Bill,

I have thought about this (although not in regards to logging library
workstations -- that'd be difficult but awesome), especially now that
Georgia Tech is implementing lifetime accounts.  The project that we are
currently trying to pull together (GaTher -- which is sort of a library
building/citation management tool, although a bit more sophisticated than
that) intends to use OpenID to allow people to invite non-GT people into
their GaTher groups.  Now that accounts here are permanent, a GT person can
use their GT OpenID without fear of losing their identity when they
graduate/move on.

-Ross.

On 3/22/07, William Denton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> I hadn't been too clear on OpenID but a week or two ago I listened to a
> recording of a talk about that explained it well.  I can't find it again,
> unfortunately, but you can take my word for it that it was pretty good.
>
> Is OpenID being used in libraries?  It struck me that it could work well
> for library systems that share resources: two systems that are part of the
> same consortium or provincial/state system; two neighbouring public
> systems that let people from one borrow at the other; academic libraries
> that want to make it easy for visiting profs and grad students to get
> temporary access to online resources; etc.
>
> Say I live in Lower Mowat but one day I'm in Upper Mowat, in the next
> municipality (or county, or whatever) over, visiting my tailor.  The two
> library systems are separate but share their resources.  I pop into the
> library to update my Twittering friends on my inseam measurement.  I don't
> actually have an account at the Upper Mowat Library, but I log in to one
> of their computers using my Lower Mowat-supplied OpenID identifier, and
> the Upper Mowat system recognizes where I'm from and gives me access to
> everything.
>
> Bill
> --
> William Denton, Toronto : miskatonic.org : frbr.org : openfrbr.org
>
>