Source IPs are commonly used to enable anonymous user authentication from customer networks. Users that access Gale resources from a browser that resides on a registered network or IP address can do so without having to confront a login dialog and assert user credentials. Gale will only register source IPs for networks residing within and controlled by the licensing agency (library, campus, district, etc.); automatic logon capabilities are, therefore, restricted to browsers connected directly to the institution's network, or which link to Gale through the institution's network proxy.

IP information submitted to Gale by customer network administrators is coded into the user's or institution's authentication profile. In many cases, the source IP (or range of IPs) can be associated with a unique, often shared, user account. Thus, the user's source IP address serves to identify his or her institutional affiliation, and allows site administrators to deploy shared (common) URL stems, e.g.:

Often, however, different user groups, requiring access using different user IDs, must share a common IP address space, which makes linking discrete IP ranges to individual accounts impossible. In this case, the IP address range is coded into the institution's authentication profile, but without the user ID association built in. In these cases, automatic logon is enabled by adding the user's logon credential to the URL:

For example, if the userID is gale99385, the URL would be written

http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/gale99385