Access Management snippets
OpenAthens pricing from Aug 2008
For colleges that want to continue to use Athens as their authentication system after August 2008, here is a link to the new OpenAthens pricing by JISC band. There is further information in the flyer here.
RSC Wales Athens / Shibboleth survey results
I will take this opportunity to circulate the results of the Athens / Shibboleth survey conducted by Samantha Edwards (between January and March 2007). The free text comments have been anonymised as far as possible). It seems a number of people are planning to move to Shibboleth, though lots of people were happy with Athens – the only problem being the need to pay for it after August next year.
What is your college institution? / Response Count
Barry / 0
Bridgend / 1
Coleg Ceredigion / 0
Coleg Glan Hafren / 1
Coleg Gwent / 1
Coleg Harlech / 1
Coleg Llandrillo / 0
Coleg Llysfasi / 0
Coleg Meirion Dwyfor / 0
Coleg Menai / 0
Coleg Morgannwg / 2
Coleg Powys / 1
Coleg Sir Gar / 1
Deeside / 0
Gorseinon / 1
Merthyr Tydfil / 0
Neath PT / 1
Pembrokeshire / 1
St Davids / 0
Swansea College / 1
WEA South Wales / 0
Welsh College of Horticulture / 0
Yale / 0
Ystrad Mynach / 0
North East Wales Institute (NEWI) / 0
Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama / 0
Swansea Institute / 0
Trinity College / 1
University of Wales Lampeter / 0
[answered question 13 / skipped question 0]
What is the current usage of Athens at your institution? (Select any that apply) / Response Percent / Response Count
None / 0.0% / 0
Registered for service but not used / 15.4% / 2
Accounts issued on request / 69.2% / 9
Self-Registration / 15.4% / 2
Bulk Upload / 7.7% / 1
Athens DA / 7.7% / 1
[answered question 13 / skipped question 0]
Are there any issues that deter your usage of Athens?
No, it is now being very well used (85 students have registered this academic year) as a result of publicising the service more strongly. We have 42 journals that are accessible online via an Athens account. The students who use this service are mostly, but not exclusively, HE students who find that we have the journals they need. The FE students are mostly on Access to HE courses.Yes, for example, not long ago I tried to access EMERALD with Athens, but it did not work.
Yes, students have to self-register in this institution. Last year, we merely handed out Athens passwords – ready to use. Many students don’t have e-mail addresses, so we first have to set up an e-mail address for them. The whole procedure takes about 15 mins per student.
Lack of funding to purchase subscriptions, and a dearth of relevant free resources. There may also be an issue with the perception of Athens as a ‘place’ on the web, rather than a gateway to resources.
No
It can be time consuming to issue accounts on request for larger courses, however although we’ve considered moving to Athens DA we have not been able to justify the cost and time involved at present.
Keen to move to Shibboleth, so haven’t put work into Bulk Upload or alternative system.
The Learning Centres are keen to use Athens (or equivalent). Athens was previously administered by our ILT Manager who has now left the college -usage was very low. We now have a new ILT Manager and have started discussions re Shibboleth as a future solution.
Students don’t know about it or the resources available to them.
No
Has Shibboleth been trialled or implemented at your institution? / Response Percent / Response Count
Yes / 7.7% / 1
No / 84.6% / 11
Not Sure / 7.7% / 1
[answered question 13 / skipped question 0]
Have you any future plans within your institution to trial or implement Shibboleth technology?
I need to know more about the implications of using Shibboleth.No, I would prefer to carry on using Athens for the time being, at least until 2008, but would wish to keep up to date with developments.
We had some meeting about it, or some member of the staff, I think, reported about it when he returned from some seminar; I also have some papers on it, but never, actually tried it.
The Athens administrator at this college has not mentioned any such plans, if they are in place.
Yes. We are currently taking advice from the RSC on the timing of swtiching to Shibboleth.
In initial stages of discussion with Senior Management, and Technical Support.
Possibly, depending on documentation and support issues.
No, not yet.
We would like to implement Shibboleth at some point, but are unlikely to do so in the near future.
Yes – ILT / Computer services working towards this.
Only at early discussion stage at present.
Yes, we hope to implement it by July 2008.
We are looking to move towards Shibboleth, but it doesn’t look as though it is a priority yet.
Would you like more information or training on any of the following? (Select any that apply) / Response Percent / Response Count
Athens DA / 38.5% / 5
Athens Administration / 23.1% / 3
Bulk Upload / 23.1% / 3
Self-Registration / 15.4% / 2
Shibboleth & the UK Access Federation / 84.6% / 11
Other (please specify) / 38.5% / 5
I want to access different electronic articles with a single password, not complecated staged process!I have a meeting with Richard Dunning from Eduserv on Friday 16th to discuss
Dependent on the timing of the switch to Shibboleth, we may need further training on Athens, for our library assistant.
Examples, step by step configuration guides etc would be useful. Implementation workshops, or even an advertised list of consultants, experience, timescales and prices.
We need to be clear when AthensDA is coming to an end, the cost impact of continuing, the cost of implementing Shibboleth, and what Shibboleth will do for us. Once we have this information we can then put together a solid business case and take it forward.
[answered question 13 / skipped question 0]
