diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index dca2420c62..c725029a12 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@
     "server:watch": "nodemon dist/server.js",
     "server:watch:debug": "nodemon --debug dist/server.js",
     "webpack:watch": "webpack -w --mode development",
-    "watch": "yarn run build && npm-run-all -p webpack:watch server:watch --mode development",
-    "watch:debug": "yarn run build && npm-run-all -p webpack:watch server:watch:debug --mode development",
+    "watch": "yarn run build && npm-run-all -p webpack:watch server:watch",
+    "watch:debug": "yarn run build && npm-run-all -p webpack:watch server:watch:debug",
     "predebug": "yarn run build",
     "predebug:server": "yarn run build",
     "debug": "node --debug-brk dist/server.js",
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@
     "core-js": "2.5.3",
     "express": "4.16.2",
     "express-session": "1.15.6",
+    "fast-json-patch": "^2.0.7",
     "font-awesome": "4.7.0",
     "http-server": "0.11.1",
     "https": "1.0.0",
diff --git a/src/app/core/cache/object-cache.actions.ts b/src/app/core/cache/object-cache.actions.ts
index a136b04248..957c0f7269 100644
--- a/src/app/core/cache/object-cache.actions.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/cache/object-cache.actions.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { Action } from '@ngrx/store';
 
 import { type } from '../../shared/ngrx/type';
 import { CacheableObject } from './object-cache.reducer';
+import { Operation } from 'fast-json-patch';
 
 /**
  * The list of ObjectCacheAction type definitions
@@ -9,7 +10,8 @@ import { CacheableObject } from './object-cache.reducer';
 export const ObjectCacheActionTypes = {
   ADD: type('dspace/core/cache/object/ADD'),
   REMOVE: type('dspace/core/cache/object/REMOVE'),
-  RESET_TIMESTAMPS: type('dspace/core/cache/object/RESET_TIMESTAMPS')
+  RESET_TIMESTAMPS: type('dspace/core/cache/object/RESET_TIMESTAMPS'),
+  PATCH: type('dspace/core/cache/object/PATCH')
 };
 
 /* tslint:disable:max-classes-per-file */
@@ -79,6 +81,30 @@ export class ResetObjectCacheTimestampsAction implements Action {
     this.payload = newTimestamp;
   }
 }
+
+/**
+ * An ngrx action to add new operations to a specified cached objects
+ */
+export class PatchObjectCacheAction implements Action {
+  type = ObjectCacheActionTypes.PATCH;
+  payload: {
+    uuid: string,
+    operations: Operation[]
+  };
+
+  /**
+   * Create a new PatchObjectCacheAction
+   *
+   * @param uuid
+   *    the uuid of the object that should be updated
+   * @param operations
+   *    the list of operations to add
+   */
+  constructor(uuid: string, operations: Operation[]) {
+    this.payload = { uuid, operations };
+  }
+}
+
 /* tslint:enable:max-classes-per-file */
 
 /**
@@ -87,4 +113,5 @@ export class ResetObjectCacheTimestampsAction implements Action {
 export type ObjectCacheAction
   = AddToObjectCacheAction
   | RemoveFromObjectCacheAction
-  | ResetObjectCacheTimestampsAction;
+  | ResetObjectCacheTimestampsAction
+  | PatchObjectCacheAction;
diff --git a/src/app/core/cache/object-cache.reducer.ts b/src/app/core/cache/object-cache.reducer.ts
index 3a1830e14a..5cc4b0551a 100644
--- a/src/app/core/cache/object-cache.reducer.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/cache/object-cache.reducer.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,11 @@
 import {
   ObjectCacheAction, ObjectCacheActionTypes, AddToObjectCacheAction,
-  RemoveFromObjectCacheAction, ResetObjectCacheTimestampsAction
+  RemoveFromObjectCacheAction, ResetObjectCacheTimestampsAction, PatchObjectCacheAction
 } from './object-cache.actions';
-import { hasValue } from '../../shared/empty.util';
+import { hasValue, isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
 import { CacheEntry } from './cache-entry';
 import { ResourceType } from '../shared/resource-type';
+import { Operation } from 'fast-json-patch';
 
 export enum DirtyType {
   Created = 'Created',
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ export class ObjectCacheEntry implements CacheEntry {
   timeAdded: number;
   msToLive: number;
   requestHref: string;
+  operations: Operation[];
 }
 
 /**
@@ -76,6 +78,9 @@ export function objectCacheReducer(state = initialState, action: ObjectCacheActi
       return resetObjectCacheTimestamps(state, action as ResetObjectCacheTimestampsAction)
     }
 
+    case ObjectCacheActionTypes.PATCH: {
+      return patchObjectCache(state, action as PatchObjectCacheAction);
+    }
     default: {
       return state;
     }
@@ -98,7 +103,8 @@ function addToObjectCache(state: ObjectCacheState, action: AddToObjectCacheActio
       data: action.payload.objectToCache,
       timeAdded: action.payload.timeAdded,
       msToLive: action.payload.msToLive,
-      requestHref: action.payload.requestHref
+      requestHref: action.payload.requestHref,
+      operations: []
     }
   });
 }
@@ -143,3 +149,23 @@ function resetObjectCacheTimestamps(state: ObjectCacheState, action: ResetObject
   });
   return newState;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Add the list of patch operations to a cached object
+ *
+ * @param state
+ *    the current state
+ * @param action
+ *    a PatchObjectCacheAction
+ * @return ObjectCacheState
+ *    the new state, with the new operations added to the state of the specified ObjectCacheEntry
+ */
+function patchObjectCache(state: ObjectCacheState, action: PatchObjectCacheAction): ObjectCacheState {
+  const uuid = action.payload.uuid;
+  const operations = action.payload.operations;
+  const newState = Object.assign({}, state);
+  if (hasValue(newState[uuid])) {
+    newState[uuid].operations = state[uuid].operations.concat(operations);
+  }
+  return newState;
+}
diff --git a/src/app/core/cache/object-cache.service.ts b/src/app/core/cache/object-cache.service.ts
index dbe241ffb3..d9b3077d55 100644
--- a/src/app/core/cache/object-cache.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/cache/object-cache.service.ts
@@ -1,18 +1,23 @@
 import { combineLatest as observableCombineLatest, Observable } from 'rxjs';
 
-import { distinctUntilChanged, filter, first, map, mergeMap, take } from 'rxjs/operators';
+import { distinctUntilChanged, filter, first, map, mergeMap, take, tap } from 'rxjs/operators';
 import { Injectable } from '@angular/core';
 import { MemoizedSelector, select, Store } from '@ngrx/store';
 import { IndexName } from '../index/index.reducer';
 
 import { CacheableObject, ObjectCacheEntry } from './object-cache.reducer';
-import { AddToObjectCacheAction, RemoveFromObjectCacheAction } from './object-cache.actions';
-import { hasNoValue } from '../../shared/empty.util';
+import {
+  AddToObjectCacheAction,
+  PatchObjectCacheAction,
+  RemoveFromObjectCacheAction
+} from './object-cache.actions';
+import { hasNoValue, isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
 import { GenericConstructor } from '../shared/generic-constructor';
 import { coreSelector, CoreState } from '../core.reducers';
 import { pathSelector } from '../shared/selectors';
 import { NormalizedObjectFactory } from './models/normalized-object-factory';
 import { NormalizedObject } from './models/normalized-object.model';
+import { applyPatch, Operation } from 'fast-json-patch';
 
 function selfLinkFromUuidSelector(uuid: string): MemoizedSelector<CoreState, string> {
   return pathSelector<CoreState, string>(coreSelector, 'index', IndexName.OBJECT, uuid);
@@ -85,7 +90,11 @@ export class ObjectCacheService {
       map((entry: ObjectCacheEntry) => {
         const type: GenericConstructor<NormalizedObject> = NormalizedObjectFactory.getConstructor(entry.data.type);
         return Object.assign(new type(), entry.data) as T
-      }));
+      }),
+      // map((entry: ObjectCacheEntry) =>
+      //   applyPatch(entry.data, entry.operations).newDocument
+      // )
+    );
   }
 
   private getEntry(selfLink: string): Observable<ObjectCacheEntry> {
@@ -195,4 +204,26 @@ export class ObjectCacheService {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Add operations to a the existing list of operations for an ObjectCacheEntry
+   * @param {string} uuid
+   *     the uuid of the ObjectCacheEntry
+   * @param {Operation[]} patch
+   *     list of operations to perform
+   */
+  private addOperations(uuid: string, patch: Operation[]) {
+    this.store.dispatch(new PatchObjectCacheAction(uuid, patch));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Check whether there are any unperformed operations for an ObjectCacheEntry
+   *
+   * @param entry
+   *    the entry to check
+   * @return boolean
+   *    false if the entry is there are no operations left in the ObjectCacheEntry, true otherwise
+   */
+  private isDirty(entry: ObjectCacheEntry): boolean {
+    return isNotEmpty(entry.operations);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/app/shared/form/form.reducer.ts b/src/app/shared/form/form.reducer.ts
index 1a5d2da30b..eea5f99f20 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/form/form.reducer.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/form/form.reducer.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ export interface FormState {
 const initialState: FormState = Object.create(null);
 
 export function formReducer(state = initialState, action: FormAction): FormState {
-  console.log('TEST');
   switch (action.type) {
 
     case FormActionTypes.FORM_INIT: {
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 6129ef4e7e..b834144eb8 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -3026,6 +3026,12 @@ fast-glob@^2.0.2:
     merge2 "^1.2.1"
     micromatch "^3.1.10"
 
+fast-json-patch@^2.0.7:
+  version "2.0.7"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/fast-json-patch/-/fast-json-patch-2.0.7.tgz#55864b08b1e50381d2f37fd472bb2e18fe54a733"
+  dependencies:
+    deep-equal "^1.0.1"
+
 fast-json-stable-stringify@^2.0.0:
   version "2.0.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/fast-json-stable-stringify/-/fast-json-stable-stringify-2.0.0.tgz#d5142c0caee6b1189f87d3a76111064f86c8bbf2"