Using commercial web sites in a library

[Cousineau, Laura]

Steve Cramer asks:
<< Is any public or academic library allowing their patrons access to 
<< commercial web sites, and if so, how does the library handle the password 
<< as well as the fees?

Perkins Library at Duke University subscribes to Britannica Online.  Our patrons 
may access this Web-based databse in our libraries, from dorm rooms, offices or 
their homes with a SLIP or PPP connection.  We have supplied Britannica with the 
IP numbers for our Computers at Duke.  Their server will allow access to any 
computer which it recognises as coming from Duke.

There is some technical tweeking involved.  We had to fix a problem where people 
came into a Duke Web site on lynx, and went from there to Britannica Online.  
But our superb library systems folks took care of that quickly.

We are going to test GaleNet soon, and they have a similar system for 
recognising IP addresses.

As for pricing, Britannica bases it on numbers of students enrolled on campus.  
GaleNet has not given us pricing info yet, but has asked us for the number of 
PCs on campus.

Hope this helps!

Laura Cousineau
Information Access Librarian
Perkins Library 
Duke University
lkc at mail.lib.duke.edu