Jon Freeman does bring up a good point. Depending on where the computer is operating, at home versus within a large institution, the IP address can be meaningless. When I dialup from home I am assigned an IP address, different each time I logon. I prefer this to having to deal with a permanent address and the associated firewall software that I would have to use to preserve my computer and privacy.

When I log on from the university I'm using one very busy permanent IP address; the way we make so many subscription databases available to university users is to have an IP-specific setup with suppliers. They recognize those who are coming from this system and don't require a logon. Those who wish to use subscription material from off campus go through a proxy server. If we end up with some twit on campus here flaming a thread at Mudcat, could the entire address could end up compromised as far as a filter system? To my way of thinking it is better to use an individual logon and cookie approach. (Mudcat is listed as a music resource link in library publications for the Fine Arts library, so it is quite possible that many people from here are on the list).

Finally, I noticed that that darned Microsoft XP or whatever it is preserves the history in such as way that it isn't easily erased. I logged onto my personal web page on a different campus last week, one that uses the newest software, and after I logged out, when I typed up the general web page for my internet provider, there was my personal web page, where anyone could edit it. I'll cross my fingers that it is dropped off of a list out of sight pretty soon, but I may not be so lucky. Microsoft is just too smart for its users' good most of the time.

SRS