Login-Free Remote Access

BookBrowse now offers login-free access for patrons outside the library (for libraries authenticated by BookBrowse).

Previously, as is the case for most electronic resources, patrons outside the library had to log in before being able to access content. Now, remote patrons are free to browse with one click and are only presented with a login screen when they attempt to access premium content. After logging in they are redirected back to where they left off.

Within the library, patrons and librarians already enjoy login-free access to all of BookBrowse’s content through automatic IP recognition.

Benefits of Login-Free Remote Access

Logging in can be a barrier to use, particularly among first time users—now patrons can get a good taste of what BookBrowse offers without the hassle of needing to log in first.

Patrons accessing BookBrowse login-free enjoy the same library-branded experience as those who are logged in, including one-click links to their library’s OPAC.

Login-free remote access makes it possible to link directly from the library's website or newsletters to any page on BookBrowse and have the page display with the library's branding. More on this below.

How to Set Up Login-Free Remote Access

For libraries whose login is authenticated by BookBrowse
If your library links to BookBrowse via a “quicklink” - e.g. https://www.bookbrowse.com/abc ("abc" being replaced with your library's code) your library is already set up with login-free access for patrons outside the library.

If your library’s link has "lcd" in it, for example: bookbrowse.com/libweb/?lcd=[6-digit code], contact us for your new link, and then replace your old link with the new one.

For libraries that self-authenticate
Login-free remote access is only available when BookBrowse handles the authentication. It does not work for libraries that self-authenticate (e.g. with EZ Proxy). If your library currently self-authenticates and you would like to change to BookBrowse authentication, contact us and we can have you set up in minutes!

Login-Free Links to Specific BookBrowse Pages

Login-free remote access makes it possible for librarians to link directly from the library's website or newsletters to any page on BookBrowse and have the page display with the library's branding. For example, you can create a direct link to our Book Club main page, to our Read-Alikes section, or to any one of BookBrowse's tens of thousands of individual book and author pages. If the page you link to is considered premium content, visitors will be taken to the login page and, afterwards, returned directly to the relevant page.

The easiest way to create a link to a specific page is to tell us the pages you want to link to and we will provide you with the URLs and a simple code snippet so you can create future links yourself. Contact us to get started!

If you wish to do it yourself, and already know the 6-digit code BookBrowse uses to identify your library, simply take any BookBrowse URL and insert /libweb/?nylip=[6-digit-code]&rel= between https://www.bookbrowse.com and the rest of the URL.

For example, the standard link for BookBrowse's Book Club Central page is:
https://www.bookbrowse.com/bookclubs

So,the link for "MyTown Library" is:
https://www.bookbrowse.com/libweb/?nylip=429438&rel=bookclubs

(Make sure to use https, not http.)

For libraries that self-authenticate
This direct-link functionality does not work with library authentication systems (e.g. EZ Proxy) because they can only send a patron to BookBrowse's homepage. But, in most cases, direct link authentication can be set up in parallel with library authentication if the library provides BookBrowse with its library card range(s), so that BookBrowse can authenticate patrons arriving from direct links.

Reports and Tracking

Libraries changing to login-free remote access may see an increase in the ratio of page views to logins. This is because, while every page view of a visit is tracked and reported in your library's stats, a remote "login" is only recorded when a person logs in to premium content.