Notice of Upcoming Authentication System Maintenance June 16-20

Summary

Department of Public Instruction staff will be performing maintenance on the BadgerLink user authentication system between June 16-20. After this update, some libraries and schools may find previous automatic access is no longer available. If this happens, reach out to provide your institution’s current external IP address(es) to ensure continued access. Others accessing from locations outside of the library or school should use the login options when prompted.

After nearly 20 years in use, the BadgerLink authentication system, which checks access against registered external IP addresses, is in need of a refresh! Department of Public Instruction (DPI) staff will be performing cleanup of the database between June 16-20, removing addresses not assigned to a specific library, school, or other organization account. A typical result of this process is that some institutions may lose automatic access and are prompted to log in through the BadgerLink website. If this happens, simply reach out with your library or school/school district’s current external IP address(es), and they will be reassigned to an account specific to your location. Users accessing BadgerLink from locations outside of a library or school should use the login options (public library barcode, school identifier/barcode, or zip code) when prompted.

Benefits of this update

  • Having accurate information for libraries and schools leads to reliable usage statistics. Staff are able to request statistics for their school or library, and at the state level we can better understand how different library types are using the resources!
  • Internet Service Providers may allocate IP addresses to a certain location or customer, but change those associations over time. BadgerLink resources are licensed for use by Wisconsin users only, and refreshing the database helps to ensure access is provided to the right users. 
  • Refreshing the database will improve the efficiency of internal processes managed by DPI staff and help advance other projects.

Ways schools and libraries can help

  • After the clean up is complete on June 20, test access to an example BadgerLink resource while connected to your library or school network. If you land on the BadgerLink login page, you’ll know we need your IP address(es).
  • Send in your institution’s external IP address(es). This can happen at any time, but may be especially important after the database cleanup is completed on June 20.
  • If possible, based on your network configuration, note whether certain IP addresses are allocated to specific buildings. 
  • If your library or school is using iBoss IPs, please provide us with the public IPs for the individual gateways rather than the IP ranges.
  • Double check your website is using the correct resource links!

Questions? Contact Us!

BadgerLink is made possible through a combination of both state funds appropriated through the biennial budget, and Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grants to States funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).