diff --git a/src/app/+collection-page/collection-page.component.ts b/src/app/+collection-page/collection-page.component.ts
index ca349ce5bc..e0043f2845 100644
--- a/src/app/+collection-page/collection-page.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/+collection-page/collection-page.component.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
   selector: 'ds-collection-page',
   styleUrls: ['./collection-page.component.scss'],
   templateUrl: './collection-page.component.html',
+  changeDetection: ChangeDetectionStrategy.OnPush
 })
 export class CollectionPageComponent implements OnInit, OnDestroy {
   collectionData: RemoteData<Collection>;
@@ -37,8 +38,7 @@ export class CollectionPageComponent implements OnInit, OnDestroy {
               private route: ActivatedRoute) {
     this.paginationConfig = new PaginationComponentOptions();
     this.paginationConfig.id = 'collection-page-pagination';
-    this.paginationConfig.pageSizeOptions = [4];
-    this.paginationConfig.pageSize = 4;
+    this.paginationConfig.pageSize = 5;
     this.paginationConfig.currentPage = 1;
     this.sortConfig = new SortOptions();
   }
diff --git a/src/app/+community-page/community-page.component.ts b/src/app/+community-page/community-page.component.ts
index 2bd19b0f06..4ed516637d 100644
--- a/src/app/+community-page/community-page.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/+community-page/community-page.component.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Component, OnDestroy, OnInit } from '@angular/core';
+import { ChangeDetectionStrategy, Component, OnDestroy, OnInit } from '@angular/core';
 import { ActivatedRoute, Params } from '@angular/router';
 
 import { Subscription } from 'rxjs/Subscription';
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { hasValue } from '../shared/empty.util';
   selector: 'ds-community-page',
   styleUrls: ['./community-page.component.scss'],
   templateUrl: './community-page.component.html',
+  changeDetection: ChangeDetectionStrategy.OnPush
 })
 export class CommunityPageComponent implements OnInit, OnDestroy {
   communityData: RemoteData<Community>;
diff --git a/src/app/+home/home.component.ts b/src/app/+home/home.component.ts
index d1222b8ae0..d9127a13a6 100644
--- a/src/app/+home/home.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/+home/home.component.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
-import { Component } from '@angular/core';
+import { ChangeDetectionStrategy, Component } from '@angular/core';
 
 @Component({
   selector: 'ds-home',
   styleUrls: ['./home.component.scss'],
-  templateUrl: './home.component.html'
+  templateUrl: './home.component.html',
+  changeDetection: ChangeDetectionStrategy.OnPush
 })
 export class HomeComponent {
 
diff --git a/src/app/+home/top-level-community-list/top-level-community-list.component.ts b/src/app/+home/top-level-community-list/top-level-community-list.component.ts
index a3882d7036..783265d110 100644
--- a/src/app/+home/top-level-community-list/top-level-community-list.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/+home/top-level-community-list/top-level-community-list.component.ts
@@ -40,5 +40,7 @@ export class TopLevelCommunityListComponent {
       elementsPerPage: data.pageSize,
       sort: { field: data.sortField, direction: data.sortDirection }
     });
+    this.cds.getScopedEndpoint('7669c72a-3f2a-451f-a3b9-9210e7a4c02f')
+      .subscribe((c) => console.log('communities', c))
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-page.component.ts b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-page.component.ts
index dd37036c21..9ed694e80e 100644
--- a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-page.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-page.component.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Component, OnInit } from '@angular/core';
+import { ChangeDetectionStrategy, Component, OnInit } from '@angular/core';
 import { ActivatedRoute } from '@angular/router';
 import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
 
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import { Bitstream } from '../../core/shared/bitstream.model';
   selector: 'ds-item-page',
   styleUrls: ['./item-page.component.scss'],
   templateUrl: './item-page.component.html',
+  changeDetection: ChangeDetectionStrategy.OnPush
 })
 export class ItemPageComponent implements OnInit {
 
diff --git a/src/app/browser-app.module.ts b/src/app/browser-app.module.ts
index a8e6b08312..8201fbc092 100644
--- a/src/app/browser-app.module.ts
+++ b/src/app/browser-app.module.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ export function createTranslateLoader(http: HttpClient) {
     // forRoot ensures the providers are only created once
     IdlePreloadModule.forRoot(),
     RouterModule.forRoot([], {
+      // enableTracing: true,
       useHash: false,
       preloadingStrategy:
       IdlePreload
diff --git a/src/app/core/browse/browse.service.ts b/src/app/core/browse/browse.service.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0e4ff9da37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/core/browse/browse.service.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import { Inject, Injectable } from '@angular/core';
+import { HALEndpointService } from '../shared/hal-endpoint.service';
+import { ResponseCacheService } from '../cache/response-cache.service';
+import { RequestService } from '../data/request.service';
+import { GlobalConfig } from '../../../config/global-config.interface';
+import { GLOBAL_CONFIG } from '../../../config';
+import { BrowseEndpointRequest, RestRequest } from '../data/request.models';
+import { ResponseCacheEntry } from '../cache/response-cache.reducer';
+import { BrowseSuccessResponse } from '../cache/response-cache.models';
+import { isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
+import { BrowseDefinition } from '../shared/browse-definition.model';
+import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
+
+@Injectable()
+export class BrowseService extends HALEndpointService {
+  protected linkName = 'browses';
+
+  private static toSearchKeyArray(metadatumKey: string): string[] {
+    const keyParts = metadatumKey.split('.');
+    const searchFor = [];
+    searchFor.push('*');
+    for (let i = 0; i < keyParts.length - 1; i++) {
+      const prevParts = keyParts.slice(0, i + 1);
+      const nextPart = [...prevParts, '*'].join('.');
+      searchFor.push(nextPart);
+    }
+    searchFor.push(metadatumKey);
+    return searchFor;
+  }
+
+  constructor(
+    protected responseCache: ResponseCacheService,
+    protected requestService: RequestService,
+    @Inject(GLOBAL_CONFIG) protected EnvConfig: GlobalConfig) {
+    super();
+  }
+
+  getBrowseURLFor(metadatumKey: string, linkName: string): Observable<string> {
+    const searchKeyArray = BrowseService.toSearchKeyArray(metadatumKey);
+    return this.getEndpoint()
+      .filter((href: string) => isNotEmpty(href))
+      .distinctUntilChanged()
+      .map((endpointURL: string) => new BrowseEndpointRequest(endpointURL))
+      .do((request: RestRequest) => {
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          this.requestService.configure(request);
+        }, 0);
+      })
+      .flatMap((request: RestRequest) => this.responseCache.get(request.href)
+        .map((entry: ResponseCacheEntry) => entry.response)
+        .filter((response: BrowseSuccessResponse) => isNotEmpty(response) && isNotEmpty(response.browseDefinitions))
+        .map((response: BrowseSuccessResponse) => response.browseDefinitions)
+        .map((browseDefinitions: BrowseDefinition[]) => browseDefinitions
+          .find((def: BrowseDefinition) => {
+            const matchingKeys = def.metadataKeys.find((key: string) => searchKeyArray.indexOf(key) >= 0);
+            return matchingKeys.length > 0
+          })
+        ).map((def: BrowseDefinition) => def._links[linkName])
+      );
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/app/core/cache/models/normalized-dspace-object.model.ts b/src/app/core/cache/models/normalized-dspace-object.model.ts
index 3c6ca663c6..da42ea5a9b 100644
--- a/src/app/core/cache/models/normalized-dspace-object.model.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/cache/models/normalized-dspace-object.model.ts
@@ -66,4 +66,14 @@ export abstract class NormalizedDSpaceObject extends NormalizedObject {
   @autoserialize
   owner: string;
 
+  /**
+   * The links to all related resources returned by the rest api.
+   *
+   * Repeated here to make the serialization work,
+   * inheritSerialization doesn't seem to work for more than one level
+   */
+  @autoserialize
+  _links: {
+    [name: string]: string
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/app/core/cache/models/normalized-object.model.ts b/src/app/core/cache/models/normalized-object.model.ts
index 7c4154eae9..b26bd90b2a 100644
--- a/src/app/core/cache/models/normalized-object.model.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/cache/models/normalized-object.model.ts
@@ -17,4 +17,8 @@ export abstract class NormalizedObject implements CacheableObject {
   @autoserialize
   uuid: string;
 
+  @autoserialize
+  _links: {
+    [name: string]: string
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/app/core/cache/response-cache.models.ts b/src/app/core/cache/response-cache.models.ts
index 8444a86490..4e3939b425 100644
--- a/src/app/core/cache/response-cache.models.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/cache/response-cache.models.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { RequestError } from '../data/request.models';
 import { PageInfo } from '../shared/page-info.model';
+import { BrowseDefinition } from '../shared/browse-definition.model';
 
 /* tslint:disable:max-classes-per-file */
 export class RestResponse {
@@ -32,6 +33,15 @@ export class RootSuccessResponse extends RestResponse {
   }
 }
 
+export class BrowseSuccessResponse extends RestResponse {
+  constructor(
+    public browseDefinitions: BrowseDefinition[],
+    public statusCode: string
+  ) {
+    super(true, statusCode);
+  }
+}
+
 export class ErrorResponse extends RestResponse {
   errorMessage: string;
 
diff --git a/src/app/core/core.module.ts b/src/app/core/core.module.ts
index 9742a6b500..3372e06e47 100644
--- a/src/app/core/core.module.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/core.module.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ import { HostWindowService } from '../shared/host-window.service';
 import { NativeWindowFactory, NativeWindowService } from '../shared/window.service';
 
 import { ServerResponseService } from '../shared/server-response.service';
+import { BrowseService } from './browse/browse.service';
+import { BrowseResponseParsingService } from './data/browse-response-parsing.service';
 
 const IMPORTS = [
   CommonModule,
@@ -54,6 +56,8 @@ const PROVIDERS = [
   ResponseCacheService,
   RootResponseParsingService,
   ServerResponseService,
+  BrowseResponseParsingService,
+  BrowseService,
   { provide: NativeWindowService, useFactory: NativeWindowFactory }
 ];
 
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/browse-response-parsing.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/browse-response-parsing.service.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8633e7269a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/core/data/browse-response-parsing.service.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import { Injectable } from '@angular/core';
+import { ResponseParsingService } from './parsing.service';
+import { RestRequest } from './request.models';
+import { DSpaceRESTV2Response } from '../dspace-rest-v2/dspace-rest-v2-response.model';
+import { BrowseSuccessResponse, ErrorResponse, RestResponse } from '../cache/response-cache.models';
+import { isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
+import { DSpaceRESTv2Serializer } from '../dspace-rest-v2/dspace-rest-v2.serializer';
+import { BrowseDefinition } from '../shared/browse-definition.model';
+
+@Injectable()
+export class BrowseResponseParsingService implements ResponseParsingService {
+
+  parse(request: RestRequest, data: DSpaceRESTV2Response): RestResponse {
+    if (isNotEmpty(data.payload) && isNotEmpty(data.payload._embedded)
+      && Array.isArray(data.payload._embedded[Object.keys(data.payload._embedded)[0]])) {
+      const serializer = new DSpaceRESTv2Serializer(BrowseDefinition);
+      const browseDefinitions = serializer.deserializeArray(data.payload._embedded[Object.keys(data.payload._embedded)[0]]);
+      return new BrowseSuccessResponse(browseDefinitions, data.statusCode);
+    } else {
+      return new ErrorResponse(
+        Object.assign(
+          new Error('Unexpected response from browse endpoint'),
+          { statusText: data.statusCode }
+        )
+      );
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/collection-data.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/collection-data.service.ts
index ec765c3cb1..e3c43910ab 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/collection-data.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/collection-data.service.ts
@@ -9,20 +9,54 @@ import { CoreState } from '../core.reducers';
 import { RequestService } from './request.service';
 import { RemoteDataBuildService } from '../cache/builders/remote-data-build.service';
 import { GLOBAL_CONFIG, GlobalConfig } from '../../../config';
+import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
+import { CommunityDataService } from './community-data.service';
+import { FindByIDRequest } from './request.models';
+import { ObjectCacheService } from '../cache/object-cache.service';
+import { NormalizedCommunity } from '../cache/models/normalized-community.model';
+import { isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
 
 @Injectable()
 export class CollectionDataService extends DataService<NormalizedCollection, Collection> {
   protected linkName = 'collections';
-  protected browseEndpoint = '/discover/browses/dateissued/collections';
 
   constructor(
     protected responseCache: ResponseCacheService,
     protected requestService: RequestService,
     protected rdbService: RemoteDataBuildService,
     protected store: Store<CoreState>,
-    @Inject(GLOBAL_CONFIG) EnvConfig: GlobalConfig
+    @Inject(GLOBAL_CONFIG) protected EnvConfig: GlobalConfig,
+    private cds: CommunityDataService,
+    protected objectCache: ObjectCacheService
   ) {
-    super(NormalizedCollection, EnvConfig);
+    super(NormalizedCollection);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Get the scoped endpoint URL by fetching the object with
+   * the given scopeID and returning its HAL link with this
+   * data-service's linkName
+   *
+   * @param {string} scopeID
+   *    the id of the scope object
+   * @return { Observable<string> }
+   *    an Observable<string> containing the scoped URL
+   */
+  public getScopedEndpoint(scopeID: string): Observable<string> {
+    this.cds.getEndpoint()
+      .map((endpoint: string) => this.cds.getFindByIDHref(endpoint, scopeID))
+      .filter((href: string) => isNotEmpty(href))
+      .take(1)
+      .subscribe((href: string) => {
+        const request = new FindByIDRequest(href, scopeID);
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          this.requestService.configure(request);
+        }, 0);
+      });
+
+    return this.objectCache.getByUUID(scopeID, NormalizedCommunity)
+      .map((nc: NormalizedCommunity) => nc._links[this.linkName])
+      .filter((href) => isNotEmpty(href))
+      .distinctUntilChanged();
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/community-data.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/community-data.service.ts
index 532bce5ee6..5fdf3f4026 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/community-data.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/community-data.service.ts
@@ -10,20 +10,52 @@ import { CoreState } from '../core.reducers';
 import { RequestService } from './request.service';
 import { RemoteDataBuildService } from '../cache/builders/remote-data-build.service';
 import { GLOBAL_CONFIG, GlobalConfig } from '../../../config';
+import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
+import { isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
+import { FindByIDRequest } from './request.models';
+import { ObjectCacheService } from '../cache/object-cache.service';
 
 @Injectable()
 export class CommunityDataService extends DataService<NormalizedCommunity, Community> {
   protected linkName = 'communities';
-  protected browseEndpoint = '/discover/browses/dateissued/communities';
 
   constructor(
     protected responseCache: ResponseCacheService,
     protected requestService: RequestService,
     protected rdbService: RemoteDataBuildService,
     protected store: Store<CoreState>,
-    @Inject(GLOBAL_CONFIG) EnvConfig: GlobalConfig
+    @Inject(GLOBAL_CONFIG) protected EnvConfig: GlobalConfig,
+    protected objectCache: ObjectCacheService
   ) {
-    super(NormalizedCommunity, EnvConfig);
+    super(NormalizedCommunity);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get the scoped endpoint URL by fetching the object with
+   * the given scopeID and returning its HAL link with this
+   * data-service's linkName
+   *
+   * @param {string} scopeID
+   *    the id of the scope object
+   * @return { Observable<string> }
+   *    an Observable<string> containing the scoped URL
+   */
+  public getScopedEndpoint(scopeID: string): Observable<string> {
+    this.getEndpoint()
+      .map((endpoint: string) => this.getFindByIDHref(endpoint, scopeID))
+      .filter((href: string) => isNotEmpty(href))
+      .take(1)
+      .subscribe((href: string) => {
+        const request = new FindByIDRequest(href, scopeID);
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          this.requestService.configure(request);
+        }, 0);
+      });
+
+    return this.objectCache.getByUUID(scopeID, NormalizedCommunity)
+      .map((nc: NormalizedCommunity) => nc._links[this.linkName])
+      .filter((href) => isNotEmpty(href))
+      .distinctUntilChanged();
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/data.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/data.service.ts
index e48e7a8bb8..cabf452f01 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/data.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/data.service.ts
@@ -1,71 +1,41 @@
-import { ResponseCacheService } from '../cache/response-cache.service';
-import { CacheableObject } from '../cache/object-cache.reducer';
-import { hasValue, isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
-import { RemoteData } from './remote-data';
-import {
-  FindAllOptions, FindAllRequest, FindByIDRequest, RestRequest,
-  RootEndpointRequest
-} from './request.models';
 import { Store } from '@ngrx/store';
-import { CoreState } from '../core.reducers';
-import { RequestService } from './request.service';
-import { RemoteDataBuildService } from '../cache/builders/remote-data-build.service';
-import { GenericConstructor } from '../shared/generic-constructor';
-import { GlobalConfig } from '../../../config';
-import { RESTURLCombiner } from '../url-combiner/rest-url-combiner';
 import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
-import { ResponseCacheEntry } from '../cache/response-cache.reducer';
-import { EndpointMap, RootSuccessResponse } from '../cache/response-cache.models';
+import { GlobalConfig } from '../../../config';
+import { hasValue, isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
+import { RemoteDataBuildService } from '../cache/builders/remote-data-build.service';
+import { CacheableObject } from '../cache/object-cache.reducer';
+import { ResponseCacheService } from '../cache/response-cache.service';
+import { CoreState } from '../core.reducers';
+import { GenericConstructor } from '../shared/generic-constructor';
+import { HALEndpointService } from '../shared/hal-endpoint.service';
+import { RemoteData } from './remote-data';
+import { FindAllOptions, FindAllRequest, FindByIDRequest, RestRequest } from './request.models';
+import { RequestService } from './request.service';
 
-export abstract class DataService<TNormalized extends CacheableObject, TDomain> {
+export abstract class DataService<TNormalized extends CacheableObject, TDomain> extends HALEndpointService {
   protected abstract responseCache: ResponseCacheService;
   protected abstract requestService: RequestService;
   protected abstract rdbService: RemoteDataBuildService;
   protected abstract store: Store<CoreState>;
   protected abstract linkName: string;
-  protected abstract browseEndpoint: string;
+  protected abstract EnvConfig: GlobalConfig
 
   constructor(
     private normalizedResourceType: GenericConstructor<TNormalized>,
-    protected EnvConfig: GlobalConfig
   ) {
-
+    super();
   }
 
-  private getEndpointMap(): Observable<EndpointMap> {
-    const request = new RootEndpointRequest(this.EnvConfig);
-    this.requestService.configure(request);
-    return this.responseCache.get(request.href)
-      .map((entry: ResponseCacheEntry) => entry.response)
-      .filter((response: RootSuccessResponse) => isNotEmpty(response) && isNotEmpty(response.endpointMap))
-      .map((response: RootSuccessResponse) => response.endpointMap)
-      .distinctUntilChanged();
-  }
+  public abstract getScopedEndpoint(scope: string): Observable<string>
 
-  public getEndpoint(): Observable<string> {
-    const request = new RootEndpointRequest(this.EnvConfig);
-    this.requestService.configure(request);
-    return this.getEndpointMap()
-      .map((map: EndpointMap) => map[this.linkName])
-      .distinctUntilChanged();
-  }
-
-  public isEnabledOnRestApi(): Observable<boolean> {
-   return this.getEndpointMap()
-      .map((map: EndpointMap) => isNotEmpty(map[this.linkName]))
-      .startWith(undefined)
-      .distinctUntilChanged();
-  }
-
-  protected getFindAllHref(endpoint, options: FindAllOptions = {}): string {
+  protected getFindAllHref(endpoint, options: FindAllOptions = {}): Observable<string> {
     let result;
     const args = [];
 
     if (hasValue(options.scopeID)) {
-      result = new RESTURLCombiner(this.EnvConfig, this.browseEndpoint).toString();
-      args.push(`scope=${options.scopeID}`);
+      result = this.getScopedEndpoint(options.scopeID);
     } else {
-      result = endpoint;
+      result = Observable.of(endpoint);
     }
 
     if (hasValue(options.currentPage) && typeof options.currentPage === 'number') {
@@ -86,25 +56,28 @@ export abstract class DataService<TNormalized extends CacheableObject, TDomain>
     }
 
     if (isNotEmpty(args)) {
-      result = `${result}?${args.join('&')}`;
+      return result.map((href: string) => `${href}?${args.join('&')}`);
+    } else {
+      return result;
     }
-    return result;
   }
 
   findAll(options: FindAllOptions = {}): RemoteData<TDomain[]> {
     const hrefObs = this.getEndpoint()
-      .map((endpoint: string) => this.getFindAllHref(endpoint, options));
+      .flatMap((endpoint: string) => this.getFindAllHref(endpoint, options));
 
     hrefObs
       .subscribe((href: string) => {
         const request = new FindAllRequest(href, options);
-        this.requestService.configure(request);
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          this.requestService.configure(request);
+        }, 0);
       });
 
     return this.rdbService.buildList<TNormalized, TDomain>(hrefObs, this.normalizedResourceType);
   }
 
-  protected getFindByIDHref(endpoint, resourceID): string {
+  getFindByIDHref(endpoint, resourceID): string {
     return `${endpoint}/${resourceID}`;
   }
 
@@ -115,14 +88,18 @@ export abstract class DataService<TNormalized extends CacheableObject, TDomain>
     hrefObs
       .subscribe((href: string) => {
         const request = new FindByIDRequest(href, id);
-        this.requestService.configure(request);
+        setTimeout(() => {
+          this.requestService.configure(request);
+        }, 0);
       });
 
     return this.rdbService.buildSingle<TNormalized, TDomain>(hrefObs, this.normalizedResourceType);
   }
 
   findByHref(href: string): RemoteData<TDomain> {
-    this.requestService.configure(new RestRequest(href));
+    setTimeout(() => {
+      this.requestService.configure(new RestRequest(href));
+    }, 0);
     return this.rdbService.buildSingle<TNormalized, TDomain>(href, this.normalizedResourceType);
     // return this.rdbService.buildSingle(href));
   }
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/item-data.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/item-data.service.ts
index d155910b4e..bbb03acb1d 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/item-data.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/item-data.service.ts
@@ -10,19 +10,29 @@ import { NormalizedItem } from '../cache/models/normalized-item.model';
 import { RequestService } from './request.service';
 import { RemoteDataBuildService } from '../cache/builders/remote-data-build.service';
 import { GLOBAL_CONFIG, GlobalConfig } from '../../../config';
+import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
+import { BrowseService } from '../browse/browse.service';
+import { isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
 
 @Injectable()
 export class ItemDataService extends DataService<NormalizedItem, Item> {
   protected linkName = 'items';
-  protected browseEndpoint = '/discover/browses/dateissued/items';
 
   constructor(
     protected responseCache: ResponseCacheService,
     protected requestService: RequestService,
     protected rdbService: RemoteDataBuildService,
     protected store: Store<CoreState>,
-    @Inject(GLOBAL_CONFIG) EnvConfig: GlobalConfig
+    @Inject(GLOBAL_CONFIG) protected EnvConfig: GlobalConfig,
+    private bs: BrowseService
   ) {
-    super(NormalizedItem, EnvConfig);
+    super(NormalizedItem);
   }
+
+  public getScopedEndpoint(scopeID: string): Observable<string> {
+    return this.bs.getBrowseURLFor('dc.date.issued', this.linkName)
+      .filter((href) => isNotEmpty(href))
+      .distinctUntilChanged();
+  }
+
 }
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/request.models.ts b/src/app/core/data/request.models.ts
index 8c415e71ef..ab3e38d9cd 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/request.models.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/request.models.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { RESTURLCombiner } from '../url-combiner/rest-url-combiner';
 import { DSOResponseParsingService } from './dso-response-parsing.service';
 import { ResponseParsingService } from './parsing.service';
 import { RootResponseParsingService } from './root-response-parsing.service';
+import { BrowseResponseParsingService } from './browse-response-parsing.service';
 
 /* tslint:disable:max-classes-per-file */
 export class RestRequest {
@@ -53,6 +54,16 @@ export class RootEndpointRequest extends RestRequest {
   }
 }
 
+export class BrowseEndpointRequest extends RestRequest {
+  constructor(href: string) {
+    super(href);
+  }
+
+  getResponseParser(): GenericConstructor<ResponseParsingService> {
+    return BrowseResponseParsingService;
+  }
+}
+
 export class RequestError extends Error {
   statusText: string;
 }
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/request.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/request.service.ts
index e6b4f816f1..4231f9efbb 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/request.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/request.service.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
 import { hasValue } from '../../shared/empty.util';
 import { CacheableObject } from '../cache/object-cache.reducer';
 import { ObjectCacheService } from '../cache/object-cache.service';
-import { DSOSuccessResponse } from '../cache/response-cache.models';
+import { DSOSuccessResponse, RestResponse } from '../cache/response-cache.models';
 import { ResponseCacheEntry } from '../cache/response-cache.reducer';
 import { ResponseCacheService } from '../cache/response-cache.service';
 import { CoreState } from '../core.reducers';
@@ -47,16 +47,20 @@ export class RequestService {
 
   configure<T extends CacheableObject>(request: RestRequest): void {
     let isCached = this.objectCache.hasBySelfLink(request.href);
-
+    // console.log('request.href', request.href);
     if (!isCached && this.responseCache.has(request.href)) {
-      const [dsoSuccessResponse, otherSuccessResponse] = this.responseCache.get(request.href)
+      const [successResponse, errorResponse] = this.responseCache.get(request.href)
         .take(1)
-        .filter((entry: ResponseCacheEntry) => entry.response.isSuccessful)
         .map((entry: ResponseCacheEntry) => entry.response)
+        .share()
+        .partition((response: RestResponse) => response.isSuccessful);
+
+      const [dsoSuccessResponse, otherSuccessResponse] = successResponse
         .share()
         .partition((response: DSOSuccessResponse) => hasValue(response.resourceSelfLinks));
 
       Observable.merge(
+        errorResponse.map(() => true), // TODO add a configurable number of retries in case of an error.
         otherSuccessResponse.map(() => true),
         dsoSuccessResponse // a DSOSuccessResponse should only be considered cached if all its resources are cached
           .map((response: DSOSuccessResponse) => response.resourceSelfLinks)
diff --git a/src/app/core/data/root-response-parsing.service.ts b/src/app/core/data/root-response-parsing.service.ts
index 016a501685..a3e7fc22a3 100644
--- a/src/app/core/data/root-response-parsing.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/data/root-response-parsing.service.ts
@@ -19,12 +19,7 @@ export class RootResponseParsingService implements ResponseParsingService {
     if (isNotEmpty(data.payload) && isNotEmpty(data.payload._links)) {
       const links = data.payload._links;
       for (const link of Object.keys(links)) {
-        let href = links[link].href;
-        // TODO temporary workaround as these endpoint paths are relative, but should be absolute
-        if (isNotEmpty(href) && !href.startsWith('http')) {
-          href = new RESTURLCombiner(this.EnvConfig, href.substring(this.EnvConfig.rest.nameSpace.length)).toString();
-        }
-        links[link] = href;
+        links[link] = links[link].href;
       }
       return new RootSuccessResponse(links, data.statusCode);
     } else {
diff --git a/src/app/core/shared/browse-definition.model.ts b/src/app/core/shared/browse-definition.model.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bdb91167b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/core/shared/browse-definition.model.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import { autoserialize, autoserializeAs } from 'cerialize';
+import { SortOption } from './sort-option.model';
+
+export class BrowseDefinition {
+  @autoserialize
+  metadataBrowse: boolean;
+
+  @autoserialize
+  sortOptions: SortOption[];
+
+  @autoserializeAs('order')
+  defaultSortOrder: string;
+
+  @autoserialize
+  type: string;
+
+  @autoserializeAs('metadata')
+  metadataKeys: string[];
+
+  @autoserialize
+  _links: {
+    [name: string]: string
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/app/core/shared/hal-endpoint.service.ts b/src/app/core/shared/hal-endpoint.service.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..58c647ead8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/core/shared/hal-endpoint.service.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Observable';
+import { RequestService } from '../data/request.service';
+import { ResponseCacheService } from '../cache/response-cache.service';
+import { GlobalConfig } from '../../../config/global-config.interface';
+import { EndpointMap, RootSuccessResponse } from '../cache/response-cache.models';
+import { RootEndpointRequest } from '../data/request.models';
+import { ResponseCacheEntry } from '../cache/response-cache.reducer';
+import { isNotEmpty } from '../../shared/empty.util';
+
+export abstract class HALEndpointService {
+  protected abstract responseCache: ResponseCacheService;
+  protected abstract requestService: RequestService;
+  protected abstract linkName: string;
+  protected abstract EnvConfig: GlobalConfig;
+
+  protected getEndpointMap(): Observable<EndpointMap> {
+    const request = new RootEndpointRequest(this.EnvConfig);
+    setTimeout(() => {
+      this.requestService.configure(request);
+    }, 0);
+    return this.responseCache.get(request.href)
+      .map((entry: ResponseCacheEntry) => entry.response)
+      .filter((response: RootSuccessResponse) => isNotEmpty(response) && isNotEmpty(response.endpointMap))
+      .map((response: RootSuccessResponse) => response.endpointMap)
+      .distinctUntilChanged();
+  }
+
+  public getEndpoint(): Observable<string> {
+    return this.getEndpointMap()
+      .do((map: EndpointMap) => {
+      if (!this.linkName) {
+        console.log('map', this)
+      }
+    })
+      .map((map: EndpointMap) => map[this.linkName])
+      .distinctUntilChanged();
+  }
+
+  public isEnabledOnRestApi(): Observable<boolean> {
+    return this.getEndpointMap()
+      .map((map: EndpointMap) => isNotEmpty(map[this.linkName]))
+      .startWith(undefined)
+      .distinctUntilChanged();
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/app/core/shared/sort-option.model.ts b/src/app/core/shared/sort-option.model.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c735e87b9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/core/shared/sort-option.model.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import { autoserialize } from 'cerialize';
+
+export class SortOption {
+  @autoserialize
+  name: string;
+
+  @autoserialize
+  metadata: string;
+}