Deeper into DSpace

This past week I've been working more with DSpace and getting deeper into configuring thumbnails and previews. Whereas Drupal had modules such as imagemagick, DSpace has the native ability to display thumbnails and previews, it just needs to be turned on in the configs. In the process of trying to accomplish this (I never did get thumbs and previews to work in DSpace), I spent a considerable amount of time trying to find support forums or other communities such as those available in Drupal, but with no luck. DSpace apparently has either very little community support or everyone who uses it is way smarter than I am and they just figure it out on their own. I am pretty sure I could eventually figure this out on my own, but what's the point, really? Why shouldn't we take advantage of the human impulse to share problems and solutions and thereby build relationships and support communities so that, someday, when someone has a problem that I know the answer to, I can reciprocate and tacitly ask them to "pay it forward."

One positive thing about having these "problems" with DSpace is that I am learning a lot more about how the application is structured and where various folders and files are located. I am also coming to love the Virtual Machine's ability to take snapshots at various stages of implementation. If I'm not sure about something that I'm doing, I readily take a quick snapshot and make notes about where I am in the installation process and what's next, so that I can backtrack to a spot before problems start showing up and re-install or configure as needed to problem solve until I understand what needs to be done to get things working properly.

I've enjoyed working with DSpace more than working with Drupal. I appreciate both programs, but the fundamental approach of DSpace appeals to me as I contemplate ways to preserve multiple files from the same master file. That and the ability to run checksums on the files to check for possible corruption seem like really critical functions in a digital archive.