1. Shibboleth and eLibrary
I’m …
As such, cover tech aspects of :
- Institutional repositories
- Digital Curation
- SFX
- Metalib (eLibrary)
Talking about Shibbolization of eLibrary.
Edward Craft BA MSc, Digital Library Systems Specialist,
IT Services, University of Birmingham
SFX/Metalib Day School, 29th October 2008

2. Project Planning Shibboleth investigation prior to Jan 2008
Three concurrent projects
Shibboleth IDP installation
Shibboleth SP / eLibrary integration
Install SP
Connect to IDP
Integrate with PDS
Review of eResource data
Original Shibboleth investigation project started September 2006 which decided to accept JISC/EduServ replacement to Athens.
Jan 2008 – OK, move to “Plan B”.
Programme of 3 projects – concurrent start but each dependent on the successful completion of previous.
IDP : By IT staff – linked to BIIS (Birmingham Identity Integration Services)
Review of data : 1300 eResources :
- what authentication methods each offers.
- what authentication method we use for each
- Shib support / WAYFless URLs.

3. Shibboleth / eLibrary integration
Install SP
v 1.3
Required new server …
… and new operating system
Which had to be done by ExLibris
Connect to IDP
Not to any other IDP
eLibrary was first real test of IDP
V 1.3 : Recommended by IDP team.
new server : after move to Metalib 4 (which needed external HDD), capacity of old server >80%
OS : Shib 1.3 required later than we were using (RedHat 3) – move to RH4 which is SHib 2 compliant
ExLibris : Supposed to be over a bank holiday weekend but not possible due to problems at both ends. In practice, very little downtime as we installed/tested parallel with live system and then re-copied the latest data across.

4. Shibboleth / eLibrary integration
Integrate with PDS
Switch from LDAP to Shibboleth authentication was painless
Athens replaced with OpenAthens
WHOIS service also used for VLE login
Seamless sign-on from Portal still under investigation (!)
No local usernames
Just In Time !
Integration with PDS :
Switch painless – headaches caused by the customisation/extra features we’d added.
Original system would set Athens cookie on login (transparent to user) for any subsequent resources. Decided to subscribe to Open Athens Gateway for 12 mo. As not all resources would be Shib-compliant on 1/Aug. New system starts OA session in a similar way.
(Not strictly eLibrary) WHOIS authenticated users against LDAP and set Athens cookie for ‘other’ services – WebCT and embedded links. Changed to authenticate against Shib so no changes needed to be made on web pages etc.
SSO : My.Bham portal had link to eLibrary which logged straight in. Currently have interim page explaining users need to enter uname/password again.
Local usernames : used for quicksets. Need to switch back to old auth mechanism, log in local, switch back. 10 secs downtime but still Me only and Out of hours.
Just In Time : Final piece of jigsaw in place 29th July. Athens switch off 1 Aug, My Holiday 2 Aug.

5. Still to do … Portal SSO WAYFLESS access to eJournals
OpenAthens beyond 12 months ?
Not just eLibrary !
Integration with a (Shibbolized ?) Proxy
Other Shibbolized services
Portal SSO : A feature lost in the move to Shib. Still working on it …
WAYFless access to eJournals : Possibly by integrating with a Proxy rather than Shibboleth ?
Other Services : First of which now available: UoB-only Institutional Repository – a ‘Closed’ Open Archive