Summary remote access

[Becker, Deirdre]

     My inquiry regarding remote access to the Web (or which institutions 
are providing SLIP or PPP connections for home use) yielded this 
information:
1.   Out of 12 respondents, all but one institution are charging some kind 
of fee, and this institution is considering revising its policy.
2.   Fee structures varied greatly.
     Some charge an initial registration fee (anything from $10.00 to 
$75.00), many charge a per month or per semester fee with an allotted number 
of hours' free access with a charge when this is exceeded (ranging from 
$10.00 to $15.00 for per month subscription, or $35.00 to $20.00 per 
semester, and per hour charges of $.12 to $.95).
     Some give the service free to employees but charge students, others 
charge employees more than the students.
     One institution has put together a package of software costing $35.00 
which users can set up on their own computers. Support for this kind of 
service is a problem.
3.   Some people reported that they had made a decision not to provide 
remote access to their users.
4.   Others have out-sourced this service to a commercial provider.
     For us still wrestling with this issue here are my thoughts on why we 
need to provide this kind of access:
     Here, like many other institutions, we provide database services to our 
users where access is controlled by IP address. Using a commercial vendor 
would present a problem. Also many of these databases are now coming with a 
Web browser interface which is very attractive to the user.
     Faculty who want to take advantage of Web technology to disseminate 
course work which may include images etc. certainly want students to be able 
to access this from home or anywhere else they may be.
     Another issue to consider is the emerging development of institutional 
intranets using Web technology with information essential to doing one's 
job. This will make remote access even more important.
     Many medical institutions such as ours have remote clinics and need to 
provide connections for these places. Students do rotations at these clinics 
and need full access to campus information and services.
 --Deirdre Becker/Head of Reference and Educational Services
  The University of Texas Medical Branch Library
   dbecker at mspo2.med.utmb.edu     409/772-1992     FAX 409/762-5824