Remote User Authentication

EBSCOhost offers different ways to provide remote access to your customers, each of which allows you to control who has access to EBSCOhost. You may give remote users the login information or you can set up secure access from your library web page. Each library has a unique user id and password that, along with your customer account number, is how EBSCO will identify your library. EBSCO will tie the authentication method you choose and library search statistics to these numbers.

NOTE: To keep monthly usage figures of remote access separate from in-library use, you must set up an additional user id that is different from the one you received from EBSCO. Call your Library Service Area, Michele Leininger, or EBSCO tech support at 1-800-758-5995 for assistance.

User ID and password authentication

For your library users to access EBSCO from home, you must provide the EBSCO URL: http://search.ebscohost.com. and the remote user id and password that you have set up. The user id and password you have for in-library use will also work, but if you want to keep usage from in-library and remote separate, you must set up a remote user password. User ids and passwords are always lower case. It is easy to hand out this information on bookmarks or library newsletters. Do not publish the user ids and passwords in the local newspaper as that would not keep the information secure.

Patterned ID authentication (CPID)

If your library has a web page that you would like to provide remote access from, you may wish to choose this process to authenticate users. The method takes users to an EBSCO site where they type in their library card number. Most library cards have 14 digits and the first 5 are usually fixed. Provide EBSCO tech support with the fixed numbers or complete the information in the administration module. If the number entered does not match the id set up by the library administrator, access will be denied. The administrator decides which characters are significant for matching. A special URL is used to access EBSCOhost via this method and you would insert this url in the web page link. (See Set up a patterned id)

Referring URL authentication

Many libraries have other databases that customers can access on a secure page on their web site. That means when a user clicks on one of the databases it takes them to another URL. They would then be prompted for a user id. Once they have been authenticated, the customer can use any of the available databases or materials. This code could be a library card number or student identification number. This is different from library card authentication in that it goes to a URL at your site/server rather than directly to EBSCO. Some libraries may have a secure server called a proxy server. Provide EBSCO with a secure URL address. Setting up the proxy server url provides access to EBSCOhost from a secure website that does not allow access to the library's web server without a user id and password. If users have to log onto your homepage, or another address on your site, this eliminates the need for further authentication. (See Set up a referring URL). The EBSCOhost server validates whether the user is coming from an approved URL, and, if not, denies access.

If you have questions about any of these methods of remote authorization, contact Michele Leininger or EBSCOhost technical support, 800-758-5995.