[Eril-l] OpenAthens: Pros? Cons?

[Wisofsky, Tami]

Amy,
We moved to OpenAthens in December 2017. My main complaint is that approximately 50% of our resources authenticated using OpenAthens use proxy links; and there are a handful of products that OpenAthens authentication is not compatible with (APA Style Central, Kanopy, Books 24x, etc.). So, to be able to authenticate those products that do not work with OpenAthens we continue to maintain EZ Proxy in addition to OpenAthens. We host our own EZ Proxy, so the cost is not prohibitive for us.
Tami Wisofsky
[tinylogo]
Tami Wisofsky
Serials/Electronic Resources Librarian
Victoria College/University of Houston-Victoria Library
2602 N. Ben Jordan
Victoria, Texas 77901
361-570-4195
wisofskyt at uhv.edu<mailto:wisofskyt at uhv.edu>
vcuhvlibrary.uhv.edu


From: Eril-l <eril-l-bounces at lists.eril-l.org> On Behalf Of Hwang, Amy L
Sent: Tuesday, May 8, 2018 10:14 AM
To: eril-l at lists.eril-l.org; COLLIB-L at lists.ala.org; acl at acl.org
Subject: [Eril-l] OpenAthens: Pros? Cons?

Hello All,

I'm considering switching to OpenAthens for authentication rather than staying with EZproxy. Has anyone made that switch? I have a couple of reasons for thinking about switching. The version of EZproxy that my IT department currently hosts is no longer supported, and they don't want to host an updated version of EZproxy. (I would be switching to hosted EZproxy instead.) It seems to me that although OpenAthens is more expensive, I wouldn't have to involve IT as much, and I could get out-of-the-box statistics that lets me know who is logging in and to what resources. (It would make it easier to know what to cut if needed.)

Most of the resources my library subscribes to are "big deal" collections rather than titles accessed from publisher websites. I've looked on some listservs and seen that some libraries use both EZproxy and OpenAthens, but I can't afford to do that.

Any advice you have for me would be greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,
Amy Hwang

* Please excuse the cross-posting.*

Amy L. Hwang, MLS | Director of Library Services | Nease Library, Eastern Nazarene College | 23 E. Elm Ave., Quincy, MA 02170 | 617-745-3854

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