CDLINFO Newsletter, September 7, 2006, Vol. 9, No. 15
CONTENTS
- Web Accelerators Can Cause Real Problems Accessing Licensed Resources
- For More Information
- News and Publications
- Contacts for Questions or Problems
- About CDLINFO
1. Web Accelerators Can Cause Real Problems Accessing Licensed Resources
The use of web accelerators can be a great convenience. As accelerator use is becoming more and more prevalent it is necessary for campus library staff to be aware of the potential problems caused by their use and to communicate this information to their faculty and students.
Web accelerators are applications that use various techniques to make web pages load faster or to download links, images, or files more quickly. Google Web Accelerator and the Firefox plugin “DownThemAll” are some commonly used products.
The two main problems caused by the use of web accelerators:
- Users cannot access licensed content from a valid UC IP address.
- Triggering of vendor “excessive downloading” thresholds which can result in the user’s IP address being blocked by the vendor.
This second situation can be especially problematic if the user is accessing the vendor’s content via a campus proxy server or VPN. In cases like this, the actions of one person can shut down access to a vendor’s resources for all users of a campus proxy server or VPN until the problem is resolved and the vendor removes the IP block!
Examples from the CDL Helpline files:
1. Google Web Accelerator & JSTOR
A user accessing licensed content from on-campus was blocked from viewing JSTOR’s online content because JSTOR did not recognize the user’s IP address as a valid UC campus IP address. JSTOR displayed the following message, “We’re sorry. You do not have access to JSTOR from your current location.”
The user was blocked because Google Web Accelerator sends the user’s page requests through Google machines dedicated to handling Google Web Accelerator traffic, thus, the request comes from a Google IP address, not the UC user’s IP address. JSTOR Technical Services advised the user to add JSTOR’s domain (“.jstor.org”) to the “Don’t Accelerate These Sites” text area in Google’s Web Accelerator Preferences section; see http://webaccelerator.google.com/support.html#preferences2 for more information.
2. Access to Ejournal Site Blocked by the Vendor
With web accelerators it becomes very easy to trigger “breach of contract” issues. Recently, CDL was notified by a vendor that a user’s IP had been blocked because of “excessive downloading”, in this case, the downloading of an entire issue of a specific online journal. IP blocks can be triggered when an excessive number of files are downloaded from a single IP address within the vendor’s pre-determined period of time (whether or not the files appear in the same online journal issue).
What you should know and do:
- Most of UC’s access to licensed electronic resources is controlled by IP addresses.
- If a patron is using the campus proxy server or VPN service and initiates a breech, this can result in a lockout to that vendor’s site for all proxy or VPN users.
- Please communicate this information to the students and faculty at your campus, and troubleshoot user problems if they arise.
2. For More Information
a. News and Publications
News and events, press releases, reports and guidelines, and articles published by CDL staff are posted on the CDL web site. Please share news of this resource with your colleagues!
In addition, status information about CDL resources, reports, and working documents of particular interest to library staff are available on the Inside CDL web site.
b. Contacts for Questions or Problems
If you have problems accessing CDL resources or have questions, including questions about the status of electronic journal collections and Internet resources, contact the CDL:
- For immediate assistance, call the CDL Helpline at 510-987-0555. Callers with TDD equipment, please call 1-800-735-2929 in California for the telephone relay operator.
- Or, send an email to cdl@www.cdlib.org.
For information about whether your UC campus has access to a particular electronic journal or Internet resource, contact your local collection development officer.
c. About CDLINFO
CDLINFO informs UC librarians and the UC community about the progress of the CDL, policy issues under discussion, and newly available electronic resources. Please share selected information from this newsletter with faculty, staff, and students on the campuses.
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Frequency of publication: Biweekly, or as new information warrants. CDLINFO is also published on the Inside CDL news and events page.
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