diff --git a/dspace-stats/src/main/java/org/dspace/statistics/SolrLogger.java b/dspace-stats/src/main/java/org/dspace/statistics/SolrLogger.java
index c1ac64ae6b..3161028c4d 100644
--- a/dspace-stats/src/main/java/org/dspace/statistics/SolrLogger.java
+++ b/dspace-stats/src/main/java/org/dspace/statistics/SolrLogger.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ package org.dspace.statistics;
 
 import com.maxmind.geoip.Location;
 import com.maxmind.geoip.LookupService;
+import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import org.apache.commons.lang.time.DateFormatUtils;
 import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
 import org.apache.solr.client.solrj.SolrQuery;
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ import java.util.*;
  */
 public class SolrLogger
 {
-    private static Logger log = Logger.getLogger(SolrLogger.class);
+    private static final Logger log = Logger.getLogger(SolrLogger.class);
 	
     private static final CommonsHttpSolrServer solr;
 
@@ -95,14 +96,18 @@ public class SolrLogger
                 service = new LookupService(dbfile,
                         LookupService.GEOIP_STANDARD);
             }
+            catch (FileNotFoundException fe)
+            {
+                log.error("The GeoLite Database file is missing (" + dbfile + ")! Solr Statistics cannot generate location based reports! Please see the DSpace installation instructions for instructions to install this file.", fe);
+            }
             catch (IOException e)
             {
-                e.printStackTrace();
+                log.error("Unable to load GeoLite Database file (" + dbfile + ")! You may need to reinstall it. See the DSpace installation instructions for more details.", e);
             }
         }
         else
         {
-            // System.out.println("NO SOLR DB FILE !");
+            log.error("The required 'dbfile' configuration is missing in solr-statistics.cfg!");
         }
         locationService = service;
 
diff --git a/dspace-stats/src/main/java/org/dspace/statistics/util/StatisticsImporter.java b/dspace-stats/src/main/java/org/dspace/statistics/util/StatisticsImporter.java
index 83cb0a182b..4c279e7ea9 100644
--- a/dspace-stats/src/main/java/org/dspace/statistics/util/StatisticsImporter.java
+++ b/dspace-stats/src/main/java/org/dspace/statistics/util/StatisticsImporter.java
@@ -472,7 +472,19 @@ public class StatisticsImporter
 
 		metadataStorageInfo = SolrLogger.getMetadataStorageInfo();
         String dbfile = ConfigurationManager.getProperty("solr-statistics", "dbfile");
-		geoipLookup = new LookupService(dbfile, LookupService.GEOIP_STANDARD);
+        try
+        {
+            geoipLookup = new LookupService(dbfile, LookupService.GEOIP_STANDARD);
+        }
+        catch (FileNotFoundException fe)
+        {
+            log.error("The GeoLite Database file is missing (" + dbfile + ")! Solr Statistics cannot generate location based reports! Please see the DSpace installation instructions for instructions to install this file.", fe);
+        }
+        catch (IOException e)
+        {
+            log.error("Unable to load GeoLite Database file (" + dbfile + ")! You may need to reinstall it. See the DSpace installation instructions for more details.", e);
+        }
+		
 
         StatisticsImporter si = new StatisticsImporter(local);
         if (line.hasOption('m'))
diff --git a/dspace/pom.xml b/dspace/pom.xml
index 86a627bb70..4dbccf82b9 100644
--- a/dspace/pom.xml
+++ b/dspace/pom.xml
@@ -243,6 +243,17 @@
             <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
             <artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>ant-contrib</groupId>
+            <artifactId>ant-contrib</artifactId>
+            <version>1.0b3</version>
+            <exclusions>
+              <exclusion>
+                <groupId>ant</groupId>
+                <artifactId>ant</artifactId>
+              </exclusion>
+            </exclusions> 
+        </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
 </project>
diff --git a/dspace/src/main/config/build.xml b/dspace/src/main/config/build.xml
index a8ca6e5c79..de6fd239c5 100644
--- a/dspace/src/main/config/build.xml
+++ b/dspace/src/main/config/build.xml
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ Common usage:
         <format property="build.date" pattern="yyyyMMdd-HHmmss" />
     </tstamp>
 
+    <!-- Default location of GeoLiteCity.dat.gz to download. This may be overridden, if URL path changes. -->
+    <property name="geolite" value="http://geolite.maxmind.com/download/geoip/database/GeoLiteCity.dat.gz" />
 
     <!-- ============================================================= -->
     <!-- The DSpace class path for executing installation targets      -->
@@ -88,6 +90,13 @@ Common usage:
         </fileset>
     </path>
 
+    <!-- ============================================================= -->
+    <!-- Load various Ant libraries which define extra tasks.          -->
+    <!-- ============================================================= -->
+     <!--Load/initialize all Ant-Contrib libraries from DSpace 'class.path' above.
+         For more info, see: 
+        http://ant-contrib.sourceforge.net/tasks/index.html -->
+    <taskdef resource="net/sf/antcontrib/antlib.xml" classpathref="class.path"/>
 
     <!-- ============================================================= -->
     <!-- Print some useful help text                                  -->
@@ -927,10 +936,38 @@ Common usage:
 
 	<!-- installes GeoCity resolution database -->
     <target name="update_geolite">
-        <echo>Downloading: http://geolite.maxmind.com/download/geoip/database/GeoLiteCity.dat.gz</echo>
-        <get src="http://geolite.maxmind.com/download/geoip/database/GeoLiteCity.dat.gz" dest="${dspace.dir}/config/GeoLiteCity.dat.gz" verbose="true" />
-        <gunzip src="${dspace.dir}/config/GeoLiteCity.dat.gz" dest="${dspace.dir}/config/GeoLiteCity.dat" />
-        <delete file="${dspace.dir}/config/GeoLiteCity.dat.gz" />
+        <echo>Downloading: ${geolite}</echo>
+        <trycatch property="geolite.error">
+            <try>
+                <get src="${geolite}" dest="${dspace.dir}/config/GeoLiteCity.dat.gz" verbose="true"/>
+                <gunzip src="${dspace.dir}/config/GeoLiteCity.dat.gz" dest="${dspace.dir}/config/GeoLiteCity.dat" />
+                <delete file="${dspace.dir}/config/GeoLiteCity.dat.gz" />
+            </try>
+            <catch>
+                <echo>
+====================================================================
+WARNING : FAILED TO DOWNLOAD GEOLITE DATABASE FILE
+          (Used for DSpace Solr Usage Statistics)
+          
+Underlying Error: ${geolite.error}
+     
+In order to use DSpace Solr Usage Statistics, you will need to 
+manually re-run:
+
+ant update_geolite
+
+OR
+
+You may manually install this file by following these steps:
+(1) Download the file from ${geolite}
+(2) Unzip it to create a file named 'GeoLiteCity.dat'
+(3) Copy that file to '${dspace.dir}/config/GeoLiteCity.dat'
+        
+====================================================================
+                </echo>
+            </catch>
+        </trycatch>    
+        
     </target>
 
     <target name="check_geolite">