From the perspective of someone currently wrestling with a DSpace upgrade: It will certainly support multiple front ends—its basic setup (for v7+ anyway) is as a REST API plus a front end written in Angular. The front end is pretty customizable, but it is not as easy to work with as WordPress or Omeka, and while technically you could get either of those to talk to DSpace’s API, in practice that would be a lot of quite technical development. DSpace also expects a fairly consistent data model for items stored within it and that might not be flexible enough for what you’re describing.

Honestly, these days I usually recommend something static with data sources in XML or JSON, depending on what they are. Platforms are generally too unwieldy / too restrictive and you often don’t really need an RDBMS backend or a search engine for an individual scholarly project.

All the best,
Hugh

> On Sep 26, 2023, at 11:13 AM, Kayla Abner <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> I have a question about possibly using DSpace as a "database" / server and
> whether or not we could design multiple frontends that draw from it. Here's
> the ideal situation I have in mind:
> 
>   1. A faculty member wants to build a "digital archive" for their stuff
>   2. We upload their stuff into our DSpace instance
>   3. We or they design a unique frontend for people to interact with the
>   stuff in DSpace.
> 
> For step 3, could this be done in Omeka? Wordpress? Something else? This
> would enable each "archive" to have its own plane of existence on the
> internet, and allow for customization if someone wants a map, or drop-down
> menus to search the archive, etc., depending on their needs.
> 
> I usually recommend things like Airtable, Omeka, and eHive for this type of
> project, but more and more these platforms don't meet the needs of
> academics. I have an intermediate understanding of hosting and websites, so
> I appreciate any ideas you all have!
> 
> Stay well,
> 
> ----
> 
> Kayla Abner
> 
> (she/her)
> 
> *Digital Scholarship Librarian*
> 
> Digital Initiatives and Preservation
> 
> Library, Museums and Press
> 
> University of Delaware
> 
> [log in to unmask]
> 
> 
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> known as Montana. View the full Living Land Acknowledgement
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> 
> 
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