I can cover some of thse:

*phpMyAdmin

This is an open source database manager for MySQL databases - it won't work for what you want.

*SAML *OpenID

From the page you link it looks like you know about these two; i.e. they

act as sign in gateways.

OpenID is more "indie", SAML is more "enterprise" - otherwise there are not major differences in what they can achieve.

The major bar to entry is getting the providers to add the ability to sign in using one of these methods.

I'd personally recommend selecting OpenID as it could then be used for a wider variety of logins around the web.

AFAIK resources like Athens (i.e. similar to what you appear to want) tend to use SAML.

*OpenVPN

VPN means setting up access to a pre-authorised network - which then means you can access the restricted resource. I don't think it fits your use case.

Tom

@ Ryan, If you say SAML is the best approach, then that's what we'll use.  OpenID can be a backup for those that are not SAML compatible for some reason.

@ Oren, we want to make it so that the vast majority of the work is done on our end if possible.  Ideally, participating resource donors wouldn't have to do anything to their websites at all.  That may not be realistic, but it's the direction I'd like to lean.   Jake Orlowitz Wikipedia editor: Ocaasi http://enwp.org/User:Ocaasi wikiocaasi@yahoo.com

________________________________ From: Ryan Lane rlane32@gmail.com To: Ocaasi Ocaasi wikiocaasi@yahoo.com; Wikimedia developers wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org Cc: Derk-Jan Hartman d.j.hartman+wmf_ml@gmail.com Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2012 2:04 PM Subject: Re: [Wikitech-l] Creating a centralized access point for propriety databases/resources

I'm trying to understand the differences between:

*phpMyAdmin *SAML *OpenID *OpenVPN

You should only consider SAML and OpenID. More exactly, you should really only consider SAML, since the resources you are trying to connect to only support SAML, and not OpenID. We can use OpenID for proxied access to resources that don't support SAML, but it's very likely nearly all of the resources we're trying to access support SAML.

Ideally we'd integrate central auth with something that supports multiple protocols. SimpleSAMLPHP supports SAML, OpenID, OAuth and a few other protocols. It also can handle the circles of trust that we'd need to create with the libraries/universities.

- Ryan

We currently have relationships with three separate resource databases.

*HighBeam, 1000 authorized accounts, 700 active (http://enwp.org/WP:HighBeam) *JSTOR, 100 accounts, all active (http://enwp.org/WP:JSTOR) *Credo, 400 accounts, all active (http://enwp.org/WP:CREDO)

No parties have agreed to participate in The Wikipedia Library *yet*, as it's still in the concept stage, but my initial projection is that 1000 editors would have access to it, and 100 additional users per year would be granted.  One of the challenges will be getting all the resource providers to agree on that number, but the hope is that once some do, it will create a cascade of adoption.

So we're not looking at *thousands* of users, but more likely several hundreds.  Still, given the impact of our most active editors, 1000 of them with access to the library would have significant impact.  After all, we can't cannibalize these databases' subscription business by opening the library to ''all'' editors.  It must be a carefully selected and limited group.

-----Original Message----- From: wikitech-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:wikitech-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Ocaasi Ocaasi Sent: Monday, July 23, 2012 6:22 PM To: wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: [Wikitech-l] Creating a centralized access point for propriety databases/resources

Hi Folks! The problem: Many proprietary research databases have donated free access to select Wikipedia editors (Credo Reference, HighBeam Research, JSTOR). Managing separate account distribution for each service doesn't scale well. The idea: Centralize access to these separate resources behind a single secure (firewalled) gateway, to which accounts would be given to a limited number of approved users. After logging in to this single gateway, users would be able to enter any of the multiple participating research databases without needing to log in to each one separately. The question: What are the basic technical specifications for setting up such a system. What are open source options, ideally? What language would be ideal? What is required to host such a system? Can you suggest a sketch of the basic steps necessary to implement such an idea? Any advice, from basics to details would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks so much! Ocaasi http://enwp.org/User:Ocaasi _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Hi Ocaasi

I agree that tighter work with the database providers is in order. 1000+ accounts for top contributors can make a significant impact on Wikipedia fact checking.

Based on my experience at university (where I taught a lab-class on reference database usage) that there are many more options on how to do this. Most users in universities do not require to log in at all. (they work in context of an IP range that is enabled for databases.) Research libraries also implement floating licenses for databases that have limited access options.

However to implement this it is often necessary to work with a large database aggregators (which solves the tech issues) and the rest is implemented by operations staff of a university.

Oren Bochman

-----Original Message----- From: wikitech-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:wikitech-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Sumana Harihareswara Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2012 4:16 PM To: Ocaasi Ocaasi; Wikimedia developers Subject: Re: [Wikitech-l] Creating a centralized access point for propriety databases/resources

Ocaasi, please centralize your notes, ideas, and plans regarding this here:

https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/AcademicAccess

I know Chad Horohoe, Ryan Lane, and Chris Steipp might have things to say about this; per https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Engineering/2012-13_Goals#Activitie s_12 their team aims to work on OAuth and OpenID within the next 11 months, and AcademicAccess is a possible beneficiary of that.

Thanks! -- Sumana Harihareswara Engineering Community Manager Wikimedia Foundation

On 07/25/2012 10:03 AM, Ocaasi Ocaasi wrote:

We currently have relationships with three separate resource databases.

*HighBeam, 1000 authorized accounts, 700 active (http://enwp.org/WP:HighBeam) *JSTOR, 100 accounts, all active (http://enwp.org/WP:JSTOR) *Credo, 400 accounts, all active (http://enwp.org/WP:CREDO)

No parties have agreed to participate in The Wikipedia Library *yet*, as

it's still in the concept stage, but my initial projection is that 1000 editors would have access to it, and 100 additional users per year would be granted. One of the challenges will be getting all the resource providers to agree on that number, but the hope is that once some do, it will create a cascade of adoption.

So we're not looking at *thousands* of users, but more likely several

hundreds. Still, given the impact of our most active editors, 1000 of them with access to the library would have significant impact. After all, we can't cannibalize these databases' subscription business by opening the library to ''all'' editors. It must be a carefully selected and limited group.

-----Original Message----- From: wikitech-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:wikitech-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Ocaasi Ocaasi Sent: Monday, July 23, 2012 6:22 PM To: wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: [Wikitech-l] Creating a centralized access point for propriety databases/resources

Hi Folks! The problem: Many proprietary research databases have donated free access to select Wikipedia editors (Credo Reference, HighBeam Research,

JSTOR).

Managing separate account distribution for each service doesn't scale

well.

The idea: Centralize access to these separate resources behind a single secure (firewalled) gateway, to which accounts would be given to a limited number of approved users. After logging in to this single gateway, users would be able to enter any of the multiple participating research databases without needing to log in to each one

separately.

The question: What are the basic technical specifications for setting up such a system. What are open source options, ideally? What language would be ideal? What is required to host such a system? Can you suggest a sketch of the basic steps necessary to implement such an idea? Any advice, from basics to details would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much! Ocaasi http://enwp.org/User:Ocaasi _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

_______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l