Off-site access to IP restricted resources

[Stacy Pober]

We would like to set up off-site access for our faculty and students to 
some of our databases that currently restrict access based on IP 
addresses.  

I know what I'd like to do.  I'm not sure how to actually set it up.

What I want is for off-campus users to have a separate link on our pages
for off-site access to a particular database.  This link gets them a page
where they enter their library barcode.  The barcode number is checked
by a program, and if it's valid, they are sent (presumably via a pass-through
proxy server setup) to the database. 

I've looked at  the Pass-Through Proxying article on the Scholarly 
Technologies Group site:

http://www.stg.brown.edu/pub/proxydoc/Proxy.tr98.1.shtml

but it discusses using Kerberos for authentication, and that seems like 
it's designed for full network access and may simply be overkill in 
our situation.  I think a much less complicated program can probably
handle the login-via-barcode part of the system, since network 
security is not an issue.  

And I don't know if we have the technical expertise available to us
to implement that setup locally in any case.

The other choice would be a normal proxy server with a login module
to allow for user authentication.  But there can be some bumps along
that road, as well.  In the article cited above, the  author notes:

>It turns out that some proxy servers can be outfitted with specially secured
>authentication packages, but in fact doing this requires special client software                 
>and/or plug-ins to work. This is a problem, because it creates a need for a lot of                 
>additional client-side support. And it ultimately reduces the accessibility of the                 
>proxy. 

I really don't want to re-invent the wheel.  And frankly, since I'm the one
who would be setting up and maintaining the system, and I'm not a 
programmer by trade, I'm looking for something relatively simple and
if not outright easy, at least not horrendously hard to learn.

If you have a solution that you're happy with and willing to share, please
send it along.

Advance thanks,
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Stacy Pober                   mailto: spober at manhattan.edu
Information Alchemist         http://www.manhattan.edu/library/
Manhattan College Libraries   Voice: 718-862-7166
Riverdale, NY 10471           Fax:   718-862-7995
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