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Robin R. Sewell Arizona Health Sciences Library, University of Arizona Shannon Sweeny EBSCO Australia Objectives and Methods Objective The Arizona Health Information Network (AZHIN) is a consortium of 34 member health services institutions which range in size from academic institutions to small medical clinics. The goal of this project was to improve access to resources on-site and off-site by using a single sign-on product and improve the security of the resources by implementing a password management system. Methods In the past non-IP authenticated on-site and off-site access required AZHIN members to use a different username and password for each vendor’s products. Athens was selected for its ability to interact with vendors, provide single sign-on access to resources, and for its password and account management features. Resource access management through Athens permissions sets simplified any changes to the resources available and provided a way for organizations to use Athens authentication for resources they purchase separately. This implementation had several challenges related to the custom delivery of resources accessed through dynamically generated web pages and the use of a custom login method. Another challenge was the management of variations in URLs used by vendors for IP and Athens authentication, especially in the context of LinkSource, EBSCO’s link resolver. Results and Conclusions Athens is currently in use by 27 AZHIN member organizations, having added over 2,000 users in one year. The existing vendor-based password system will be discontinued at the end of June. Three of the larger academic institutions use local proxy systems for authentication and are not using Athens. Many of the obstacles could have been over come by requiring all users to log into Athens regardless of there ability to IP authenticate. We chose to take the more difficult route in order to provide more seamless access to resources when ever possible.
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Revolutionizing Consortium Access with Athens Single Sign-
onA case study…
Shannon Sweeny Robin Sewell
Arizona
AZHIN Membership4 Universities6 Muliti-site hospitals7 Regional Health Centers4 State/County Health Institutions4 VA/Military hospitals7 Small Telemedicine Clinics1 National Association
Arizona Health Information Network
Arizona Health Information NetworkPre-Athens Access Methods
Local IP-based authentication if possibleProblemNon-authorised access of AZHIN resources unavoidable
Password system for off-site access and non-IP organizationsProblemsDifficult for users to remember passwordsPassword management difficultShared passwordsDifficultly expiring passwordsSystem often document-based rather than database driven
Arizona Health Information NetworkAccess Requirements
• Access to ALL resources
• AZHIN Resources and individual organizational subscriptions
• Single off-site password access to all resources
• Password access that allows user customization of passwords
• Method of managing and expiring user accounts
• Statistical tools to monitor use
Arizona Health Information NetworkAlternatives
• Custom-built, locally implemented solutions.
• Shibboleth
• SAML
• Athens
AthensAt the simplest level, Classic Athens is a managed directory of usernames with librarian focussed tools to manage them. Over 300 premium content vendors of subscription material on the web recognise Athens usernames to allocate rights to their material using the Athens authentication system.
AthensAthens FeaturesAdministrator management of user accountsSeparate admin accounts for each AZHIN member organizationUser customizable passwordsExpiration datesOn demand expiration of accountsAccount creation through bulk uploads or on individual basisVendor interaction required to provide access via AthensPermission sets control user accessCustomizable user groups and statistics gathering
AthensOther benefits
Single sign-on
Library 2.0.
Access to state-purchased resources and local institution-purchased resources
MyAthens
Individualised usage figures.
AthensHow it works
1) User logs into AthensCookie is set with values identifying the user and the user’s organization
2) User clicks on URLVendor sees Athens cookie and confirms access eligibility with Athens
3) User gets into resource
AthensHow it works Log into
Athens
User’s Info
Reads cookie Veri
fies
Info
Con
fir m
s c re
den
t ials
Access GrantedUser views
resource
Clicks on resource URL
AZHIN & AthensWhat happened?
Paul Bracke and Cheaney Seth
Lyn Norris and a trial
MLA conference 2006
The Krafty Librarian
An impromptu meeting...
AZHIN & AthensHow it was implementedStandard Athens Access
MyAthens login and resource access
Resources displayed by vendor not by title
Descriptions are customizable
Athens toolbar
My Athens
AZHIN & AthensHow it was implementedAZHIN Customized AccessCustomizable AZHIN portal pages
AZHIN member organizations can add their own logos and content
Separate purchases displayed or accessed through the portal page
Login box refers back to the page of origin for access to resources
Access to journals and textbooks by title and subject
AZHIN & Athens
AZHIN & AthensComplications1) Vendor URL variationsNEJM IP access URL
http://content.nejm.orgNEJM Athens access URL
http://auth.athensams.net/?ath_dspid=MMS&ath_returl=http%3A%2F%2Fcontent.nejm.org
Commercial Title listing services require additional work on URLs as a result.
2) Displaying passwords sometimes required.
AZHIN & AthensAchievementsAccess to ALL resources
Access to AZHIN Resources and individual organizational
subscriptions
Single off-site password access to all resources
Password access that allows user customization of passwords
Method of managing and expiring user accounts
Statistical tools to monitor use
AZHIN & Athens
AZHIN Home pageAZHIN Self registration pageMyAthens loginAthens Home page
