[Dspace-general] The collective wisdom on handles?

[Stephen Thomas]

One thing that is niggling away at the back of mind is the question of
handles -- whether we should be using them at this stage. 

We've just launched our DSpace here, and its going well so far, and even
limited promo is eliciting a lot of enthusiasm. Among its virtues, we're
touting the use of handles for permanent links. But ... I can't help
wondering if this is wise, or indeed honest. Because what I tell people
is that the handles mean the links will always work, even if we migrate
to a different platform, but in fact I don't really know how true this
is.

If we move to new hardware while retaining DSpace, I guess there's no
problem. But ... and I'm not suggesting we will, but who knows what the
future may bring ... if we migrate from DSpace to something else ...
ARROW, Digital commons, whatever ... will we still be able to use our
handles? Or will the reliability of our handle links be predicated on
sticking with DSpace?

So I'm wondering what others are doing in this respect. I note that many
DSpace installations don't use handle.net, but some do. So I'd like to
hear from others as to what their feelings are on this issue, whether
they share my concerns, and whether they use handle.net or not, and why.


Regards,
Steve


Stephen Thomas, 
Senior Systems Analyst, 
University of Adelaide Library
UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE SA 5005
AUSTRALIA
Phone: +61 8 830 35190  Fax: +61 8 830 34369
Email: stephen.thomas at adelaide.edu.au 
URL: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/stephen.thomas
 
CRICOS Provider Number 00123M
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