> -----Original Message-----

> Hi Matthew,

> 

> This page http://wokinfo.com/inst-access_shibboleth/ says you have to

> specifically request that eduPersonTargetedId is used for "single sign

> on" with WoK and Endnote Web. We haven't done, and see the same

> behaviour that you are. I'm a little worried that users who have already

> registered could get freaked out if they then signed in via Shibboleth,

> got a new account, and thought all their references had vanished.

> 

> Cheers,

> Laurence Lockton

> University of Bath



Thanks for pointing out that page.  It depends rather on how they have implemented this feature whether users would see any problem.  It seems likely we have not asked for this feature to be turned on for Durham users, so our users will have manually created accounts based on an e-mail address.  This type of account tends to work off campus as well without signing in via EZProxy or Shib first (I've not tested WoK and EndNote yet to see) but only if the user uses the account within the designated IP range from time to time.



The worst case scenario, if we turn the feature on, is that manually created accounts linked to our IP range are no longer accepted on or off campus.  That would be seriously bad news!



Another possibility might be that no new IP-linked accounts could be created, and new users on or off campus would sign in via Shibboleth.  If the user wants a personal account, it's possible a little further set-up might be required (e.g. to set the e-mail address and other preferences) rather like what you have to do for ScienceDirect.  If the IP-linked manually-created accounts that currently exist continued to work and continued to be renewed for off-campus use, this would be fine, and would probably be the best option from the point of view of avoiding confusion.



A third possibility might be that on campus, where we don't have to authenticate first, users might still be allowed to create an account with Thomson manually.  If they sign in off-campus via Shibboleth they might (or might not) get the chance to sign into their manually-created account.  This could cause confusion.  In essence, users might have the choice of a manually-created account or one linked to their university identity, and might be very unclear which they had created and how to access it in the future.



At the time of transition from Athens to Shibboleth when I was at the University of Dundee, we put a lot of effort into understanding what problems users might have with their personal settings.  The easiest services to deal with were, of course, those that made the user create an account manually with the provider, as these would carry on working after transition.  Some services (Zetoc being one of the best) allowed the user to migrate the personal account during the run-up by allowing signing in via one method and then the other to link the authentication credentials.  Some services introduced personalisation linked to eduPersonTargetedId during Shibboleth implementation where before they had only supported manually-created accounts, and users were free to use this if they wished (ScienceDirect was one example) and with others the personalisation was basically lost on migration because the account had been linked to the Athens account and could not be transferred to the Shibboleth identity.  I think most of the e-book providers fell into this category.



I think I had better seek more information on what happens if the eduPersonTargetedId feature is "turned on" for Thomson -- if I can find anyone who can convince me they really understand it, of course!



-- 

Matthew Phillips

Electronic Systems Librarian, Durham University

Durham University Library, Stockton Road, Durham, DH1 3LY

+44 (0)191 334 2941