Transcript presentation - Conference Sites hosted by Acadia University Library

Library Services
on the Expedia Model
John Durno
BC Electronic Library Network
Access 2004: October 15, 2004
BCcampus is:
• an online educational service
connecting learners and educators to
programs and resources across all BC
institutions
Press Release
• “BCcampus, a collaboration of BC’s colleges,
university colleges, universities and institutes, will
build on existing programs and services, reducing
costly duplication within the system and improving
efficiency for students. It will provide a single
access point for learners who want to take postsecondary courses and programs by distance.
Students will also be able to receive online career
counseling and educational advising services.”
•
Hon. Shirley Bond,
Minister of Advanced Education
October 30, 2002
In other words …
• Centralized infrastructure supporting
distributed service provision (AKA: a
portal)
Services include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Course and Program Information
Advising
Admission
Registration
Financial Aid
Course Delivery
Library
A couple of terms
• Home institution
• Course provider
The interesting part
• Students require access to library
resources from all of their institutional
course providers
Goal
• Construct a gateway to library services
for students affiliated with multiple
institutions
Federated User Data
BCcampus Portal
Student Registration Systems
Components, Phase I
• Research database gateway
• Linkserver/ILL requesting system
• Basic reference requesting
… plus an admin module
Requirements
• Integrate with existing infrastructure
where possible
• Minimize duplication
• Single sign-on
Constraints
• Course providers responsible for
supporting courses offered
• Limited implementation window
Technologies
•
•
•
•
uPortal
SQL Server
PHP5
EZproxy
Project Administration
• BCcampus Project Office
• CPSLD subcommittee
• BC ELN
Portal knows:
• Institutions student is affiliated with
• Courses student is enrolled in
• Resources available at each institution
Research Database Gateway
• Makes available all the databases
licensed by student’s home institution
and course providers
• By Alpha List, Topic, and Course
Library Tables
•
•
•
•
Database descriptions
Topics
Library descriptions
Join tables:
• Libraries/Databases
• Databases/Topics
• Courses/Topics
Authentication
• Extensive use of EZproxy
• Pass-through to institutional proxies
where possible
• Uses BCcampus-hosted proxies where
institutional proxies not available
Distributed & Centralized
Proxies
Centralized
Portal
Distributed
Portal - Proxy Dialogue
User
URL + Token
BCc
Portal
EZproxy
Token
OK
To DB
Proxy issues
(BCcampus-hosted)
• IP range outside host institution ranges
• Load levels
Proxy Issues
(Institution-hosted)
• Versions
– Early versions don’t talk SSL
– Early versions handle parameters
differently
• Levels of Support
– “server two hour drive away”
• CGI method
– Requires programming
Linkserver/ILL
• GODOT/CUFTS almost universal
standard among BC post-secondaries
• Open source advantage: easy to modify
Required Modifications
• Linkserver: Link to full text from all
available resources
• ILL: Requests sent to user’s home
institution
GODOT/CUFTS
needs to know:
• How to identify BCcampus users
• User’s home institution and course
providers
• Cannot use IP authentication
Authentication Method
• Cookies obvious solution, except for
barriers to cross-site scripting:
– Cookies only available to originating server
– SSL blocks “web bug” approach
– Can’t reliably be set by 30x redirect
• Solution (for now): Meta-refresh
Interaction
URL+
Cookie
MetaRefresh
Sets Cookie
BCc
Portal
Cookie
Research
GODOT/
Database
CUFTS OpenURL (via proxy)
Reads Cookie
User Info
To Full Text
Or ILL request form
Reference Module
• Simple form based request
• User specifies course from drop-down
list
• Request sent to appropriate institution
via email
Future development
• Metasearch
• Serials title lists
• Virtual Reference
More Information
• http://www.bccampus.ca