Hello!

I have a question regarding an IP address problem our library is having.
It may be a unique problem, but if it sounds familiar to anyone out
there my supervisor and I would love some input.

We subscribed to an online journal a few years ago that allowed access
to the publication via a list of 'authorized' IP addresses.  We gave the
IP addresses to the publisher and thought all was well.  I tried to
access the journal but my IP address wasn't recognized, so I called the
publisher to make sure it was in the system and it was correct (it was)
and tried again, no dice.

To make a very long story short, it turns out that for security reasons,
Dept. of Homeland Security masks all IP addresses coming from individual
computers and instead 'broadcasts' a phantom IP address.  I can't
register the phantom IP address with the publisher of this online
journal because DHS changes it pretty regularly.

So, the publisher sends advertising emails to various DHS personnel
telling them they are affiliated with an institution that can provide
them unlimited access to this journal.  The DHS personnel then email us
asking how they can get access, and we then tell them they can't.  It's
great fun, and add to that the fact that we're not sure if the site
license covers all these people or not (I don't think the license goes
beyond our particular facility in MD) and we have a problem.  Currently
I access this title using a username and password, but obviously we
don't want to give that out to everybody.  Next thing you know the
assistant emergency manager of Anytown, AZ will be using it and we will
have to answer some questions.

Finally, I get to my question:  has anyone ever had a similar IP address
problem, and what did you do about it?  We're not sure at this point
that there is anything we CAN do about it because of security policy,
but we were wondering what other libraries have done when faced with the
same thing.

Thanks so much everyone!

Jody Morris
Serials Technician
National Emergency Training Center Library
USFA/FEMA/DHS

jody.morris@associates.dhs.gov
(301) 447-1354