[Eril-l] PsycInfo having issues for anyone else?

Wed Jan 31 13:00:57 PST 2018

We subscribe to PsycINFO on EBSCOHost, and we've never been blocked by EBSCOHost, that I'm aware of. EBSCOhost platform works great and is extremely reliable.

(admittedly, vendor IP blocks are very rare for us, twice in 10 years that I know of. The more recent incident was EndNote article downloads triggering American Chemical Society to block the IP address of the offending computer. Legitimate usage by a professor, and quickly resolved with ACS.)

Diane Westerfield, Electronic Resources & Serials Librarian
Tutt Library, Colorado College
diane.westerfield at coloradocollege.edu<mailto:diane.westerfield at coloradocollege.edu>
(719) 389-6661

From: Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org] On Behalf Of Ramune Kubilius
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2018 1:11 PM
To: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] PsycInfo having issues for anyone else?

Hello,

A few comments RE: deterrent to subscribing to such a product to begin with.

APA is responsible for the content, right? The presumption is that APA (American Psychological Association) also has an interest in the use of and satisfaction with their product on "third party" platforms...

Use of their products by classes is desirable (faculty may be current members, students are potential future customers and APA members, after all).

If the current third party platform doesn't work for you, for this database, at least, you have other options (including directly from the producer)...

Ramune Kubilius
Galter Health Sciences Library & Learning Center
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

From: Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org] On Behalf Of Heather Shipman
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2018 1:43 PM
To: Platkowski, Melissa <platkowm at uwgb.edu<mailto:platkowm at uwgb.edu>>; Deziel, Bryan G. <bdeziel at anl.gov<mailto:bdeziel at anl.gov>>
Cc: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] PsycInfo having issues for anyone else?

Further complicating and frustrating our efforts to straighten this out, we had NO INFORMATION that this block was happening due to "suspicious activity"...

This is a really important point that Melissa makes. I'd generalize it out to all vendors, really - Cornell's unaffected by this particular event, but we've had access cut without notification, as well, by various vendors.

Access blocks for suspicious activity are not uncommon, no. But access blocks without notification are uncommon, infuriating, and entirely inappropriate. Notifying the library of suspicious activity and an access block is not the same as broadcasting security procedures to the "bad guys". We need to know when access is cut; we need to help fix the underlying problem.

I'm particularly appalled by the report that the support technician couldn't remove the block even after library confirmation of legitimate class use. Unpredictable, unremovable, deliberate access blocks of unknown duration, triggered by criteria that aren't disclosed to the library? I sure hope that's a mistake somewhere inside ProQuest, because that would be a really bad customer service model, and a significant deterrent to subscribing to such a product to begin with.

Heather Shipman
E-book Acquisitions and Management Specialist
110 Olin Library, Cornell University
Heather.shipman at cornell.edu<mailto:Heather.shipman at cornell.edu> ; 607-254-1499

From: Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org] On Behalf Of Platkowski, Melissa
Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2018 12:29 PM
To: Deziel, Bryan G.
Cc: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] PsycInfo having issues for anyone else?

While I understand that what you are saying happens, I don't feel like any of what you described is abnormal usage.

And this situation was especially frustrating because we have confirmed that it was a class in an instruction lab, all on our campus on our campus IP range.  There were 26 different IP addresses on the log file Proquest sent me.  They interpreted this as "someone bouncing around on different IP addresses and downloading a lot of stuff"... when it was 26 people in a class using a resource we pay for, to examine particular resources for a particular reason (a class assignment).  Now, which of those actually is the more likely scenario?  That we've been hacked, or ... using the stuff we're paying for?

Further complicating and frustrating our efforts to straighten this out, we had NO INFORMATION that this block was happening due to "suspicious activity".  Doesn't it seem like it would make sense for them to let us know this is going on, so we can investigate it?  If it wasn't legit usage, we'd get our IT involved to block the traffic.  And it's not like Proquest doesn't know who to contact on our campus.  I'm the technical contact, and we've got two other contacts in acquisitions who are in regular communication with Proquest.

I only found out what was happening when I called Proquest and they told me (which was the third attempt to reach support, by the way).  They don't want the "bad guys" to know the details of what the block threshold is, how long the block stays, and the support person had no power to clear it even after I confirmed it was a class using the resource.  Sure, that makes sense to protect information.  But when you can't inform a customer who is paying for your resource that's being used legitimately, and who would take steps to HELP if it was illegitimate, that's a problem.  When you KNOW that this is a problem for academic and K-12 customers, enough that your support people are frustrated by it, and your customers are angry on the phone, that's a problem.

And I wouldn't call being blocked for 3+ hours while a class is up against a deadline "resolved quickly."

________________________________
From: Deziel, Bryan G. <bdeziel at anl.gov<mailto:bdeziel at anl.gov>>
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 5:52:22 PM
To: Platkowski, Melissa; Lee Adams
Cc: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: RE: [Eril-l] PsycInfo having issues for anyone else?

This is not an uncommon issue here with multiple publishers. There are multiple reasons why this occurs. While it is rarely nefarious activity, sometimes it is users who are unaware of the license restrictions on our subscriptions. We have encountered this on occasion with users who are using programs like EndNote to download multiple full text files. Then again, sometimes it is the result of technical issues. We have encountered times where laptops (particularly when someone is moving around) bounce between our IP addresses which can cause a page to reload, simulating a second, third, and fourth download.

Whichever the case, we have a boilerplate email that we send to the publisher and we work with Cyber Security to attempt to identify the user (or at least department) and notify them of our license agreements. Usually access is restored fairly quickly.

Hopefully this issue is resolved for you soon.

Bryan

Bryan G. Deziel, MLIS
Discovery and Digital Resources Librarian
Argonne Research Library,
Argonne National Laboratory
bdeziel at anl.gov<mailto:bdeziel at anl.gov>
(630) 252-3876

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From: Eril-l [mailto:eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org] On Behalf Of Platkowski, Melissa
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 5:26 PM
To: Lee Adams <lee.adams at csueastbay.edu<mailto:lee.adams at csueastbay.edu>>
Cc: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org<mailto:eril-l at lists.eril-l.org>
Subject: Re: [Eril-l] PsycInfo having issues for anyone else?

After I got a few "no" responses, I got on the phone.

Apparently we have tripped some threshold for access that makes them think it's fraudulent activity.  They sent me the log files, and every single one of the IP's on it was an on-campus IP.  They were not able to tell me what the threshold was or how long it would take to clear.  I am not amused.

I've been here an hour later than I was supposed to be tonight, and I need to head home now.  But I will give more details on what I was told tomorrow.

Melissa Platkowski

Systems Librarian
David A. Cofrin Library
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
2420 Nicolet Dr.
Green Bay, WI  54311-7001
P: (920) 465-2764

platkowm at uwgb.edu<mailto:platkowm at uwgb.edu>

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