Until recently, use of virtually all of the commercial databases licensed by the Library for the Brown community has been restricted to workstations directly connected to the Brown network or to machines dialing in through the Brown telephone modem pool. This is due to the fact that the vendors of the databases have legally and technically controlled access through a process called "IP verification" or "domain restriction," which only recognizes and authorizes users on the Brown network. A workstation has had to have a 128.148 internet protocol (ip) number. Only devices on the network itself or that dialed in through the modem pool met this technical requirement. The result was that a variety of databases from WorldCat to Lexis/Nexis Academic UNIVerse to Web of Science were inaccessible to those who were using commercial internet service providers, such as AOL or Cox@Home, or who were based in the affiliated hospitals and other off-campus sites.

These technical restrictions are no longer in effect thanks to a joint project of Computing & Information Services (CIS), Scholarly Technology Group (STG), and the Library to implement a proxy server service. The proxy server enables a member of the Brown community to access library resources from off-campus using a web browser in basically the same way as a user dialing in, so all of the sources which are web accessible through the modem pool are now also available off-site. In addition, some human resources policies and course materials can also be accessed. This means that if you are based at Rhode Island Hospital, for example, you can now access the web version of Brown's Medline on any internet-connected workstation. Likewise, if you are a Cox@Home customer, you can have the same access these tools. For resources which can be accessed in a variety of ways, such as Medline, which is offered via the web (Webspirs) or by special software (Winspirs), only the web version will work with the proxy server. In other words, only databases accessible through a CIS-supported browser such as Netscape will work with the proxy server.

In order to use the proxy server, you will need to have a Brown NetID and a workstation capable of running Netscape 3.x or above. Other browsers such as Internet Explorer 4.01a may work, but are not supported. This server authenticates your NetID and password against Brown's electronic address book (EAB) database and then serves as a "proxy" between your workstation and the commercial database provider's site. Since the machine is part of the Brown network and has a 128.148 ip number as mentioned above, the database vendor allows the connection. The proxy server relies upon Kerberos, a software technology used encrypt data, for authentication, so your NetID and password are secure. Other than a supported web browser, no special software is required to use the proxy server.

The proxy server was developed by CIS, STG, and the Library in response to needs expressed by users for accessing license-restricted resources using internet service providers. The project team consisted of Mark Handler from CIS, who served as manager of the project; Richard Goerwitz from STG, who was responsible for technical design and programming; and Anne Nolan and Howard Pasternack from the Library, who identified user needs and provided feedback. The technical details of the server are documented at:

http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/University_Library/proxy/proxy-faq.html

While the proxy server is still undergoing development and fine tuning, it already provides a much-needed service to the Brown community. We encourage off-site users to take advantage of the capabilities that it offers. Questions concerning the server should be directed to Anne_Nolan@brown.edu.

Howard Pasternack