OhioNET EZProxy Service Understanding Integrating Employing

Stakeholders Vendors (EBSCO, etc) Limit access to subscribers

Stakeholders Institutions Limit access to institutional boundaries

Stakeholders Faculty and Students Easily access services within these boundaries

Problem: Making limits easy Solution: remove login constraints for customer campus networks ID campus by its IP number range Register this information with the vendor Automatically log in all customers from that range 167.30.250.0 to 167.30.250.254 =

New Problem: Off-Campus Users Off-campus users use networks that cannot be registered with the vendor VPN: off-campus users communicate through vendors through campus network Costly: requires licenses and bandwidth Relatively complicated: requires software installation Proxy: off campus users communicate through one IP address registered as “on-campus” with the vendor

Solution: re-route the user Proxy IP address is registered with the vendor User is routed through the proxy =

EZProxy: How it works Authenticates user Connects to resource We use the catalog as an ID database Connects to resource User talks only to it (looks like a website) Vendor talks only to it (looks like a browser) I’m EBSCO I’m Mt Union

How it works: on the user’s side URL rewriting Translates URL so that user goes only to proxy Theological implications are included free of charge!

How it works: requirements User’s browser must accept cookies EZProxy must be configured properly for the vendor’s website That’s it! Of course browser must also have whatever the resource requires (Javascript, etc)

How it works: adding a new resource Tell the vendor your proxy IP Contact opalhelp with resource title and URL to be added to the proxy opalhelp will send back a link Test proxy from off-campus If it fails, report to opalhelp for further configuration Success? Put link into your links page

How it works: providing access Host links yourself Full control over look and organization of links page Link text provided by opalhelp http://www.muskingum.edu/home/library/find/databases.html Host links on proxy server OhioNET provides a simple menu page with links Some basic decoration is possible Login necessary to see provided resources https://login.cc.opal-libraries.org/login

How it works: management Provide some communications channel for off-campus users on your proxy/links pages Report connectivity problems to opalhelp Vendors sometimes forget IP addresses Relay messages about changing vendor domains, URLs, etc, to opalhelp

OhioNET proxy features OhioLINK via OhioNET Just one login for all your resources Register your campus IP range with us for pass-through Just one link for both on and off-campus users Distinguish users by ptype, status Offer certain resources only to certain ptypes Statistics provided on demand via web

More features Alternative authentication Other data sources: email servers, Shibboleth, LDAP, Windows Active Directory, CAS, others SSL encryption on logins (standard for OPAL) Abuse detection and response Limits set on download rate Limits set on number of simultaneous sessions per login Abused logins can be identified, disabled

Questions? Ask now Ask later: opalhelp@ohionet.org Alternatively… Ask the list: ezproxy-request@ls.suny.edu (“Subscribe” without quotes in the body) Ask the list archives (agonizingly slow): ls.suny.edu/read/?forum=ezproxy

Preloaded Questions Do we need to make a list of databases if we decide to proxy OLINK? Yes, Title and URL, each on its own line or its own column in Excel, please. As URLs change, who maintains them? We will make the changes. It is a good idea to send us a heads-up, however. Do proxy URLs work in the catalog? Yes. The proxy URL is easy to build and can be used like any other URL.