Transcript Project HeadLine Authentication - an overview of Hybrid Library requirements Jonathan Eaton

Project HeadLine
Authentication - an overview of
Hybrid Library requirements
Jonathan Eaton
eLib Concertation Day - Authentication
10th March 1999
Presentation Overview
 Why
access control is problematic for all
electronic information ‘stakeholders’
 Understanding different access needs
 Criteria for authentication initiatives
 Towards an authentication model
 Authentication requirements summary
Common Hybrid Library goals
 Hybrid
–
Library systems typically comprise
a user centred, Web-based “managed
environment”
 aim
to provide single access point to
diverse resources in range of media formats
 extend management controls; minimise
access discontinuities for users
Electronic Access Issues...
 do
we have barriers or controls?
 Internet promises seamless access
 fragmented & weak control mechanisms
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a
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“password proliferation” a curse
IP filtering excludes valid (remote) users!
“islands” of user attributes data
new “inter-organisational” era (Lynch)
supersedes older password model...
A Continuum of Access Needs

Different stakeholder perspectives
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user wants unrestricted access
librarian wants managed access
vendor wants validated access
 access
rights derive from community
membership(s)
 range of physical and virtual locations
 a “single (secure) sign-on” entry point
Authentication & Authorisation
 Authentication
defines who you are
 Authorisation determines what you can do
or what you can access, once authenticated
 Hybrid Library systems will demand
–
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interoperation AND separation between user
attributes and resource metadata databases
finer controls to model increasingly complex
relationships
Authentication issues…
 Single
sign-on goal further complicates
authentication issues
 User identities and access rights typically
fragmented on service-by-service basis
 access scenario complexities
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–
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personal AND generic identities
personal, customised use of services
multiple “identities” in single session
where is locus of control?
Some evaluation criteria
 national
authentication infrastructure (e.g.
ATHENS) should
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integrate academic & commercial sources
supply local & central management controls
offer bridge to future standards/protocols
flexibly incorporate user attributes &
resources metadata
use architecture that permits levels of
resource access granularity
Towards an authentication model
 access
control must be flexible; managed
 must reflect degrees of indirection in realworld contractual relationships, e.g.
–
–
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publisher <=> content aggregator
content aggregator <=> library
library <=> user
 resource
compendium and user attributes
database are key components
Authentication needs: conclusion
 Future
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access controls must
be appropriate, robust, flexible, scaleable,
simple: “user-proof”
enforce control but maximise access
enact (indirect) contractual relationships
reflect new inter-organisational world
avoid current fragmentation
embody needs of all ‘stakeholders’
Further Details
Further details are available on the
HEADLINE Website at:
www.headline.ac.uk
including outline Project Workplan and
project Working Papers as published
March 1999