Institution selection

Owned by Bojhan Somers
Last updated: Nov 05, 2023
3 min read

Users need to be able to find their institution.

Users often struggle with the many different ways to get to select their institution. The great variance between systems/websites requires users to continuously re-adjust their understanding on how to find their institution, creating uncertainty.

The internet is changing, as browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer) become more privacy aware, and users become more savvy. Traditional methods such as IP recognition and Cookies, fail to get users quickly into the system - elevating the need for institution selection/discovery tools.

At Seamless Access we follow a few principles:

  • Users should be able to search for their institution.

  • Users should be able to recognize their institution (official name), and domain (URL).

  • All institutions should be disclosed in a single discovery tool (not separate entry points)

  • Users should be able to choose multiple institutions.

  • Users should be able to remove their remembered institution, without requiring browser settings changes.

Whereas Seamless Access provides this list through connected Federations, a library or software vendor can choose which institutions to include. Users should be able to assume that the list presented to them is curated by the website/system they are visiting.

Multiple institutions

A user can be affiliated with multiple institutions.

Where a library is often connected with a single university or company. Users can have multiple affiliations from corporate context, to academic, to summer jobs. An assumption here is that users will want to choose which affiliation they will use for context, and in some cases also use these affiliations as they have varying content subscriptions.

Users may even go across multiple affiliations in a single session, as they research a topic area.

Ability to be forgotten

A user may want the computer they are on, to not know which affiliations they used.

As computers are used in public domains (e.g. Library), we see that users should be given a clear path for their access affiliation to be forgotten, this being especially relevant if multiple affiliations are used.

Where some setups allow for easy removal of identity information (e.g. computer login tied to university account), this cannot always be relied on.

Example (Bad)

A fictitious publisher, which shows discovery options.

 

  • [ x ] No search method.

  • [ x ] Technical concepts shown (federation) which are not known to the user.

  • [ x ] Conceptual split between options (societies, access federations).

Example (Good)

A fictitious publisher, which shows discovery options (leveraging Seamless Access patterns).

  • [ ✓ ] Search capability to go through various institutions.

  • [ ✓ ] Official name and domain are shown.

  • [ ✓ ] Ability to remember affiliation.

As users are more and more protected (no IP tracking, no

  • [ ✓ ] All affiliations can be removed.

  • [ ✓ ] Clear indication removal of institutions from the users device.

  • [ ✓ ] Ability to remove affiliation in the discovery tool, without requiring browser setting changes.

References