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.
Contact your account managerCompass 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.
Talk to an expertMake 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for |
Large, complex libraries seeking a managed access management service that provides greater visibility and control, minimizes operational complexity, and supports both federated authentication and proxy-based access. |
Institutions looking for access to licensed content through a proxy-based model. |
Organizations looking for federated authentication, want maximum control, and with the internal resources and expertise to manage their own infrastructure. |
| Ease of administration |
Centralised, web-based administration portal that enables administrators to manage user access, resources, and authentication settings from a single interface. |
Provides an administration interface with control over proxy configuration, database stanza management, security settings, and troubleshooting. Admin may require technical expertise. |
Administration often requires specialist technical knowledge and direct management of configuration files, metadata, and identity integrations. |
| User management |
Built-in centralized identity and access management capabilities, allowing administrators manage user attributes and groups in one place. It can also integrate with external identity systems for user management. |
Typically relies on external identity systems for user management, while EZproxy provides authentication and access control through its user.txt-based configuration. |
No native user directory. User identities and attributes are typically managed in external identity systems and surfaced through Shibboleth for authentication and access control. |
| Reporting & analytics |
Advanced reporting. Analyse resource usage across user groups and other attributes. Interactive dashboards and visualizations make it easy to identify trends and support evidence-based decisions. |
Basic reporting. Access logs and basic usage reporting help administrators monitor resource access. Advanced analytics require a separate subscription. |
Limited native reporting. Authentication and audit logs are available, but additional tools are typically needed to generate detailed usage reports and analytics. |
| Security & privacy controls |
Privacy-preserving federated authentication with control over attribute release. User identities remain under institutional control, and will only be released to service providers if agreed by the institutional admin. Access decisions are based on the user’s identity rather than their location or IP address. |
Security is delivered through a proxy-based model integrated with institutional authentication systems. |
Privacy-preserving federated authentication with control over attribute release. User identities remain under institutional control, and will only be released to service providers if agreed by the institutional admin. Access decisions are based on the user’s identity rather than their location or IP address. |
| Implementation support |
Dedicated onboarding and account manager. |
Self-hosted: The institution installs, hosts and maintains EZproxy on its own IT infrastructure. Hosted: Fully managed by OCLC. |
Self-managed. |
| Technical expertise required |
Low. Centralised administration and personalised support from onboarding through to day-to-day operations help reduce the need for specialist expertise. |
Typically requires familiarity with proxy configuration, resource settings and troubleshooting. |
High. Deployment and ongoing maintenance typically require expertise in identity management, SAML federation, and infrastructure management. As an open-source solution, it primarily relies on documentation rather than a dedicated vendor-managed support service. |
| Total cost of ownership |
Subscription-based pricing. Lower operational overhead through a managed service, with less infrastructure to maintain in-house. |
Subscription-based. Organizations using self-hosted EZproxy may incur additional operational costs related to infrastructure, maintenance, and administration. |
No software licensing fees for the open-source platform, but specialist staffing, infrastructure and ongoing maintenance can contribute to operational costs. |
An affordable, user-friendly single sign-on solution for organizations with basic needs.
Compass is flexible and tailored to reflect your organization’s specific needs, our team of experts can help you find the best solution.
We will use the contact details you provide to us to send you information about our products and services.
You can opt out of our emails at any time by using the link in the emails and you can view our privacy policy.
All required fields are marked with '*'
