Ezproxy for Electronic Resource Librarians: Conference Report

Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship ISSN: 1941-126X (Print) 1941-1278 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wacq20 Ezproxy for Electronic Resource Librarians: Conference Report Lauren Ajamie, Glenn Bunton, Shannon Fox & Monica Moore To cite this article: Lauren Ajamie, Glenn Bunton, Shannon Fox & Monica Moore (2014) Ezproxy for Electronic Resource Librarians: Conference Report, Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, 26:3, 203-205, DOI: 10.1080/1941126X.2014.939038 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1941126X.2014.939038 Published online: 16 Sep 2014. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 203 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=wacq20 Download by: [Austin College], [Ms Shannon Fox] Date: 17 December 2015, At: 15:05 Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, 26: 203–224, 2014 Published with license by Taylor & Francis ISSN: 1941-126X print / 1941-1278 online DOI: 10.1080/1941126X.2014.939038 E-RESOURCE ROUND UP Downloaded by [Austin College], [Ms Shannon Fox] at 15:05 17 December 2015 Robert E. Wolverton, Jr. and Karen Davidson FROM THE COLUMN EDITORS Welcome to another edition of E-Resource Round Up! This issue’s column includes reports from numerous conferences held in early 2014, including Electronic Resources & Libraries (ER&L), the Art Libraries Society of North America, and Computers in Libraries. In addition, there is a perspective piece on the relationships among the Internet, web-based technologies, and the role of the academic library and one article on the pros and cons of obtaining online advanced degrees in library science. EZPROXY FOR ELECTRONIC RESOURCE LIBRARIANS: CONFERENCE REPORT By Lauren Ajamie, University of Notre Dame; Glenn Bunton, University of South Carolina; Shannon Fox, Austin College; and Monica Moore, University of Notre Dame At the 2014 Electronic Resources & Libraries conference held in Austin, Texas, four colleagues from three institutions shared a panel presentation entitled “EZproxy for Electronic Resource Librarians.” Monica Moore and Lauren Ajamie from the University of Notre Dame, Shannon Fox from Austin College, and Glenn Bunton from the University of South Carolina covered a variety of topics related to the administration and management of the EZproxy software used widely by libraries of all shapes and sizes to allow remote access to licensed online resources. Ms. Ajamie and Ms. Moore began the session describing several EZproxy problem areas and the solutions they implemented. Their first solution was in response to EZproxy’s limited error message capabilities. A common error involves a “host” resource not being included in the EZproxy configuration file, and in that case EZproxy returns a fairly cryptic and uninformative error message to the user. Notre Dame applied JavaScript code to the As always, thanks to the contributors for this issue, and please keep the submissions coming! If you would like to send a submission, please contact either of the column’s coeditors: Robert E. Wolverton, Jr., Professor/Coordinator of Cataloging, and Karen Davidson, Associate Professor/Serials Coordinator, Mississippi State University Libraries, P.O. Box 5408, Mississippi State, MS 39762. E-mails: [email protected] and [email protected] 203 Downloaded by [Austin College], [Ms Shannon Fox] at 15:05 17 December 2015 204 E-RESOURCE ROUND UP EZproxy “needhosts.htm” file, so the user now sees a locally created error page that is not only far less intimidating but adds the ability for the user to report the problem online. A second error-related issue involved how to know about problems users encounter if they do not report anything. Notre Dame’s solution involved developing a script to query the EZproxy log and message files. Their script searches for specific errors, EZproxy system limits, or both, and e-mails an administrator with the information if it finds them. They are continuing to develop the script to automate it at specific times for certain error codes and are exploring other means of notification to specific groups or individuals in the library. Another common, but somewhat inefficient, EZproxy administrative task involves managing the virtual hosts used by the program. Over time and use, the number of virtual hosts builds up and can reach EZproxy’s limits, leading to an end-user failure. Notre Dame took the need for a better way of managing this as an opportunity to explore use of the Ruby programming language; they developed a script using the Ruby “gem” called Mechanize to automate the clearing of unused virtual hosts, leading to improved system efficiency. Mr. Bunton followed with a brief overview of authentication approaches available for those using EZproxy. Over 20 different authentication methods are available, although several options are specific to local systems such as library integrated library systems. Focusing on the four most commonly used methods—text file (script), LDAP, Windows Domain, and Shibboleth—Glenn highlighted how use of text files and custom scripts offer the greatest local administrative control and require the most local administrative effort, while LDAP, Active Directory, and Shibboleth generally require collaboration between the library and the institution’s broader technology department. EZproxy can also use multiple authentication methods if needed. In addition to covering general authentication methods, Glenn discussed two other ways that EZproxy allows control of access. The EZproxy deny.htm file can be used when there is a need to deny access to specific users who might otherwise be legitimate. Situations such as a hacked identity or usage abuse fall into this category. EZproxy also offers the ability to control “pass through” access based on IP addresses. The use of the ExcludeIP directive defines what IP address ranges will be allowed to pass through EZproxy without a request for authentication. These are generally the IP address ranges provided to your resource vendors. The IncludeIP directive offers the ability to require authentication within a larger range already being passed through. Ms. Fox continued with a discussion of using EZProxy log files for assessment purposes. She explained that Abell Library Center at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, uses two free tools to analyze EZproxy web traffic: Analog and Google Analytics. The data gathered from these reports support assessment of subscribed electronic collections for the purpose of collection development. Analog is a standalone desktop software that analyzes EZproxy’s log files; it can be freely downloaded from the Analog website. Some of the information Analog parses from the log files includes top landing pages that remote users navigate to through the EZproxy login page. Ms. Fox provided some examples of top resources indicated in the Analog report for Austin College: JSTOR, EBSCO, eHRAF World Cultures, the Oxford English Dictionary, News Bank, ProQuest, and LexisNexis. Other information of interest gathered from the logs includes the daily average for most and least busy hours for remote logins. As an example, Ms. Fox shared that at Austin College the most active time period for remote access is 2:00–3:00 p.m., while the least active is 5:00–6:00 a.m. Furthermore, the Analog reports show on average the busiest day of the week for remote access of online resources is Monday. Downloaded by [Austin College], [Ms Shannon Fox] at 15:05 17 December 2015 E-RESOURCE ROUND UP 205 Austin College also uses Google Analytics to examine web traffic through the EZproxy login page for remote access, much like Analog examines EZproxy log files. Ms. Fox described how, in order to use this service, one must create a Google account and then apply for a Google API key. Once a key is generated, Google provides the API key code to paste in the top html header section of the EZproxy login page. Thereafter, it takes a few days for an Analytics site to populate with data. The free version of Google Analytics provides a variety of information, including the most popular sites to which end users are navigating. According to Google Analytics, top resources being remotely accessed at Austin College include the following: JSTOR, EBSCOhost, eHRAF WorldCultures, ACS, BioOne, Oxford English Dictionary, SciFinder CAS, Gale, News Bank, LexisNexis, and Credo Reference. Google Analytics provides other useful data that may be of interest to library administrators including devices used to access content, such as smartphones and tablets; screen size resolution; and which browsers and ISPs are popular. For example, at Austin College, the top browser being used is Internet Explorer, followed by Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. The top smartphone is the iPhone, followed by Android and Blackberry. Google Analytics provides other types of information such as traffic by geography region, cities, and countries. Ms. Fox mentioned there are other free tools as well as proprietary ones that can be used to harvest a wealth of information from EZproxy logs, demonstrating that EZproxy is not just a useful software application for authentication, but it can also be used for statistical analysis purposes in support of collection development decisions as well as website design. At the end of the session, a substantial and active audience asked a variety of questions to each of the presenters. Significant interest in the possibility of offering an EZproxy workshop at the next ER&L conference was expressed. Lauren Ajamie is Electronic Resources Librarian at the Hesburgh Libraries at the University of Notre Dame. She can be contacted by phone at 574-631-4329 and e-mail at [email protected] Glenn Bunton is Director of Library Technology Services at the Thomas Cooper Library at the University of South Carolina. He can be contacted by phone at 803-777-2903 and e-mail at [email protected] Shannon Fox is Coordinator of Electronic Services and Collections at Abell Library at Austin College. She can be contacted by phone at 903-813-2559 and e-mail at [email protected] Monica Moore is Electronic Resources Librarian at the Hesburgh Libraries at the University of Notre Dame. She can be contacted by phone at 574-631-2987 and e-mail at [email protected] ART LIBRARIES SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA (ARLIS/NA) ANNUAL CONFERENCE Reporter: Tina Chan, State University of New York at Oswego The 42nd annual conference of the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) was held at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Washington, D.C., on May 1–5, 2014. With the conference theme of Art + Politics, 791 registered attendees learned about the latest issues and trends in art and design librarianship. Session, workshop, and poster topics included open access, intellectual property, digitization, preservation, social media,