diff --git a/src/app/core/data/data.service.spec.ts b/src/app/core/data/data.service.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8377afe92e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/core/data/data.service.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+import { DataService } from './data.service';
+import { NormalizedObject } from '../cache/models/normalized-object.model';
+import { ResponseCacheService } from '../cache/response-cache.service';
+import { RequestService } from './request.service';
+import { RemoteDataBuildService } from '../cache/builders/remote-data-build.service';
+import { CoreState } from '../core.reducers';
+import { Store } from '@ngrx/store';
+import { HALEndpointService } from '../shared/hal-endpoint.service';
+import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
+import { FindAllOptions } from './request.models';
+import { SortOptions, SortDirection } from '../cache/models/sort-options.model';
+
+const LINK_NAME = 'test'
+
+// tslint:disable:max-classes-per-file
+class NormalizedTestObject extends NormalizedObject {
+}
+
+class TestService extends DataService<NormalizedTestObject, any> {
+    constructor(
+        protected responseCache: ResponseCacheService,
+        protected requestService: RequestService,
+        protected rdbService: RemoteDataBuildService,
+        protected store: Store<CoreState>,
+        protected linkPath: string,
+        protected halService: HALEndpointService
+    ) {
+        super();
+    }
+
+    public getScopedEndpoint(scope: string): Observable<string> {
+        throw new Error('getScopedEndpoint is abstract in DataService');
+    }
+
+}
+
+describe('DataService', () => {
+    let service: TestService;
+    let options: FindAllOptions;
+    const responseCache = {} as ResponseCacheService;
+    const requestService = {} as RequestService;
+    const halService = {} as HALEndpointService;
+    const rdbService = {} as RemoteDataBuildService;
+    const store = {} as Store<CoreState>;
+    const endpoint = 'https://rest.api/core';
+
+    function initTestService(): TestService {
+        return new TestService(
+            responseCache,
+            requestService,
+            rdbService,
+            store,
+            LINK_NAME,
+            halService
+          );
+    }
+
+    service = initTestService();
+
+    describe('getFindAllHref', () => {
+
+        it('should return an observable with the endpoint', () => {
+            options = {};
+
+            (service as any).getFindAllHref(endpoint).subscribe((value) => {
+                    expect(value).toBe(endpoint);
+                }
+            );
+        });
+
+        // getScopedEndpoint is not implemented in abstract DataService
+        it('should throw error if scopeID provided in options', () => {
+            options = { scopeID: 'somevalue' };
+
+            expect(() => { (service as any).getFindAllHref(endpoint, options) })
+                .toThrowError('getScopedEndpoint is abstract in DataService');
+        });
+
+        it('should include page in href if currentPage provided in options', () => {
+            options = { currentPage: 2 };
+            const expected = `${endpoint}?page=${options.currentPage - 1}`;
+
+            (service as any).getFindAllHref(endpoint, options).subscribe((value) => {
+                expect(value).toBe(expected);
+            });
+        });
+
+        it('should include size in href if elementsPerPage provided in options', () => {
+            options = { elementsPerPage: 5 };
+            const expected = `${endpoint}?size=${options.elementsPerPage}`;
+
+            (service as any).getFindAllHref(endpoint, options).subscribe((value) => {
+                expect(value).toBe(expected);
+            });
+        });
+
+        it('should include sort href if SortOptions provided in options', () => {
+            const sortOptions = new SortOptions('field1', SortDirection.ASC);
+            options = { sort:  sortOptions};
+            const expected = `${endpoint}?sort=${sortOptions.field},${sortOptions.direction}`;
+
+            (service as any).getFindAllHref(endpoint, options).subscribe((value) => {
+                expect(value).toBe(expected);
+            });
+        });
+
+        it('should include startsWith in href if startsWith provided in options', () => {
+            options = { startsWith: 'ab' };
+            const expected = `${endpoint}?startsWith=${options.startsWith}`;
+
+            (service as any).getFindAllHref(endpoint, options).subscribe((value) => {
+                expect(value).toBe(expected);
+            });
+        });
+
+        it('should include all provided options in href', () => {
+            const sortOptions = new SortOptions('field1', SortDirection.DESC)
+            options = {
+                currentPage: 6,
+                elementsPerPage: 10,
+                sort: sortOptions,
+                startsWith: 'ab'
+            }
+            const expected = `${endpoint}?page=${options.currentPage - 1}&size=${options.elementsPerPage}` +
+                `&sort=${sortOptions.field},${sortOptions.direction}&startsWith=${options.startsWith}`;
+
+            (service as any).getFindAllHref(endpoint, options).subscribe((value) => {
+                expect(value).toBe(expected);
+        });
+        })
+    });
+
+});
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/data.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/data.service.ts
index f532ff05ba..06e7f25926 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/data.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/data.service.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ export abstract class DataService<TNormalized extends NormalizedObject, TDomain>
       args.push(`sort=${options.sort.field},${options.sort.direction}`);
     }
 
+    if (hasValue(options.startsWith)) {
+      args.push(`startsWith=${options.startsWith}`);
+    }
+
     if (isNotEmpty(args)) {
       return result.map((href: string) => new URLCombiner(href, `?${args.join('&')}`).toString());
     } else {
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/request.models.ts b/src/app/core/data/request.models.ts
index 7015b0b0f1..ce45d5b41c 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/request.models.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/request.models.ts
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@ export class FindAllOptions {
   elementsPerPage?: number;
   currentPage?: number;
   sort?: SortOptions;
+  startsWith?: string;
 }
 
 export class FindAllRequest extends GetRequest {
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-collection/shared/object-collection-element/abstract-listable-element.component.ts b/src/app/shared/object-collection/shared/object-collection-element/abstract-listable-element.component.ts
index d52036b5dc..59df86fdff 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-collection/shared/object-collection-element/abstract-listable-element.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-collection/shared/object-collection-element/abstract-listable-element.component.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { Component, Inject } from '@angular/core';
 import { ListableObject } from '../listable-object.model';
+import { hasValue } from '../../../empty.util';
 
 @Component({
   selector: 'ds-abstract-object-element',
@@ -10,4 +11,8 @@ export class AbstractListableElementComponent <T extends ListableObject> {
   public constructor(@Inject('objectElementProvider') public listableObject: ListableObject) {
     this.object = listableObject as T;
   }
+
+  hasValue(data) {
+    return hasValue(data);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-grid/item-grid-element/item-grid-element.component.html b/src/app/shared/object-grid/item-grid-element/item-grid-element.component.html
index cc2f2efdb1..5100b984e0 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-grid/item-grid-element/item-grid-element.component.html
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-grid/item-grid-element/item-grid-element.component.html
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
         <span *ngFor="let authorMd of object.filterMetadata(['dc.contributor.author', 'dc.creator', 'dc.contributor.*']); let last=last;">{{authorMd.value}}
             <span *ngIf="!last">; </span>
         </span>
-      <span *ngIf="object.findMetadata('dc.date.issued')" class="item-date">{{object.findMetadata("dc.date.issued")}}</span>
+      <span *ngIf="hasValue(object.findMetadata('dc.date.issued'))" class="item-date">{{object.findMetadata("dc.date.issued")}}</span>
     </p>
 
     <p *ngIf="object.findMetadata('dc.description.abstract')" class="item-abstract card-text">{{object.findMetadata("dc.description.abstract") | dsTruncate:[200] }}</p>
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/item-search-result/item-search-result-grid-element.component.html b/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/item-search-result/item-search-result-grid-element.component.html
index 1cf14587ad..1e4f6f3c64 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/item-search-result/item-search-result-grid-element.component.html
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/item-search-result/item-search-result-grid-element.component.html
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
             <p *ngIf="dso.filterMetadata(['dc.contributor.author', 'dc.creator', 'dc.contributor.*']).length > 0"
                class="item-authors card-text text-muted">
                 <ds-truncatable-part [fixedHeight]="true" [id]="dso.id" [minLines]="1">
-                    <span *ngIf="dso.findMetadata('dc.date.issued').length > 0" class="item-date">{{dso.findMetadata("dc.date.issued")}}</span>
+                    <span *ngIf="hasValue(dso.findMetadata('dc.date.issued'))" class="item-date">{{dso.findMetadata("dc.date.issued")}}</span>
                     <span *ngFor="let authorMd of dso.filterMetadata(['dc.contributor.author', 'dc.creator', 'dc.contributor.*']);">,
                         <span [innerHTML]="authorMd.value"></span>
                     </span>
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/search-result-grid-element.component.ts b/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/search-result-grid-element.component.ts
index e6217eb0bb..5ab9f472b4 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/search-result-grid-element.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-grid/search-result-grid-element/search-result-grid-element.component.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { Component, Inject } from '@angular/core';
 import { SearchResult } from '../../../+search-page/search-result.model';
 import { DSpaceObject } from '../../../core/shared/dspace-object.model';
 import { Metadatum } from '../../../core/shared/metadatum.model';
-import { isEmpty, hasNoValue } from '../../empty.util';
+import { isEmpty, hasNoValue, hasValue } from '../../empty.util';
 import { AbstractListableElementComponent } from '../../object-collection/shared/object-collection-element/abstract-listable-element.component';
 import { ListableObject } from '../../object-collection/shared/listable-object.model';
 import { TruncatableService } from '../../truncatable/truncatable.service';
@@ -60,4 +60,5 @@ export class SearchResultGridElementComponent<T extends SearchResult<K>, K exten
   isCollapsed(): Observable<boolean> {
     return this.truncatableService.isCollapsed(this.dso.id);
   }
+
 }
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-list/item-list-element/item-list-element.component.html b/src/app/shared/object-list/item-list-element/item-list-element.component.html
index b4259c25c2..1e4a944ffa 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-list/item-list-element/item-list-element.component.html
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-list/item-list-element/item-list-element.component.html
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@
             <span *ngIf="!last">; </span>
         </span>
     </span>
-    (<span *ngIf="object.findMetadata('dc.publisher')" class="item-list-publisher">{{object.findMetadata("dc.publisher")}}, </span><span
-          *ngIf="object.findMetadata('dc.date.issued')" class="item-list-date">{{object.findMetadata("dc.date.issued")}}</span>)
+    (<span *ngIf="hasValue(object.findMetadata('dc.publisher'))" class="item-list-publisher">{{object.findMetadata("dc.publisher")}}, </span><span
+          *ngIf="hasValue(object.findMetadata('dc.date.issued'))" class="item-list-date">{{object.findMetadata("dc.date.issued")}}</span>)
   </span>
     <div *ngIf="object.findMetadata('dc.description.abstract')" class="item-list-abstract">
         {{object.findMetadata("dc.description.abstract") | dsTruncate:[200] }}
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-list/search-result-list-element/item-search-result/item-search-result-list-element.component.html b/src/app/shared/object-list/search-result-list-element/item-search-result/item-search-result-list-element.component.html
index 2b90269693..584d476e73 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-list/search-result-list-element/item-search-result/item-search-result-list-element.component.html
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-list/search-result-list-element/item-search-result/item-search-result-list-element.component.html
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     <ds-truncatable-part [id]="dso.id" [minLines]="1">
             (<span *ngIf="dso.findMetadata('dc.publisher')" class="item-list-publisher"
                    [innerHTML]="getFirstValue('dc.publisher') + ', '"></span><span
-            *ngIf="dso.findMetadata('dc.date.issued')" class="item-list-date"
+            *ngIf="hasValue(dso.findMetadata('dc.date.issued'))" class="item-list-date"
             [innerHTML]="getFirstValue('dc.date.issued')"></span>)
             <span *ngIf="dso.filterMetadata(['dc.contributor.author', 'dc.creator', 'dc.contributor.*']).length > 0"
                   class="item-list-authors">