Hi all!
(Apologies for x-posting but the content of this message potentially
touches on both raw shibboleth issues and on more general middleware
take-up issues).
The Introduction:
=====
As part of the ASMIMA project here in Cardiff University we have been
assessing how realistic the idea of switching entirely from Classic
Athens to Shibboleth Athens is at present. Part of the what came out of
this assessment was a list of Athens resources that are currently
non-compliant, and what the timeline and likelyhood of them becoming
compliant is.
We thought we'd share this particular information as we feel it could be
useful to any institutions out there also considering the impact of
switching from Classic Athens to Shibboleth Athens!
So, without further ado...
The Report:
=====
Out of all the Athens resources that Cardiff University currently has,
all but 6 are gateway compliant. These six that are not are as follows:
1) Westlaw
The one resource that causes us most concern - it is a very heavily used
resource here, and Westlaw have no plans at all at present to shibbolise
their service. Westlaw are working on a major platform release at the
moment and this, understandably, is their priority. They might be
prepared to look at Shib again after this, with a view to possibly
getting something up for Dec 2006.
Nicole (Harris) has informed us that this problem is JISC's number one
target at present, and has been brought up on an international list for
discussions between federations. EduServ will continue to put pressure
on Westlaw to become gateway compliant.
However, they're not likely to be persuaded to change their minds unless
we can provide a business case that means it makes sense for them to do
so. And the few shibboleth early-adopter customers that there are are
unlikely to be a good case...
So it's very much a case of attempting to applying pressure and hoping
for the best.
2) LexisNexis
Not planning to Shibbolise LN Executive or LN Professional. Executive is
being moved to a new service which will be compliant, while the content
of Professional will be migrated to LN Butterworth's, which is already
compliant. This is due by August 2006 (which is tight for anyone wanting
to switch to Shibboleth entirely by the next academic year, but not
impossible). Also, as LN Butterworth's is already compliant, we can at
least be assured they do know how to make it work!
3) Dialog
Have no plans to shibbolise Dialog, but are moving their content to
DataStar and will be making that compliant instead. They tell us that
they have re-started their discussions on this, and they were due to
meet with Athens in December. No date for implementation given yet. We
see no difficulty in moving from Dialog to DataStar when the time comes.
We are going to wait a while and then press them further for a date.
Also, Nicole has been separately approached by someone from Dialog who
was keen to look at shibboleth, so this may be an area where JISC can
have some input.
4) EDINA Digimap
Are "looking in" to Shibboleth, but have no date for implementation.
Surprised us initially as many of the other EDINA resources are
compliant and they are a lead in the SDSS federation. Apparently this is
because the authentication / authorisation behind digimap is slightly
complicated as they have n-tier issues with service to service requests.
However, JISC have secured some funding to look in to this.
5) JSTOR
Due first quarter 2006. However, experiencing delays due to loss of a
key member of staff, but hope to be back up to speed shortly. So looking
hopeful.
6) Proquest
Have told us that they are investigating Shibboleth and will be in
touch. Apparently have made some promising noises to JISC, its likely
that they will Shibbolise. Eduserv were hopeful that they would be
gateway compliant by the end of last year, so a case of "watch this
space".
The Conclusions:
=====
So in conclusion, the vast majority of Athens resources that Cardiff
University subscribe to are already gateway compliant. There are a few
left that aren't, but are making positive noises about being ready
sometime over the next few quarters. The one major stumbling block we
have is Westlaw, as it is a key resource for us, and there is no
timeline laid down about shibbolising their service - if they do it at
all!
One thing that limits the extent of the problem of these six resource
net yet being gateway compliant is that on-campus, five of them use
IP-authentication, so Athens is never used - Edina Digimap being the
exception. So for the other five resources, this problem only exists for
off-campus use. However, there is a fair amount of off-campus use... So
it doesn't really let us bypass the problem!
One current solution being thought up is to use a Citrix application
that would allow off-campus users to remotely get on-campus and thus use
the resources like Westlaw. This is a bit of a kludge, however, and a
native shib solution would be much more desirable!
Finally, there is one more category of problem that we are currently
investigating - non web-based applications that make use of Athens, such
as Endnote and Beilstein Crossfire. We haven't looked into this properly
yet, so is a bit of an unknown for us at the moment. This is our next
step of investigation.
A Call for Comments:
=====
We at Cardiff would be very interested in hearing how anyone else is
intending to deal with both the rollout of shib to users, and how they
intend on dealing with non-shibbolised resources... So, anyone got any
ideas different from us?
A Call for Help and Solidarity:
=====
If your particular instituation makes use of any of these resources
(especially Westlaw), then I urge you to contact those resources
(especially Westlaw!) and register your desire for their shibbolisation;
any pressure that we as individual institutions can put on publishers
will only support the case!
The End :)
=====
Anyway, we at the ASMIMA project in Cardiff University hope this
information will be of use to at least a few of you out there!
Best Regards,
Rhys Smith ("Mr. Shibboleth"), Sue Stevens (Athens site administrator)
and Joan Wright (ASMIMA project manager).
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Rhys Smith e: [log in to unmask]
Information Services, GPG/PGP Key ID: 0xDE2F024C
40/41 Park Place,
Cardiff University, t: +44 (0) 29 2087 0126
Cardiff, f: +44 (0) 29 2087 4285
CF10 3BB, United Kingdom. m: +44 (0) 7968 087 821
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
