Re: Off-campus access electronic resources via an authentication-enabl=

["Christine Maher" <c.maher@bl1.lib.latrobe.edu.au>]

Hao-Ren Ke and fellow list members,

La Trobe University Library uses the Innopac Web Access Module, which is
also a proxy-server method, for authenticating offcampus staff and
students of La Trobe University against the Library's patron file.

This works extremely well as long as the Internet Service Providers allow
their subscribers to bypass their own proxy-servers, as our users have to
place the Innopac WAM proxy-server domain address in the config file of
their Web Browsers and only one such address can be used in the Web
browsers I know about.

One of the pluses of the Innopac WAM approach is that it allows the
Library to control what exactly is accessed offcampus so that if the
licence forbids offcampus access (not one that we are likely to sign) or
you have other reasons for not allowing offcampus access, then you just
don't place the URL for that resource in the WAM Access Table.

In terms of offcampus access and licences, I have found that the
"traditional" vendors of electronic indexing and abstracting services and
aggregators such as Gale, Silver Platter, OVID, Bell & Howell Proquest,
EBSCO etc are comfotable with properly authenticated offcampus access and
have managed to persuade their information providers that offcampus access
is now the norm rather than the exception, without charging extra fees.

Many of the larger publishers of e-journals, such as Wiley and Elsevier
also accept offcampus authenticated access as part of a normal university
library service.  However, you may still need to raise the issue with many
journal publishers who have been slower to move into the electronic arena,
as there may not be any mention in the publisher's standard licence.

The really difficult issue is offshore access.  In Australia, many
universities now have considerable numbers of offshore students,
predominantly in Asia.  Publishers/vendors are understandably nervous
about losing markets for their products through the moves of so many
Australian universities into Asian countries and want to charge extra fees
for such access.  The issue is still very much under discussion between
Australian university libraries and the vendors and publishers of
subscription e-resources.

Christine Maher

____________________

Date sent:      	Tue, 27 Mar 2001 18:59:24 -0500 (EST)
From:           	Hao-Ren Ke <claven@lib.nctu.edu.tw>
To:             	liblicense <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Subject:        	Off-campus access electronic resources via an authentication-enabl=
Dear Colleagues,

Recently, My university, National Chiao-Tung University (NCTU)  in Taiwan,
creates an authentication-enabled proxy for off-campus accessing
electronic resources. We use Squid as the proxy server software and links
Squid's user authentication module to the authentication function of
NCTU's library automation system. Whenever a user wants to access any
electronic resources via this proxy, he has to key in his patron ID and
password, and Squid will connect to the authentication function of NCTU's
library automation system to verify if he is a valid NCTU patron.

I want to open this proxy to NCTU patrons so that they can access NCTU
subscribed electronic resources when they are off-campus. I tell this
authentication mechanism to a few publishers or vendors, and all of them
agree. Furthermore, as far as I know, several libraries or consortia
exploit similar mechanism to provide off-campus access to electronic
resoueces.

My question is... Do any of colleagues' library use similar mechanism or
have better mechanisms for off-campus access? And if we adopt this
mechanism, do we have to inform all the related publishers and vendors of
this and ask for their permissions?

Sincerely,
Hao-Ren

--
  Hao-Ren Ke                          *Tel: 886-3-5712121 ext. 52622
  * E-mail: claven@cc.nctu.edu.tw     *Fax: 886-3-5731743
  * Personal Home Page=A1G http://www.cc.nctu.edu.tw/~claven
  Library of National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, R.O.C

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Christine Maher                                  
Electronic Information Services Librarian 
La Trobe University Library       
La Trobe University Victoria. Australia. 3086
c.maher@latrobe.edu.au
PH. 61 3 9479 1922                       
FAX 61 3 9471 0993
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