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

ssweeny@ebsco.com