Newsline from EDINA
December 2006: Volume 11, Issue 4

EDINA > News > Newsline > Newsline 11.4 > How to gain access to services via the UK Federation.

Gaining access to web-based services: The UK Federation

Images of various edina login buttons
EDINA login buttons

As readers may be aware, the JISC have been funding the deployment of a new access management system, known as the UK Access Management Federation for Education and Research (or UK Federation for short). The underlying technology, code-named Shibboleth, has been reported on in recent editions of Newsline.

The UK Federation is intended eventually to replace the Athens system, which has been in use in UK academia for many years.

The UK Federation was launched on 30 November 2006. EDINA services have been modified to accommodate both access management systems, Athens and the UK Federation. This means that login pages for EDINA services now display at least two buttons: one labelled “Login via Athens” and one “Login via UK Federation”.

In most cases users should continue to use the Athens login button unless they have been notified of a change. If in doubt, please seek local assistance.
Individual institutions will decide when their users are required to make the switch to the UK Federation.