Robin R. Sewell Arizona Health Sciences Library, University of Arizona Shannon Sweeny EBSCO Australia Objectives and Methods Objective The Arizona Health Information Network (AZHIN) is a consortium of 34 member health services institutions which range in size from academic institutions to small medical clinics. The goal of this project was to improve access to resources on-site and off-site by using a single sign-on product and improve the security of the resources by implementing a password management system. Methods In the past non-IP authenticated on-site and off-site access required AZHIN members to use a different username and password for each vendor’s products. Athens was selected for its ability to interact with vendors, provide single sign-on access to resources, and for its password and account management features. Resource access management through Athens permissions sets simplified any changes to the resources available and provided a way for organizations to use Athens authentication for resources they purchase separately. This implementation had several challenges related to the custom delivery of resources accessed through dynamically generated web pages and the use of a custom login method. Another challenge was the management of variations in URLs used by vendors for IP and Athens authentication, especially in the context of LinkSource, EBSCO’s link resolver. Results and Conclusions Athens is currently in use by 27 AZHIN member organizations, having added over 2,000 users in one year. The existing vendor-based password system will be discontinued at the end of June. Three of the larger academic institutions use local proxy systems for authentication and are not using Athens. Many of the obstacles could have been over come by requiring all users to log into Athens regardless of there ability to IP authenticate. We chose to take the more difficult route in order to provide more seamless access to resources when ever possible.

1. Revolutionizing Consortium Access with Athens Single Sign-on A case study… Shannon Sweeny Robin Sewell

2. Arizona

3. AZHIN Membership 4 Universities 6 Muliti-site hospitals 7 Regional Health Centers 4 State/County Health Institutions 4 VA/Military hospitals 7 Small Telemedicine Clinics 1 National Association Arizona Health Information Network

7. Athens At the simplest level, Classic Athens is a managed directory of usernames with librarian focussed tools to manage them. Over 300 premium content vendors of subscription material on the web recognise Athens usernames to allocate rights to their material using the Athens authentication system.

8. Athens Athens Features Administrator management of user accounts Separate admin accounts for each AZHIN member organization User customizable passwords Expiration dates On demand expiration of accounts Account creation through bulk uploads or on individual basis Vendor interaction required to provide access via Athens Permission sets control user access Customizable user groups and statistics gathering

9. Athens Other benefits Single sign-on Library 2.0. Access to state-purchased resources and local institution-purchased resources MyAthens Individualised usage figures.

11. Athens How it works Log into Athens User’s Info Reads cookie Verifies Info Confirms credentials Access Granted User views resource Clicks on resource URL

13. AZHIN & Athens How it was implemented Standard Athens Access MyAthens login and resource access Resources displayed by vendor not by title Descriptions are customizable Athens toolbar My Athens

14. AZHIN & Athens How it was implemented AZHIN Customized Access Customizable AZHIN portal pages AZHIN member organizations can add their own logos and content Separate purchases displayed or accessed through the portal page Login box refers back to the page of origin for access to resources Access to journals and textbooks by title and subject

16. AZHIN & Athens

17. AZHIN & Athens Complications 1) Vendor URL variations NEJM IP access URL http://content.nejm.org NEJM Athens access URL http://auth.athensams.net/?ath_dspid=MMS&ath_returl=http %3A%2F%2Fcontent.nejm.org Commercial Title listing services require additional work on URLs as a result. 2) Displaying passwords sometimes required.

18. AZHIN & Athens Achievements Access to ALL resources Access to AZHIN Resources and individual organizational subscriptions Single off-site password access to all resources Password access that allows user customization of passwords Method of managing and expiring user accounts Statistical tools to monitor use

19. AZHIN & Athens AZHIN Home page AZHIN Self registration page MyAthens login Athens Home page ssweeny @ ebsco .com