[Eril-l] Providing alumni access to databases: technical, legal, and political/financial hurdles

[Swindler, Luke]

In case readers might be interested in the experience of a library that does not provide alumni access even in instances when the license allows it to do without any additional charge, I want to share the information on the challenges that UNC faced and has not been able to resolve.


  *   o Does the university or library have a mechanism that would allow alumni to authenticate using its current sign-on system as opposed to current faculty, students, and staff?
  *   o Does the institution’s identity system keep track of alumni credentials in a way that would effectively allow them to access only a sub-set of alumni-specific products but not all the other library resources?
  *   o Because answers to the above typically are negative, libraries would need to provide alumni access via the local alumni association that results in other challenges.
     *   o Alumni association’s website/authentication systems often cannot provide adequate protection to satisfy publishers and aggregators that offer alumni access.
     *   o Contract legal language often limits access to only valid alumni:  that is, former students who have matriculated.  Additionally, as a rule publishers and vendors explicitly have indicated in some instances that alumni access cannot be extended to all members of the local alumni association.
     *   o Neither the library nor probably the parent institution’s legal office would violate these contractual terms explicitly.
     *   o Politically the library could/would not allow nor much less financially contribute to the cost of alumni access for e-resources that would be limited to only active members of the local alumni association.
     *   o Politically and practically the alumni association could/would not limit access to e-resources only to those who actually have graduated from the institution:  that is, alumni access to library resources would have to be part of the standard benefits of for all members joining the alumni association whether or not they ever attended the institution—much less graduated.  Otherwise, the association would create a two-tiered membership of “real” versus “fake” alumni.
     *   o As a matter of policy, the alumni association would not extend its benefits to non-members—especially since doing so would remove the incentives to become a paid member.



I would be interested in learning how other libraries have addressed these concerns.


Luke Swindler



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Luke Swindler                               Collections Management Officer
Davis Library    CB #3918                        luke_swindler at unc.edu<mailto:luke_swindler at unc.edu>
University of North Carolina                           TEL (919-962-1095)
Chapel Hill, NC  27514   USA                        FAX (919-962-4450)
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On Mar 31, 2016, at 10:54 AM, Erin Gallagher <EGALLAGHER at Rollins.edu<mailto:EGALLAGHER at Rollins.edu>> wrote:

Good morning, everyone.
We’ve had requests from some alumni of our MBA program for access to databases.  None of our “business-y” databases currently allow for alumni access, and we’ve already received pricing options.  For those of you whose libraries/institutions provide alumni access to databases:

•         Do you provide a separate page with links to these databases specifically for alumni?
•         How do you track and maintain access for a specific user group?  Is this handled by IT?
•         Do you pay for access with library funds?  Or from other groups on campus?

Thank you in advance.  I will be happy to share all responses with the group.
Erin

Erin Gallagher
Electronic Resources & Serials Librarian
Olin Library
Rollins College
1000 Holt Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32789
egallagher at rollins.edu<mailto:egallagher at rollins.edu>
(407) 975-6431





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