Case Study: University College London uses Local Authentication

UCL adopted Local Authentication using AthensDA in September 2005 to provide single sign-on to all resources using the university username and password. UCL also introduced simultaneous authentication to Athens-authenticated resources, UCL's e-resource proxy server and to the newly launched MetaLib resource discovery service. This made the implementation more complex than introducing AthensDA on its own. However, simplifying access for end-users more than justified the effort involved. The helpful and timely technical support provided by Eduserv simplified the process for UCL's systems staff and gave them confidence that any future developments would not tax them unduly.

Responsibility for administration of classic Athens registration resides with UCL Library Services operating across multiple sites. By early 2005 the staff resource devoted to issuing user accounts and running the helpline for users was becoming unsustainable. Since mid-September 2005 UCL have not issued any new classic accounts or reset expiry dates/forgotten passwords.

Local authentication using AthensDA has proved to be a success for UCL Library Services, UCL staff and students. Access has been simplified and the number of queries to Library Services has reduced significantly.

Within three months of launch over 70% of logins and searches were via AthensDA. Access for students and UCL staff has been simplified and the number of queries reported to UCL Library Services has been reduced by a factor of ten. With over 6000 users to date Athens DA is a resounding success for UCL.

Janet Cropper,
Group Manager IT Services,
UCL Library Services