1. A computer-implemented method for selecting a portion of a content repository for replication, comprising: receiving, at a graphical user interface (GUI) operating on a computer, an input describing one or more desired relationship patterns for replication, the relationship patterns associated with an ontology describing relationships between content items in a content repository, the content repository including a plurality of content items; generating a query for the desired relationship patterns; identifying content items of the content repository matching the desired relationship patterns; selecting the identified content items of the content repository.