[Dspace-general] Dspace bitstream formats

[Tansley, Robert]

> Hello,
> 
> we recently installed Dspace and are exploring its' features. 
> The documentation describes that there are 3 types of 
> bitstream formats in
> Dspace: supported, known and unknown. So are PDF, text and 
> XML supported formats. However, in our Dspace application all 
> these formats are listed as known, not as supported. 
> 
> Is this something we should worry about or correct? The admin 
> tool for the Bitstream Format Registry allows the 'supported' option.

The 'support level' for a Bitstream Format is intended to show your users what level of support *you* (the institution running DSpace) will give Bitstreams in that format.  This is explained in the functional overview section of the documentation:

http://dspace.org/technology/system-docs/functional.html#data_model

The DSpace code ships with all of the levels as 'known'; that's because we don't want to presume what level of support and commitment your institution will give your users for each format.  You should review the registry yourself and set the support levels as you feel is appropriate.

 Robert Tansley / Hewlett-Packard Laboratories / (+1) 617 551 7624