With 30 years of experience and the backing of over 3,200 institutions worldwide, OpenAthens is a trusted partner for secure and effective access to online resources, used by governments and leading institutions globally.
We have two single sign-on solutions for librarians:
A premium, personalized and fully-supported solution that makes resource and user management easier for librarians working in large organizations with complex needs. Compass is a single sign-on solution supported by a team of industry experts.
Learn more about OpenAthens Compass
Core-featured, only the essentials – coming soon.
Manage access to multiple digital resources with ease. Our library single sign-on solutions ensure secure and seamless access from anywhere, so users no longer need to remember multiple passwords or navigate complicated login processes.
Easy access without relying on IP addresses. We can integrate with the organization’s existing authentication system to create a true single sign-on experience. Once authenticated, your users’ session will stay open for 8 hours so they can navigate seamlessly across different publisher resources.
OpenAthens supports SAML, a highly secure, privacy-preserving authentication method, while also offering a managed proxy service for resources that only support IP-based authentication.
Keep your users safe. All the data is encrypted, and only anonymized identifiers are used by default. However, users can still be identified to prevent cases of misuse.
Get students and researchers to the content they need, wherever they are.
| – | OpenAthens | EZproxy | Shibboleth IdP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admin dashboard |
Comprehensive portal for managing all configuration e.g. user management, reporting, and resource management. |
All configuration is managed on the server. |
All configuration is managed on the server by a Shibboleth administrator. |
| User management dashboard |
Option to create OpenAthens accounts and /or integrate with any local directory. Ability to create personal accounts or access accounts (e.g. for walk-in users, etc.) organization accounts. The administrator can also disable accounts if misuse is suspected. |
Text file-based system for user management or the option to connect to a local directory. |
No in-built user management function. |
| Reporting module |
Reporting available on any attributes the library wants to see usage on e.g. department and user group, international students, walk-in users, alumni. Reporting API available for data integration with systems such as Tableau or Power BI. |
Basic reporting that provides information about remote users’ activity only. |
No inbuilt reporting capabilities. There is access to Shibboleth log files or the ability to integrate with 3rd party applications. |
| Web portal |
MyAthens portal available. Provides a lightweight knowledge portal to curate resources and add content discovery widgets. |
Not available. |
Not available. |
| Two factor authentication |
Can point to an institutional Identity Provider that has been configured for multi-factor authentication. |
In development. |
Can point to an institutional Identity Provider that has been configured for multi-factor authentication. |
| Personalization |
Users can save their searches/ annotated content/ preferences and login to publishers’ websites that support it automatically. |
Access is all based on IP recognition, so personalization is not possible. |
Users can save their searches/ annotated content/ preferences and login to publishers’ websites that support it automatically. |
