Federation terminology
A list of various federation terms and what they mean
| Term | Means |
|---|---|
| entityID (sometimes written as entity ID) | Identifies an identity provider or service provider within a federation. An OpenAthens domain will only need one entityID and it is one of two pieces of information you will need to pass to resource providers when you set up federated access (the other is scope). |
| IdP | Identity Provider. A member of a federation that provides identity information about their users (most commonly a confirmation that they belong to that IdP) |
| SP | Service Provider. A member of a federation that provides the services that users access (e.g. a Journal provider). |
| scope | Identifies an organisation, or an organisational unit within an identity provider. Is added at the end of scoped attributes. Most OpenAthens domains will only need one scope but if different organisations within your domain subscribe to content separately you will need more. It is one of two pieces of information you will need to pass to resource providers when you set up federated access (the other is entityID). |
| attribute | Information about the user such as their role |
| federation | A group of organisations that have agreed a common method of doing things, usually with a central organising body |
| metadata | Information about an identity provider or service provider that describes them and includes information about how they can talk to each other securely. May also refer to the aggregated metadata of all members published by a federation. |