Faith in the solution! Efficient authentication is now invisible and seamless at Oak Hill College  

In David Fordyce’s interview for his role as college librarian he was asked “how would you provide a service where students could access all our resources in one place?” Now the interviewers have their answer 

Oak Hill is a specialist college in Southgate, London, with one of the finest theological libraries in south-east England, open 24/7. It has 55,000 print and electronic resources from several vendors – and around 100 online users, many living on site. 

Efficient authentication is essential for the library and until a couple of years ago they managed it via IP authentication or sign in with Google. IP authentication usually served users on campus, but it didn’t meet the needs of people learning or working elsewhere.  

Finding a more efficient authentication solution 

Sorting out the authentication issue was the first step to answering the interviewers’ question. But as a small, specialist college with a modest budget affordability was essential. 

He asked other libraries in Oak Hill’s sector what they were using and found it was usually authentication via OpenAthens. As a result, Oak Hill was among the first to join the pilot for OpenAthens Connect, our new core features product developed for less complex organizations. 

The set-up process, says David, was “straightforward”. He simply gathered a list of their resource providers and these were set up in the OpenAthens Connect product. Now, our solution connects the college’s library users to online resources through an identity hub entity – a cost-effective, simple option for smaller institutions. 

Fit for the future 

Oak Hill’s library has seen big improvements as a result, and is in good shape for more in the coming months. 

“Today’s students expect everything to just click through,” comments David. 

With our single sign-on solution everything does, and students and staff can access library resources wherever they learn and work. David is saving lots of time too, because previously he was spending huge amounts of it setting up workarounds and manual logins. 

Now the ‘efficient authentication’ box is ticked off on David’s to-do list, and he’s on phase two of his plan. 

In autumn 2025 the library will implement EBSCO Discovery Service to bring all its resources together in one place. 

“I identified EBSCO as the best discovery service for our specialized needs but there was no point having it without getting the authentication right first,” says David. 

This latest development will support a new departure for the college – its first fully online course. At this point Oak Hill will move to our premium product OpenAthens Compass, which offers additional analytical tools and other features. Compass will be implemented by our partner EBSCO as part of their discovery service offer. 

“I want to have the additional features at that point,” David comments. “These products seem tricky to grasp, especially authentication because it’s largely invisible. But it has been possible to get the purchase approved because the college’s managers can see the benefits – and trust that there’s more to come.” 

We designed OpenAthens Connect to fill a gap and make sure that all institutions, regardless of their size and budget, can access secure, seamless authentication without technical complexities. Oak Hill’s experience with Connect shows how easy it is to achieve, and the multiple benefits it brings.