Shibboleth User Authentication Service
Many of the online resources that are available to you are purchased by the college via subscription - they are not provided free-of-charge.
Whenever you try to access one of these resources, the resource provider will need to be satisfied that you are indeed a valid member of the college and so it will be necessary for you to log into the service with a username and password..
You can probably imagine that considering the wide range of online resources that are available to us, the process of managing a number of different usernames and passwords would be very cumbersome.
To overcome this problem, the college makes use of a popular (with universities and college) identity management system known as Shibboleth.
The Shibboleth system makes it possible or you to log into the majority of our online resources by use of a single username and password - that is your usual college computer network username(as displayed on your college card), and your computer network password (which at the start of the academic year was set to your date of birth in the usual ddmmyyyy 8-digit numerical format.
Resource login via Shiboleth
The process is in two stages..
Example: Logging into VLEBooks Online Book collection
As soon as you access the VLEBooks website, you will be presented with their range of log-in options. You will need to select the Shibboleth option...
Then, you will be asked to find the name of our college..
.. Simply enter the name (or first part of the name), and select the presented option.
Then, you will be presented with our college's login screen.
Simply enter your usual college username and password and click Login.
Finally, you will need to Accept that you are happy for the Shibboleth system to share a few details about yourself with the resource provider...
You should then gain full access to the resource! Please remember that some resources require you to logout once you have finished.
On-Campus Access to the Online Resources
When you are in college and using a computer that is connected to the main college network, you will usually find the process of logging into an online resource is simpler still. This is because the Shibboleth system will automatically recognise that you are using a college computer and therefore you will not be prompted to identify the name of the college - you will simply be required to login via your college username and password.
Of course, if you are in college and using a personal device that is not connected to the main college network (for example, you are connected to our Guest WiFi, or using a smart phone with a personal Internet account, then you will need to log in fully using the process described above.