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Some thoughts on Authentication in general….and Shibboleth in particular. James Mouw Asst. Director for Technical and Electronic Services The University of Chicago Library Mouw@uchicago.edu. What we believe.
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Some thoughts on Authentication in general….and Shibboleth in particular James Mouw Asst. Director for Technical and Electronic Services The University of Chicago Library Mouw@uchicago.edu
What we believe • Shibboleth is one solution for authentication, it is not now and likely never will be the only solution • Shibboleth has many applications beyond library resources
Our Environment • Library controls resources and access mechanisms • Full text and indexing resources • Catalog records • OpenURL, Federated Search • Persistent URL mechanism with redirects • Library Web Page • Various servers, AD for library machines • Public work stations
Our Environment • Campus IT controls • The plumbing • The campus identity management • Security • Remote access • Modem pool, web-based access, VPN, [remote desktop], connectivity package • Basic software adoption – which browsers to support, etc. • The Proxy server(s)
Our planning process • Joint work group – campus IT and library staff • Meeting bi-weekly since fall 2004 • Originally planned to have two groups, one for EXProxy and another for Shib – later merged into one task
Brief history • First library e-resources ~1995 • First proxy server (Squid) ?? (before 1999) • Browser specific, not transportable, didn’t work with many products • Move to EZProxy – January 2006 (URL rewriting technology) • Main issue is links we don’t/can’t control • Fundamental step toward standard operating procedures • Squid to be retired – Summer 2006 • Shibboleth in test
Status of Shibboleth • Planning begins fall 2004 • Membership in InCommon • Shibboleth v.1.3 IdP production April 2006 • Campus ID management in place • Single directory with attributes • Bulk of our time spent on new style of URL management and implications
Trialing Phase • Trial underway with Ebsco Publishing • Plans for OCLC, JSTOR and others
Beyond Library Resources • Use shib internally for all logical authentication • EZProxy • Restricted campus files – based on LDAP attributes • Single signon (Nirvana?)
Next steps • Tom Barton: • Shib just goes in our bag of tricks – for vendors offering ASP-based services, for grid computing activities.