Further HAN functions
HAN as management software for online-based resources such as e-journals and online databases
User Authentication, User Identification
The task
- Given the high value of e-resources and the contractual obligations they entail, it must be ensured that only authorised users can access the e-resources they have subscribed to.
- If certain e-resources are only of interest to individual institutes, departments, divisions or groups of people (or have been paid for by you), it should be ensured that only the financing or really interested user group has access to the subscribed e-resources.
The solution provided by HAN
Automatic user authentication/Single Sign On: HAN supports user authentication and allows an administrator to restrict or allow access to e-resources based on user rights. Logon databases can be used as login databases: Microsoft NT Domain, Microsoft Active Directory Service, Novell NDS, LDAP for Microsoft and iPlanet, SISIS, PICA (LBS and CBS) and ODBC. A special feature in HAN is the logon using the client IP address, since in this case the user no longer needs to log on explicitly (single sign-on). This security concept ensures that only users of the subscribing organization have access to the e-resources.
Passwortmanagement
The task
- e-resources and online accesses are generally protected against unauthorized use by passwords. It must be ensured that passwords cannot be used by unauthorized persons (e.g. passing them on to third parties), nor can they be used after the end of the enrollment period or when the employee leaves the company.
- Furthermore, the effort for password maintenance should remain as low as possible despite frequently changing user groups across all e-resources.
The solution provided by HAN
Password management/automatic background login: All passwords are stored once in HAN's internal database and need not be distributed to users at any time. After successful authorization by HAN, the users are logged on to the provider fully automatically and invisibly for the user with the correct access data. Thus, both the access data and the respective login pages remain hidden from the users. If the user has the necessary access rights, access is completely transparent.
Access rights management/user differentiation
The task
- If, e.g. for cost reasons, it is not possible to purchase a campus/company-wide license for certain e-resources, access should only be granted to the relevant persons or stations.
- If certain e-resources or online accesses are only of interest to individual institutes, departments, divisions or groups of people (or have been paid for by you), it should be ensured that only the financing or really interested user group has access to the subscribed e-resources.
The solution provided by HAN
Integrated access rights management: With HAN, you can restrict e-resources to the exact group of users who are actually interested in the subscribed e-resource or who may have provided funding for its purchase. Access rights can be assigned at the level of individual IP addresses, IP address ranges, DNS names, users/groups and stations/groups. For e-resources, differentiation can be made at the level of individual titles or collections of titles and any aggregations of titles and publishers. With HAN you can therefore avoid the purchase of expensive campus or company licenses in most cases.
Location-independent access
The task
- In many cases, access to subscribed e-resources from outside the campus/corporate network is not possible (e.g., working from home, staying abroad), even though the user has the necessary access rights as an employee within the campus/corporate network. It should be ensured that all authorized users can access the subscribed e-resources, regardless of where they are located.
- As a rule, no specifications can be made for the operating system or hardware/software equipment of computers used outside the campus/company network. Therefore, it should be ensured that no special software installation or parameter settings are required to access subscribed e-resources from outside the campus/corporate network.
The solution provided by HAN
Transparent, location-independent access: Due to the technical structure of HAN, all access to e-resources is routed via the HAN server. This makes it possible to identify all users in advance and, after successful identification, to route them to the desired e-resources. Access to the HAN server requires neither special software installations on the local computers nor browser settings. Access to e-resources via HAN can therefore be made from any browser or any computer and operating system. RAS/VPN access for home and remote workstations is not required.
License Management
The task
- Due to the budget autonomy of individual departments or divisions, a limited number of concurrent use licenses or even station/person/department licenses should be purchased instead of campus- or company-wide licenses. Compliance with the license agreements must be technically ensured.
- For cost reasons, no campus- or company-wide licenses can be purchased, but licenses should only be purchased for the actual users.
- License usage during the subscription period must be logged and evaluated, either for later detailed invoicing to the actual users or for adapting the number of licenses to real licensing needs.
The solution provided by HAN
Integrated license management and license control: With HAN, you can define for each e-resource not only which users are allowed to access it, but also how many simultaneous accesses to the respective e-resource are permitted. The actual number of concurrent licenses per e-resource can be evaluated, allowing you to adjust the number of concurrent access licenses to meet actual needs. In addition, the statistical usage evaluation can be used to perform a wide variety of numerical and graphical evaluations that can serve as a basis for future license agreements or detailed invoicing.
Usage statistics
The task
- In general, subscriptions to e-resources require large financial resources. A detailed usage evaluation per title or per collection or publisher across all user groups is therefore necessary to measure changes in usage behaviour or the quality of the offer.
- Based on the total usage of individual titles, title collections or complete publishing house offers, detailed usage evaluations must be carried out. This is necessary in order to be able to make a decision on subscription renewals or cancellations on the basis of sound data material or to be able to provide evidence to the funding agency.
- In the event that the financing of e-resources is partly or entirely provided by the subsequent users, reliable and detailed usage data per user or user group must be logged and retrievable.
The solution provided by HAN
Cross-publishing, central usage statistics (COUNTER): For each e-resource extensive statistical data is collected and can be evaluated, e.g: Times of use and duration of use, user name and station, number of bytes transferred (data volume), number of documents loaded, type of documents loaded, statistical data about "searches". The data is presented in a uniform format, according to COUNTER specifications. Since HAN manages all access to all e-resources centrally, even user-specific, cross-publisher statistics are possible, which can be used as a basis for billing, for example, and provide a reliable database for the question of renewing/cancelling subscriptions.
Integrated A to Z list
The task
- The access to desired titles should be as simple and intuitive as possible for the user. Therefore, a preselection should be displayed from the sum of all subscribed e-resources by the first letter of the desired title.
- As an additional service, a search within the full title should also be possible.
The solution provided by HAN
A - Z list, integration in library portals/OPAC: To increase the acceptance and service quality of e-resources, HAN offers users an intuitive, web-based search mask that lists all e-resources managed by HAN alphabetically. The layout of this page can be completely designed in the respective organizational CI. Search masks for single letters and duplicates, as well as search masks for title names ("exact", "begins with", "contains") provide a quick overview, even with thousands of subscribed e-resources. The e-resources managed via HAN can also be integrated into any library portal, intranet site or OPAC, while retaining all the advantages offered by HAN.
Subscription management
The task
- Expired subscriptions are generally blocked by the publisher and thus lead to incomprehensible error messages when users try to access the e-resource they are used to. It should be ensured that the error messages no longer appear, but are replaced by information pages created by the respective library itself.
- Additionally, the subscription periods of all e-resources should be displayed in a clear form for the administrator.
The solution provided by HAN
Management of e-resources and their subscription periods: Properties can be stored and managed for each e-resource, e.g: Subscription period, ISSN, ZDB number, ECB identifier, publisher, description, login data at the provider and much more. Once the subscription period has expired, HAN automatically blocks the e-resource in question and presents the accessing user with an individual HTML page. This page can be designed completely in the layout of the respective library or information provider and can be provided with any content. With regard to the above-mentioned properties, HAN additionally and fully automatically creates a list of all e-resources managed by HAN and offers a number of sorting and filtering criteria. These can be used to clearly arrange large quantities of e-resources or to focus on individual details of interest.