The premium single sign-on solution for modern, complex library environments.
With secure authentication, personalized setup, and expert support throughout the entire customer journey, Compass empowers librarians to work more efficiently.
Drive informed decision-making for your subscriptions and renewals with Compass’ rich analytics and reporting.
OpenAthens Compass
OpenAthens Compass is a premium and fully supported single sign-on solution with personalized setup to meet the unique needs of any institution.
Designed for libraries from organizations operating in complex environments, Compass offers an amazing set of features and benefits as standard, including multi-admin and managed accounts, and sub-organization segregation.
No more technical headaches – focus on what matters. Our team of experts provides personalized support at every step, from a tailored onboarding to ongoing customer service.
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Compass is customizable to meet the unique needs of almost any library, regardless of size, user-base, and the complexity and quantity of resources. Integrate with other library systems, including VLEs, discovery services and link resolvers.
What systems do we integrate with?
Say goodbye to struggles with complex technical tasks. Our team of experts are available to help and guide you – Monday to Friday, 20 hours a day.
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Make smart, data-driven decisions by tracking actual user resource usage, Our reporting module helps you monitor cost-per-user and cost-per-use, saving you money.
Find out more about reportingDiscover OpenAthens Compass – the premium single sign-on solution designed for complex organizations and built with librarians in mind.
Our reports area provides insight into provider usage, number of authentications, active accounts, location of successful session logins and much more!
Create, edit and activate accounts. Assign users to permission sets. Integrate with your organization's active directory.
Create permission sets to control resource access based on departments, faculty, libraries or whatever your organization needs.
| – | OpenAthens Compass | 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. |
An affordable, user-friendly single sign-on solution for organizations with basic needs.
We’ve been helping organizations like yours for over 30 years. Our team of experts can help you find the best solution for your needs.
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