Easy, secure access to library resources – wherever the search journey starts

15 November 2024 • Chloe Park, marketing officer

Swinburne University of Technology offers academic and vocational courses and has three campuses in Melbourne, Eastern Australia. Its library staff know that, while they can’t always identify where a patron starts their search for library resources, it’s probably via Google rather than the Library Discovery Platform.

Since early 2022 staff have made big changes to the way the library facilitates access to online content. They have experienced unexpected challenges, got creative to overcome them – and reached a place where secure access to diverse library resources is seamless.

Anton Proppe is the university’s manager of library systems and discovery. In a webinar during our 2024 Access Lab conference for librarians, content providers and library users he explained:

“Once a reader finds a resource they’re interested in they just want access, with no additional effort.

“It was important for us to offer easy, secure access from where the user starts their journey rather than forcing them back through the library platforms.”

Challenge

This priority triggered a review of the library’s EZproxy authentication solution. It worked well with single sign-on, but still required users to go through the Library Discovery Platform.

Solution

In a phased implementation Swinburne’s library began transitioning to OpenAthens late in 2021 by moving over the library management system and discovery platform. EBSCO Information Services supported throughout.

The licensed databases followed, then the Canvas learning management system. To make sure the changeover didn’t throw up obstacles for library patrons staff developed a link generator to redirect all existing EZproxy links. It advised patrons to update their link for ease in future, then sent them straight to the content they wanted. Simplicity itself, for patrons, and a “life saver” for busy library staff, says Anton; it gave students, researchers and staff all the information they needed.

OpenAthens provides detailed, anonymised user data. Library staff were very interested to see more users each day and find the new OpenAthens access pathway before it had even been launched.

Seamless integration

OpenAthens integrates easily with many systems that libraries use. So when Swinburne’s library decided to adopt the LibKey Nomad browser extension things were straightforward.

Swinburne’s resource management librarian Kathryn Duncan says LibKey complements the federated access afforded by OpenAthens to publishers’ content. It simplifies access to full-text content from aggregators such as Ebook Central and to hybrid open access content. Where the library has access to those resources it links users to them; where it doesn’t, it reroutes those users to the inter-library loan process.

Kathryn describes the benefit:

“It connects users more directly to the full text. This is particularly important for open access articles in hybrid journals. Our link resolver would provide the information that Swinburne does not subscribe to the journal and that would be a dead end.

“All these changes help to meet our users where they are, and then help them seamlessly on their journey to access library resources securely.”