My original question:
As a number of my students were reviewing LMC Web sites last weekend, I
was surprised by the number of schools posting the passwords for remote
access to subscription databases on the library Web sites. I can't
imagine that this is anything but a breach of the contract with the
vendor, either directly or implied.
As I don't deal with vendors any longer, there might have been a change
in attitude on their part. Do vendors not mind if the LMS post
passwords openly on the Web sites?
Answers: 100% of the people who responded said no vendor wants the
passwords to their subscription databases published on a LMC Web site.
Some responses:
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Our vender, EBSO, specifically told us not to post our passwords in a
public place or share it with anyone other than our school employees
and students. No doubt about the rules with them.
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Absolutely not, Floyd.
I wonder the same thing. The list of our passwords, which is accessible
online but behind a password-protected barrier.
I'd be interested in hearing responses to your query
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You are correct. It allows access to users outside of the licensed
group.
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The ones I've dealt with don't want this happening. We only post
passwords on the school network/intranet sites, not on internet.
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Oh, yes. Our web site states to see the librarian or get an online
resources brochure to access the passwords. Once I posted lesson plans
for using the databases and accidentally included the passwords. I
heard from the vendor and our regional service center, which provided
the database for us.
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Funny you should mention this - I put our database passwords in a
supposedly secure place on our website a couple of months ago. The next
day I got a call from Gale asking why our passwords were publicly
available! Turned out our permissions were incorrect on that "secure"
folder. I was amazed that it only took one day for Gale to pick up on
the mistake. They absolutely did not want those passwords available to
anyone outside our school.
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Floyd, vendors definitely do not want their id/password combinations
out in the open. I think the problem comes from ignorance. Many of the
librarians or webmasters do not realize that anyone can get to those
pages, or that there are ways to block access.
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Floyd Pentlin
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Oh well....I'd just been thinking... if you had died, you'd have been
welcome to share my toilet. ~ Moaning Myrtle, "Harry Potter and the
Chamber of Secrets"
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ANSWER MACHINE/FAX: 660.747.0683 - E-MAIL: calaf@charter.net
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