Dear all,

After years of trying to evolve a sophisticated setup for walk-in access
to e-resources, last year we simplified our approach completely and came
up with a solution that works very well for us.

Back to basics 
--------------
We have two dedicated Pcs in the library for visitor access. Visitors have
to ask to use the machines at our information hub.  Staff note down their
identity details, and manually log them into one of the machines with a
Windows password we change every month.

The Pcs have been stripped of any useful software apart from web browsers
and PDF readers.  The PC's local hosts file has been set to bar access to
any online resource to which we cannot legally offer access to non members
of the university.  This is only half a dozen resource providers.

The user is able to access the Web to view anything we can legally offer:
download it to USB or email it to themselves.  Once they have finished our
staff manually log them out.  The Pcs are running Deep Freeze, so any
changes to software/configuration/downloads get wiped clean at this point.

The benefits
-------------
For years we tried to develop a complicated model whereby temporary user
names were generated on the fly by our campus authentication system.
These logins would attempt to restrict at our firewall what resources the
user could access.  The results were variable, but invariably
unpredictable.  Users got a shaky service that confused staff and required
a lot of technical support and user hand-holding.

As soon as we dropped the ideal of a campus temporary login, and just got
staff to log people in using the only local Windows account on the
machine, our complexities were at an end.

The machines are fast to set up from scratch, and thereafter require
almost no technical support. Desk staff don't seem to have any trouble or
burden administering the service.

The only downside is that we still need someone to go through all our
licenses and decide to what we can and cannot allow access.  This was the
time-consuming part of the work.

-------------

I am happy to talk through specific details.

It isn't a sophisticated and joined-up model, but it is quick, cheap,
painless and just works.

Tim Graves
Systems Support Manager
University of Sussex Library





On 08/10/2013 16:15, "Hannah Britcher" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>At University of Portsmouth we too have found more and more individuals
>who
>are not current students or staff wanting to access our e-resources. I
>have
>been investigating our e-resource licences and found a whole spectrum of
>answers as to who can access the resources - some contracts strictly allow
>access to current staff and students, other companies allow wider access
>for walk in users, some for free and some requiring extra payment. I have
>not found any resource offering off campus access for non students and
>staff.
>
>At our library I am part of a working group looking at walk in user access
>to our resources. We are working with our IT department to look at ways in
>which a PC could be set up with restricted access to only those
>e-resources
>which allow walk in user access. Solutions which we have investigated at
>so
>far are quite complicated, so I would also be interested to hear how other
>libraries have managed this.
>
>-- 
>Hannah Britcher
>Team Leader, Procurement & Metadata
>University Library
>University of Portsmouth
>Cambridge Road
>Portsmouth
>PO1 2ST
>UK
>
>+44 (0)23 9284 3227
>[log in to unmask]
>http://www.port.ac.uk/library
>
>
>On 8 October 2013 15:58, Janet Waters <[log in to unmask]>
>wrote:
>
>> Philip
>>
>> Hi
>>
>> Your licences to online e-resources are for students and staff at your
>> institution so anyone else can't have access.
>>
>>
>>
>> Some suppliers I believe will allow external users to access but each
>> supplier will have their own fee depending on numbers and caveats. It is
>> something you will have to negotiate with them. It will also be if your
>> institution is happy to pay.
>>
>>
>>
>> If a learner or teacher is a member of your institution they can have
>> access but not otherwise
>>
>>
>>
>> Hope that helps, email me directly if you prefer
>>
>>
>>
>> Janet
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Janet Waters
>>
>>
>>
>> Head of Learning Resources Centres
>>
>> Wiltshire College
>>
>> Salisbury
>>
>> 01722344325
>>
>> [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>
>> www.wiltshire.ac.uk
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: A general Library and Information Science list for news and
>> discussion. [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Philip Cohen
>> Sent: 08 October 2013 15:42
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Non-Standard Users
>>
>>
>>
>> This message may look like one I posted last week headed 'CoreHR Users'.
>>
>>
>>
>> That elicited little response.
>>
>>
>>
>> So I'm hoping for something better by broadening out the question to
>> something less specific ...
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Growing numbers of people are attached to my institution who are neither
>> paid staff nor students e.g. Honorary Lecturers, Adjunct Professors,
>> Visiting Researchers, Fulbright Scholars, Research Active Retired Staff
>>...
>>
>>
>>
>> Invariably, they require access to our online library resources.
>>
>>
>>
>> How do others manage this process, please?
>>
>>
>>
>> TIA
>>
>>
>>
>> Philip Cohen
>>