Peer Review

Access to Online Resources | SpringerLink

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Reviewed:: Sep 28, 2021 by Library and Information Services

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

This free ebook provides librarians and other information workers involved in access to online resources with an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of current methods for authenticating or authorizing user access. This overview includes information on the basic workings of various types of HTTP/S authentications, IP recognition, and SAML; as well as a brief chapter on best-practices for troubleshooting access errors from the library’s end. Though the ebook is aimed at workers directly involved with the administration of online resource access, its clear, concise explanations of technologies and processes could benefit all public-facing library workers in interactions with users.

This book is published open access under a CC BY 4.0 licence.

Type of Material:

Open (Access) Textbook

Recommended Uses:

Groups or teams of individuals could use this textbook as a classroom experience or as a professional development tool. Library staff will also benefit greatly from this text. But so also will those whose pre-Internet education did not include such topics as HTTP, EntityID, and metadata.

Technical Requirements:

PDF reader (desktop or in browser)

Identify Major Learning Goals:

Learn how web-based authentication, IP address recognition, SAML, and OpenID work
Use knowledge of authentication/authorization processes to effectively troubleshoot access errors
Understand the functional strengths and weaknesses of different authentication/authorization methods

Target Student Population:

Professional librarians, preferably those very new to the field, or those who earlier education occurred before the Web was invented.

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

None; whatever is needed is supplied. This is a featured highlight of the text.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

Presents information in clear, concise language that is accessible to readers from a wide variety of professional/academic backgrounds, rather than relying on technological jargon
Introduces and briefly explains all of the mainstream variations of IAM that modern librarians will encounter
Explains concepts and processes in enough detail to inform, but not overwhelm readers who may be new to the field

Concerns:

Chapters are quite brief, often less than one page. The pictures that adorn the text can be both distracting and so simple as to be simplistic, which may not appeal to some library workers or others using this text.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

Presents fundamentals of IAM technologies, then gradually introduces improvements and advancements, building off of the fundamentals
Each chapter ends with "Key Points" or "Key Concepts" section that reinforces important information
Discusses different IAM processes and technologies in relation to one-another, providing readers with contextual pros and cons

Concerns:

The text is written in British English, so there may be some adaptations needed for American users.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

Chapter content is clearly defined in table of contents for ease of navigation
PDF and most in-text figures are OCR-optimized
The author sporadically infuses tasteful elements of humor into the text to engage readers in a subject area that could be considered dull

Concerns:

None

Other Issues and Comments:

This is a tremendously helpful resource for librarians and library workers who deal with - but aren't necessarily specialists on - matters of identity and access management.

This open access online text is designed for librarians and mainly for those only just beginning in the field, or for those whom the online age surpassed their pre-Internet education. But it also has some use beyond that limited purview. But caution is advised for users who understand the terrain well enough. A more advanced text will likely be required.

Creative Commons: