Hi Matt,

It is usually better to ask DSpace-specific usage/support questions on 
the DSpace Technology support list (dspace-tech). You can sign up at:

https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/dspace-tech/

I'm sure there are plenty of DSpace experts also on this code4lib list, 
but you'll find even more over on the DSpace specific lists.

As to your question, that specific "Check Links in Metadata" Curation 
task will do a very basic verification of any links in your metadata. 
Specifically, it checks for any metadata fields beginning with http:// 
or https://, then it performs a GET and verifies that a 2xx HTTP 
response code is returned. It will not modify your metadata in any way, 
but will report back any Items that have broken links in their metadata. 
  More basic info is in the DSpace 1.8 docs at:

https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/DSDOC18/Curation+System#CurationSystem-LinkCheckers

If you have further questions, feel free to ask. Again, I'd recommend 
joining the dspace-tech list, just because you are more likely to find 
more DSpace expertise there. More info on the various DSpace mailing 
lists is also at:

https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/DSPACE/DSpaceResources#DSpaceResources-MailingLists

Good luck,

Tim Donohue
Technical Lead for DSpace & DSpaceDirect
DuraSpace.org | DSpace.org | DSpaceDirect.org

On 8/28/2013 10:11 AM, Matthew Sherman wrote:
> Hello Code4Lib folks,
>
> I had a DSpace related question I was hoping to get an answer for.  I just
> started my new job as the Digital Content Librarian for the University of
> Bridgeport and one of my main tasks in dealing with the institutional
> repository.  This repository apparently was migrated into DSpace from
> another repository software.  As such we want to get a number of the links
> in the records cleaned up so that the users can access all the
> information.  We are using version 1.8 at the moment and I noticed in the
> curation tasks section there is an option to check links in metadata.  I am
> thinking that can help me find any broken links, plus the wiki seems to
> indicate that as well.  I wanted to know if anyone else has used this
> function before and can give me an idea of how it works so that I can know
> if it will do the job, and if I need to wait until a scheduled maintenance
> period in which to use it.  Any other suggestions in how I can check for
> broken links or empty records are also welcome.  Thanks for any help that
> can be provided.
>
> Matt Sherman
>