Apologies for cross posting
Hello there,
I wonder if I could ask for feedback from other institutions who are
implementing their own IdP and have been checking which resources will be
most at risk from August if the decision is taken NOT to purchase the
OpenAthens gateway....
Having asked Eduserv for clarification on the issue of whether
institutions need to purchase the OpenAthens gateway if a service provider
uses OpenAthensSP, I have arrived at the following:
1) SPs can become Shibboleth compliant in 2 ways - a) by implenting their
own internal Shibboleth SP or b) by upgrading to OpenAthensSP AND taking
the Shibboleth module as part of their Athens subscription AND registering
as a member of the UK Federation.
2) OpenAthensSP is a free upgrade. However, it relies on SPs having the
technical resources in house to move to it.
3) There doesn't seem to be a repository of information on whether SPs are
using OpenAthensSP with the Shibboleth module. There is a definite need
for this if institutions are faced with asking SPs individually these
questions.
So, if institutions are reviewing the need for the OpenAthens gateway, my
understanding is that we need to know the following:
1) whether an SP is implementing Shibboleth in-house
2) if not, are they using OPenAthensSP with the Shibboleth module and are
they members of the UK Access Management Federation.
Is this others' understanding of the situation too? Apologies if I have
over simplified the terminology or problem. I am coming at this from the
library angle and am trying to get to grips with whether the gateway is
needed for the resources we have identified as at risk. We have
identified 'at risk' resources as those which offer only Athens
authentication and that are not currently Shibb compliant.
I would also be grateful if JISC and Eduserv could confirm this or correct
me if I am wrong. I don't have much knowledge about the products offered
by Eduserv for Athens to service providers.
Many thanks in advance for your feedback.
Best Wishes
Sarah
Sarah Pearson
E-Resources & Serials Coordinator
Library Services
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
tel: 0121 414 5825
email: [log in to unmask]
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