1. Library Services on the Expedia Model Access 2004: October 15, 2004 BC Electronic Library Network John Durno

2. BCcampus is: an online educational service connecting learners and educators to programs and resources across all BC institutions

3. Press Release “BCcampus, a collaboration of BC’s colleges, university colleges, universities and institutes, will build on existing programs and services, reducing costly duplication within the system and improving efficiency for students. It will provide a single access point for learners who want to take post- secondary courses and programs by distance. Students will also be able to receive online career counseling and educational advising services.” Hon. Shirley Bond, Minister of Advanced Education October 30, 2002

4. In other words … Centralized infrastructure supporting distributed service provision (AKA: a portal)

5. Services include: Course and Program Information Advising Admission Registration Financial Aid Course Delivery Library

6. A couple of terms Home institution Course provider

7. The interesting part Students require access to library resources from all of their institutional course providers

8. Goal Construct a gateway to library services for students affiliated with multiple institutions

9. Student Registration Systems BCcampus Portal Federated User Data

10. Components, Phase I Research database gateway Linkserver/ILL requesting system Basic reference requesting … plus an admin module

11. Requirements Integrate with existing infrastructure where possible Minimize duplication Single sign-on

12. Constraints Course providers responsible for supporting courses offered Limited implementation window

13. Technologies uPortal SQL Server PHP5 EZproxy

14. Project Administration BCcampus Project Office CPSLD subcommittee BC ELN

15. Portal knows: Institutions student is affiliated with Courses student is enrolled in Resources available at each institution

16. Research Database Gateway Makes available all the databases licensed by student’s home institution and course providers By Alpha List, Topic, and Course

17. Library Tables Database descriptions Topics Library descriptions Join tables: Libraries/Databases Databases/Topics Courses/Topics

18. Authentication Extensive use of EZproxy Pass-through to institutional proxies where possible Uses BCcampus-hosted proxies where institutional proxies not available

19. Distributed & Centralized Proxies Portal Centralized Distributed

20. URL + Token Token OK BCc Portal EZproxy Portal - Proxy Dialogue To DB User

21. Proxy issues (BCcampus-hosted) IP range outside host institution ranges Load levels

22. Proxy Issues (Institution-hosted) Versions –Early versions don’t talk SSL –Early versions handle parameters differently Levels of Support –“server two hour drive away” CGI method –Requires programming

23. Linkserver/ILL GODOT/CUFTS almost universal standard among BC post-secondaries Open source advantage: easy to modify

24. Required Modifications Linkserver: Link to full text from all available resources ILL: Requests sent to user’s home institution

25. GODOT/CUFTS needs to know: How to identify BCcampus users User’s home institution and course providers Cannot use IP authentication

26. Authentication Method Cookies obvious solution, except for barriers to cross-site scripting: –Cookies only available to originating server –SSL blocks “web bug” approach –Can’t reliably be set by 30x redirect Solution (for now): Meta-refresh

27. Research Database (via proxy) GODOT/ CUFTS BCc Portal URL+ Cookie Meta- Refresh OpenURLCookie User Info To Full Text Or ILL request form Interaction Sets Cookie Reads Cookie

28. Reference Module Simple form based request User specifies course from drop-down list Request sent to appropriate institution via email

29. Future development Metasearch Serials title lists Virtual Reference

30. More Information http://www.bccampus.ca