EVERY CONNECTION has a starting point. EVERY CONNECTION has a starting point. WorldCat Navigator - Authentication OCLC Hosted Navigator EZproxy and Patron Data Server Vasu Akkineni OCLC

What is OCLC Hosted Navigator EZproxy ? Hosted at OCLC Alternative to Hosting EZproxy Server at your institution Same user workflow as a locally hosted EZproxy It is shared by several other libraries Customizable login pages for your library Only used for authentication for Navigator Libraries who cannot host their own EZproxy are benefited. OCLC does all the work to process the patron data Disadvantage – The patron data is not real time and needs to be regularly updated in the specific format by the library.

OCLC Hosted Navigator EZproxy standard login page

What is the Patron Data Server? You upload a patron data dump to the server periodically Users authenticate against the patron data you upload It is up to the library to decide at what intervals (Daily, weekly or monthly..) they want to update their patron data The patron dump must be in a specific format The patron dump must be a.txt file The disadvantage of this method is the patron data is not updated real time and needs periodic updates to be in sync with the ILS

Data Upload server - This server used for uploading future patron dumps to update your patron data

What data should the patron dump have? Patron full name – comma separated or 2 separate fields; 1 for first name and 1 for last Patron barcode in the ILS system (if different from the login barcode/user) Patron address (used to send status alerts to the patron. If no address then no alerts will be sent to the patron) Patron home location (generally used when the institution has multiple “home” locations) Patron category (Optional) Patron registration date (Optional) Patron account expiration date (Optional) Data that will be used for setting the Patron “banned” flag – Fines, Number of overdue items, etc.

Sample Patron Dump data The very first line of the patron data dump should be: “P BARCODE”, “PATRN NAME”, “HOME LIBR”, “BTYPE”, “ ”, “REG DATE”, “EXP DATE”, “FINES” Example of real patron data is: “ ”, “Akkineni, Vasu”, “Library1”, “13”, “ ”, “ ”,

Authentication workflow Diagram

Components of the Patron Data Server

Steps for establishing OCLC Hosted authentication (patron dump) Determine patron data dump format (comma delimited, tab delimited with the data enclosed in double quotes) Send test patron dump in selected format to OCLC Identity Management lead OCLC creates and distributes user accounts to you for upload server Decide frequency of patron data updates Provide test credentials to OCLC IDM lead Provide any customization changes needed to the login pages of the EZproxy Test

Conclusion In order to determine if the OCLC Hosted Navigator EZproxy is the right option for your library or if you have any questions about the patron data, please contact me at Thank You!