SUNScholar/Guidelines/Step 2

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Step 2 - Marketing Friendly Persistent URL and Preservable Digital Objects

While developing your open access policy and repository preservation plan, take time to consider the following as very important strategic imperatives at all times, for a very long term successful repository.

Marketing Friendly Persistent URL

The marketing friendly persistent URL is vital for electronic citation persistence on the web in the long term and for repository marketing/branding.

• Decide on a marketing friendly persistent (URL) for the repository.
• This name should be short and simple to remember, easy to type into documentation and good for marketing/branding.
• Ensure the name will never change and that it has a clean URL with no forward slash redirect.

Good Examples

• http://scholar.sun.ac.za
• http://digital.lib.sun.ac.za

Bad Examples

• http://uctscholar.uct.ac.za - Double use of UCT is very confusing for marketing.
• http://researchspace.csir.co.za/dspace - Uses a forward slash URL something, also bad for marketing and internet harvesters.
• http://digitalknowledge.cput.ac.za:8081/jspui - Uses a port number AND forward slash URL something, very bad for internet interoperability.

Further Reading

Website Metrics
Good Web URL Tips
Open Citation Systems
A Brief History of the Domain Name
Domain Names Explained
http://no-www.org

Preservable Digital Objects

Preservable digital objects are vital for access by future researchers and for data interoperability.

Further Reading

Preservable Digital Objects
Digital Formats
http://www.preforma-project.eu
http://www.documentliberation.org
The National Archives Digital Preservation Software

Click on the image below to zoom in and click on it again to zoom in further. You are welcome to download it and use it for open digital object formats advocacy.

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