SUNScholar/Install Ubuntu/S02

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Step 2. Before Installation

Hostname selection

• What is the difference, between a hostname and a URL?. See: http://wiki.lib.sun.ac.za/index.php/SUNScholar/Install_DSpace/S04#Server_Hostname

What name to use?

It is assumed that you have not yet decided on a hostname for your server.

At Stellenbosch University we chose a URL of http://scholar.sun.ac.za for a purely research outputs repository and http://digital.lib.sun.ac.za for our library digital collections.

For a repository of digitised heritage items, then something like: http://heritage.my.ac.za may be appropriate.

For a repository that will be a general archive of digital items, then http://archives.my.ac.za may be appropriate.

Therefore you have to decide what the function of the repository is, before naming it.

Keep it short, easy to remember and persistent!

Think of the Google and Facebook URL's. Everybody knows how to search Google and get onto Facebook because they have remembered the URL's.

There are many thousands of websites and your repository will be one of them, so you are fighting for good web visibility and marketing mindshare by selecting a good URL .

Whatever you decide, it is very important that you do not change it later for the purposes of preventing "linkrot" and web server "error 404, item not found" errors.

Avoid these words at all cost!

Try to avoid using "dspace", "space", "ir", "repository" or e-something in the URL selection because the connotation is confusing to current users and will be for future users when DSpace no longer exists or the "new" concept of an "institutional repository".

The software and IR concept are only the vehicles for the repository and should not define it's URL.

Last, but not least!

For more detailed information about the reason for our hostname selection, please read the web analytics wiki page.

Discuss the hostname selection with your repository manager/owner and campus network administrator first, before finalising on a name.

Do not continue with the installation until you have finalised the hostname (URL) with your repository manager and campus network administrator.

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