Users

There are three basic types of ordinary user accounts:

  • “Reader with restrictions” – a user with this account cannot modify the information on the website which is related to the user’s account and cannot log into the Editor and Administrator Application. This is the most limited account in a dLibra digital library. Such an account must be created by the system administrator.
  • “Reader” – a user with this account can modify the information on the website which is related to the user’s account but cannot log into the Editor and Administrator Application. Every account created through the website of a dLibra digital library is of the “Reader” kind. Such an account can also be created by the system administrator.
  • “Reader/administrator” – a user with this account can modify the information on the website which is related to the user’s account and can log into the Editor and Administrator Application. Such an account can only be created by the system administrator.

Each such account is connected with the relevant information about the user (name/surname, email, etc.) and with the user’s authentication details (login and password). By default, in this ‘ordinary’ user class, one special user is defined, with the “Reader with restrictions” account; that user’s default login is “public”. That account is created for the purpose of identifying all anonymous users who browse the web pages of the dLibra digital library. Thus, every user who browses those pages and is not logged in is identified, in the default configuration, as “public”. It follows that for the anonymous users to have access to a particular digital object (publication), the “public” user must be granted appropriate permissions. NOTE In the dLibra system, there is a special group, “Public users”. By default, it only contains one user, the “public” user. This is the group to which editors should assign all permissions to the resources which are to be made available to anonymous users. Every account registered by a user through the website (“Reader” account) is also, by default, assigned to that group. Thus, all users of the library web pages, whether they are anonymous or logged in, are represented by that one group, “Public users”, and all access permissions for the resources which are to be publicly available (to anonymous users and users who have registered through the website) should be assigned to that group. Every ordinary user can belong to any user group. Creating accounts is described in details here.

IP Users

An IP user is a special user type, identified with an IP address or a range of IP addresses. Such a user is authenticated automatically, on the basis of the IP address from which the user connects with the server. If the address of the user’s computer which connects with the library website is among the addresses related to the IP user, then it is automatically authenticated and, from that point on, has the identity of that IP user. Creating IP user accounts is described in details here.

User groups

User groups make it easier to manage larger user sets. If a user belongs to a given group, the user inherits all the permissions assigned to that group. Therefore, it is easy to assign particular permissions to a particular user sets (user groups). In the dLibra system, there is a special user group. By default, it is called “Public users” and consists of one user – the “public” user. That user identifies all anonymous users of a particular digital library. Also, by default, every account created through the library website is added to the “Public users” group, so it represents all public users of the system (the anonymous ones and those who have created accounts for themselves). Editors who enter digital objects (publications) to the dLibra system and want them to be publicly available should assign appropriate permissions to the “Public users” group. Creating user groups is described in details here.

Dynamic groups

Dynamic groups make it possible to integrate the dLibra system with external user bases, for example, with the LDAP system. A dynamic group is defined on the basis of a set of properties which are expected to characterize its users (for example, properties in a specific LDAP server). Creating dynamic groups is described in detail here.


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