally transform Archival Science, but rather make enduring archival problems more visible?

This document presents the first public record of that ongoing reflection.

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Where We Started

Our research trajectory began with investigations into electronic records, seeking to understand how authenticity, reliability and evidential value could be maintained within digital environments.

Subsequent developments—including Contemporary Diplomatics, the InterPARES Project, the OAIS Reference Model, ISO 15489, archival requirements, and trusted digital repositories—greatly expanded this field of inquiry.

Within this broader context, two research contributions gradually matured:

• the Chain of Archival Digital Custody (CADC);

• Systemic Digital Preservation (SDP).

Both concepts emerged as archival responses to persistent challenges involving authenticity, institutional accountability, contextual integrity and long-term preservation.

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Main Findings of the Permanent Research Seminar

The discussions conducted throughout 2025–2026 led to several preliminary findings that will guide the next stage of our research agenda.

First finding

The central challenge has never been technology itself.

Technologies evolve.

Archival problems endure.

Second finding

Core archival principles remain intellectually relevant.

Provenance, authenticity, integrity, archival context, custody and preservation have not been replaced by digital transformation.

Rather, they have become even more explicit.

Third finding

Technologies should be understood as contexts of archival explicitness.

The OAIS Reference Model, Archivematica, AtoM, artificial intelligence or blockchain do not replace archival principles.

They create new environments in which those principles must be critically interpreted.

Fourth finding

Digital Archival Ecosystems are progressively replacing linear preservation models.

Records creation, management, preservation and access increasingly operate as permanently interconnected archival processes.

Fifth finding

The continuity of Archival Science depends on the continuity of its research problems rather than on the permanence of particular technologies.

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The Emergence of a New Research Hypothesis

One of the most significant outcomes of the seminar was the gradual emergence of a provisional research hypothesis referred to as an Architectonic Reading of Archival Science.

This proposal should not be understood as a new theory of Archival Science.

Nor does it seek to replace the rich intellectual tradition established by archival scholars.

Instead, it proposes a methodological perspective through which the historical development of archival thought may be reconstructed by identifying how different generations of scholars responded to enduring archival problems under changing documentary and technological conditions.

Whether this hypothesis proves fruitful remains an open research question.

Its scientific value will ultimately depend on its explanatory capacity rather than on its conceptual novelty.

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Final Remarks

This Research Document does not claim to present definitive answers.

Instead, it records the current stage of an ongoing research programme developed by the PDS & Ged/A Research Group.

Our intention is to share with the international archival community a set of research questions that may contribute to future discussions concerning digital records, digital preservation, archival theory and the epistemological development of Archival Science.

In this perspective, the Chain of Archival Digital Custody, Systemic Digital Preservation and the emerging proposal of an Architectonic Reading of Archival Science should not be viewed as isolated concepts, but as complementary stages within a broader effort to understand how Archival Science continuously reconstructs its own theoretical foundations while responding to the challenges posed by ever-changing documentary environments.