World News Connection - Anyone Accessing?

[Mack Lundy]

Acessing World News Connection (from NTIS in the Commerce Department)
currently requires a password for each login.  We have three loginids.  In
an e-mail message from their help desk I was told that they are working on
"networked access"  - whatever they mean by that.  IP filtering would make
me happy.  In the meantime, I've been pondering how to keep the passwords
secure yet not require the gov. doc. folks to individually log a patron in
each time.  At my level of CGI expertise, I can't do it although I intend to
keep puttering with the problem.

Are any of you faced with the same problem?  What have you done?


Here is what my puttering has consisted of so far:

This is from OCLCs FirstSearch login screen.

<FORM METHOD=POST
ACTION=/FUNC/LOGIN:next=html/fs_dbs.htm:sessionid=0:entityProductName=FirstS
earch>
<tr valign=bottom align=left><td><b>Authorization:</b><td><input SIZE=12
name="autho">&nbsp;&nbsp;
<td align=left><b>Password:</b><td align=left><input SIZE=12 type=password
name="password">&nbsp;&nbsp

I thought I might be able to adapt this to my WNC problem and go straight to
the login screen and send the loginid and password.  I changed
ACTION=/FUNC/LOGIN to ACTION=wnc.fedworld.gov/FUNC/LOGIN: and made some
other changes to hardcode the loginid and password.

My adaptation sort of works in that something happens, unfortunately, not
the desired result.  I get told that WNC's server doesn't recognize my
browser.  This isn't the problem since my browser works fine when I login
normally.  It looks like I need to send my browser type to the server.

I don't have any documentation that describes /FUNC/LOGIN or sessionid or
entityProductName; if anyone can enlighten me I would appreciate it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mack A. Lundy III			e-mail:  mack at mail.swem.wm.edu
Library Systems Manager			voice:   804.221.3114
Swem Library				fax:     804.221.2635
College of William and Mary
P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795