The document discusses the growing importance of digital contributions by scientists and the authentication challenges they face due to numerous usernames and passwords. OpenID is presented as a solution to streamline the login process across multiple platforms, but usability issues may hinder its adoption. The number of sites supporting OpenID is increasing, yet the potential for continued growth is uncertain due to these challenges.

1. OpenID in Science Authenticating Scientists on the Web Duncan Hull http://twitter.com/dullhunk The University of Manchester Science Online London The Royal Institution, August 2009

2. Scientists contributions are increasingly digital in Nature Contributions to electronic knowledge: Not just electronic publications in online journals… but also Edits to wikis Software development Blog posts, online conversations (mailing lists, blog comments, www.researchblogging.org etc) Standards Development and maintenance of public databases

3. Authentication via username + password to prove we are who we say we are when we make digital contributions

4. We have way too many usernames and passwords! http://tinyurl.com/too-many-passwords Simon Willison (The Guardian) The average user has [at least] 18 user accounts and 3.49 passwords” This is the problem that OpenID is addressing

5. How OpenID works stuff http://www.myexperiment.org (3rd party)

6. Open ID is quickly becoming widespread “ 42,235 sites are now enabled to accept OpenID logins” source http://blog.janrain.com/2009/05/relying-party-stats-as-of-may-1-2009.html

7. But there are usability “issues” http://albert.einstein.name [email_address] mcsquared OR + 84% 16% Out of 2,300 myexperiment users:

8. Conclusions The idea of having one username and password makes a lot of sense but: Usability issues URL as a username can confuse Redirection to a third party on login can confuse Adoption of OpenID is growing but might not continue If you’d like to know more about OpenID and related topics in digital identity…

9. http://www.xmlsummerschool.com Web services and Identity http://xmlsummerschool.com/curriculum2009/web-services-identity/