[Eril-l] Question about EBSCO and SSO authentication

[Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list]

Hi Laura,
Once you set up SSO, you don't want to mix and match with EZProxy (if this
is what you meant by proxy).  Part of the URL for linking to EBSCOhost
contains directions "&authtype=ip,sso" that will dictate how EBSCO looks to
authenticate.  There are a bunch of different choices based on your
available options and the order is how it works through them.  You can only
have 2.   We use ip,sso, it will look at the user's IP first and if in
range it will not prompt the user for authentication to search and will NOT
link them to their EBSCO account.  If out of range (off-campus) then it
will fail IP and will move to SSO and prompt for authentication.

If unauthenticated within the IP range, if the user wants to login to their
EBSCO account they click sign in and it will prompt for the SSO login.

If you were to use EZproxy, if you add the proxy prefix to the URL and go
through EZproxy, your users will get an error message when trying to login
to their EBSCO account, because it's essentially double authenticating and
our (DUO) SSO throws errors.

~~~~~ Kara S. Hart
Systems Librarian - Library & Technology Services
-
Wellesley College


On Tue, Jul 16, 2024 at 8:49 AM Electronic Resources in Libraries
discussion list via Eril-l <eril-l at lists.eril-l.org> wrote:

> Hello
>
>
>
> We are in the process of setting up SSO authentication for our EBSCO
> databases.  If you have done this, I have a couple of questions.
>
>
>
> Current Situation (without SSO):  A patron accesses a database via IP or
> proxy authentication.  Once in EBSCO, patrons can view articles and book
> chapters without further having to authenticate.  However, if they want to
> save a search, create an alert or download a whole eBook, they have to
> create an EBSCO account and sign in.
>
>
>
> Our hope was that with SSO, the only change in this scenario would be the
> patron logs in with their campus credentials.
>
>
>
> We are being told that if a patron accesses via IP or proxy, they will not
> be able to use their campus credentials for their EBSCO account.  From what
> I understand, the SSO authentication would have to happen at the point they
> enter an EBSCO and at that point they are already logged into their EBSCO
> account.  Is this your experience on your campus?  This seems to create an
> extra layer of friction in that the majority of our users do not utilize a
> personal account on EBSCO.  Most are just viewing articles or book chapters.
>
>
>
> I would appreciate hearing how SSO access works on your campus.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
>
>
> Laura Vogler
>
> Associate Library Director
>
>
>
> Wabash College Lilly Library <https://library.wabash.edu/> | 301 W Wabash
> Ave | Crawfordsville IN 47933 | P: 765.361.6215
>
>
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