Login and registration help
How do I log in?
At the login page, you will need to:
- Click the 'Login' button.
- Select your institution from the list of organisations maintained by the UK Access Management Federation. If you have a username (beginning 'ukd')
and password issued to you by the UK Data Archive, select 'UK Data Archive' from this list.
- Enter your institutional username and password, or those provided to you by the UK Data Archive.
- If you are a registered user you will then be logged into your account. From here you can access your details, your usage details, and order history.
If you have not yet registered, you will be prompted to do so.
How do I obtain a username and password?
If you are based at a UK institution of higher or further education (UK HE/FE), you will need to contact your library, IT help desk or e-resources administrator. Your
institutional web pages or intranet may also contain useful information on how to obtain a username and password.
If you are not at a UK institution of HE/FE, or are not associated with any organisation, you can apply for a UK Data Archive username and
password at Application for a UK Data Archive
username and password.
Note: If you are not at a UK HE/FE institution, a UK Data Archive username and password will not entitle you to access certain
data, including ESDS
International macrodata, or Census.ac.uk data.
I am based outside the UK - can I obtain a username and password?
Yes you can. If you are not able to obtain a username and password from your organisation, or are not associated with any organisation,
you can apply for a UK Data Archive username and password at
Application for a UK Data Archive username and password for users outside UK HE/FE only.
What is federated access management?
Federated access management (e.g. shibboleth) allows users to securely access external services using the same username and password they use to access
local services at their own institution.
In order to use federated access management, an institution must join the UK Access Management Federation and either implement Identity Provider
software, or outsource that provision to a third party (e.g. Eduserv using OpenAthens).
Federated access management user authentication (shibboleth) has been implemented for UK Data Archive/ESDS services.
Federated access management - technical information for identity providers/institutions.
User accountability
Organisations within the UK federation have the opportunity to assert that, where unique persistent attributes are associated with a user, they
will ensure that these attribute values are not re-issued to another user for at least 24 months after the last possible use by the previous user.
The UK Data Archive (UKDA), ESDS and Census.ac.uk provide a one-stop registration service for multiple distributed service providers and
this service requires knowledge of the identity of a user in case there is a breach of its terms and conditions. Also some data collections held at
certain ESDS and Census.ac.uk service providers require an agreement to special conditions before access is allowed. Only users attached
to Federation Identity Providers Asserting User
Accountability can gain access to any service reliant upon the assertion of user accountability.
Attributes
For access to Census/ESDS/UKDA resources, institutions must release the following attributes to https://safari.data-archive.ac.uk/shibboleth-sp:
- eduPersonScopedAffiliation: a user's organisational affiliation. The unscoped value of eduPersonScopedAffiliation must be member or
equivalent (i.e. student, staff, faculty or employee)
- eduPersonTargetedID: a persistent user pseudonym for personalisation
WAYFless URLs
The UK Access Management Federation login page is known as the 'Where Are You From (WAYF)' page. Institutions using the UK Access Management Federation
can bypass both the UKDA/ESDS/Census.ac.uk login page and the WAYF page. The following example, shows the WAYFless URLs for the University of Sheffield.
These can be adapted for other institutions by replacing the initial 'idp.shef.ac' as appropriate:
What happened to Athens?
The Athens authentication system is no longer supported by the the UK Data Archive/ESDS, and has been replaced by
federated access management.
What is Single Sign On?
Single Sign On (SSO) is a system which allows you to enter user credentials only once in order to gain subsequent access to a number
of disparate resources. Once logged in you may access any SSO services to which you are entitled to access, without logging
in again within any one browser session. A browser session lasts for eight hours or until you close your browser window.
The UKDA/ESDS resources all have this functionality.
Why am I transferred to the login prompt several times/cannot log in to the services?
UKDA/ESDS services use Single Sign On which requires that cookies are accepted on your PC. The most common reason for
not being able to log in is that cookies are blocked on your PC.
A cookie is a small piece of information that is automatically stored on a computer within a web browser. The UKDA/ESDS and federated
access management use cookies (that do not contain any personal information) in order to allow users to move from one resource to another,
for instance, via Single Sign On.
To check whether your computer is set up to accept cookies, or to change the current settings:
- Firefox 3.0: Go to 'Tools' -> 'Options' -> 'Privacy' -> 'Cookies'
- Internet Explorer 7.0: Go to 'Tools' -> 'Internet Options' -> 'Privacy' -> 'Advanced Level' and select 'Accept cookies'
- Opera 9.0: Go to 'Tools' -> 'Preferences' -> 'Advanced' -> 'Cookies'
Why do I get a 'No access' message?
If you are not at a UK institution of higher or further education and you try to access ESDS International macrodata or Census.ac.uk data,
you should see the following message: "Access to these resources is only available to academic users from Higher and Further Education in the United Kingdom."
If you think you are receiving this message in error, contact the Help desk.
Why do I get an 'Unauthorised organisation' message?
If you get this message it means that the organisation supplying your login credentials is not authorised for use with this service. Organisations
within the UK Access Management Federation have the opportunity to assert that, where unique persistent attributes are associated with a user, they
will ensure that these attribute values are not re-issued to another user for at least 24 months after the last possible use by the previous user.
This acceptance of 'user accountability' is a requirement for access to UK Data Archive/ESDS/Census.ac.uk resources. It appears that your
organisation does not assert user accountability and is therefore not permitted access. If your organisation is listed
at Federation Identity Providers Asserting User
Accountability, contact the Help desk to request access for your organisation.
If your organisation is not listed, contact your library, IT help desk or e-resources administrator to ask if they are able to assert user
accountability.
Why do I get an 'Authorisation failed' message?
For access to UKDA/ESDS/Census.ac.uk resources your institution must provide the following credentials for you:
- eduPersonTargetedID
- eduPersonScopedAffiliation
You can check which attributes are being released for your account by your institution at the
ZETOC web site. Select your institution from the relevant dropdown list and then log in using
your institutional details. Check that the 'TargetedID' and 'ScopedAffiliation' details are 'released'. Also, check the prefix for ScopedAffiliation:
if this is 'affiliate', 'alum' or anything other than shown below, you will be unable to log into the resources.
- staff@xxxx
- member@xxxx
- student@xxxx
- faculty@xxxx
- employee@xxxx
If the required attributes are not being released, or if you think the prefix for ScopedAffiliation is incorrect, contact your IT help desk
or e-resources administrator for further assistance. Note that attributes should be released to https://safari.data-archive.ac.uk/shibboleth-sp.
Why do I get an Apache Server error message in the ESDS Nesstar Catalogue?
Internet Explorer (IE) users may receive an Apache Server error message when logging in, due to the way in which some universities have
set up their federated access management system. Because Nesstar uses frames, and the frame containing the login dialogue comes from a server other than the
surrounding site, Internet Explorer treats this as a third party site and therefore does not accept cookies from it with the default security settings.
Users are advised to either use Firefox, or with the permission of their IT help desk, change IE's settings as follows:
Tools -> Internet Options -> Privacy -> Advanced -> Override automatic cookie handling -> Always allow session cookies
What should I do if I forget my username and/or password?
If you are using your institutional username and password you should contact your local IT help desk, library, or e-resources administrator for help.
If you are using a username and password issued by the UK Data Archive, and beginning with 'ukd', you can request your password from the
'UK Data Archive' login screen. This screen will be displayed after selecting 'UK Data Archive' from the list of organisations maintained by the
UK Access Management Federation. If you have forgotten your UK Data Archive username contact the
Help desk.
Which resources will I be able to access if I register?
Note that data from each of the ESDS services and other resources listed below can be accessed via the
Data Catalogue.
Registration entitles you to access:
Additionally, if you are within UK higher or further education you may also access:
Is there a guide to registering?
See
How to access data which will guide you through the registration process.
My browser is not set up to allow cookies - can I still use this service?
UKDA/ESDS requires that cookies are accepted on your PC. The most common reason for not being able to log in is that cookies are being blocked on your PC.
A cookie is a small piece of information that is automatically stored on a computer within a web browser. UKDA/ESDS uses cookies (that do not
contain any personal information) in order to allow users to move from one resource to another.
To check whether your computer is set up to accept cookies, or to change the current settings:
- Firefox 2.0 and 3.0: Go to Tools -> Options -> Privacy -> Cookies
- Internet Explorer 7.0: Go to Tools -> Internet Options -> Privacy -> Advanced, and select 'Accept cookies'
- Opera 9.0: Go to Tools -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Cookies
Why do I need a memorable word and what should I do if I forget it?
Your memorable word is an extra security feature and is required for account continuity. You can update your word at
Update user details. Should your login details change, for example
if your organisation moves from Athens to UK Access Management Federation (shibboleth) authentication, you will need this word to link your old
and new accounts. However, if you no longer have access to your old account you will need to re-register and will not be able to link your
accounts.
When I try to register my organisation does not appear on the list, what should I do?
Contact the Help desk and ask for your organisation to be included on the list.
Print-friendly page
