OpenAthens

During the first half of 2021, the Lewis Library is transitioned from EZproxy to OpenAthens for accessing online resources.

This guide is designed to help you:

• learn about OpenAthens
• learn how to access Library resources with OpenAthens
• learn how to convert any direct links to Library content you have saved from EZproxy links to OpenAthens links

We do not anticipate any disruption to our online resources during this transition. The one significant change is that users will be required to log into most resources both on-campus and off-campus.

OpenAthens is an identity management software application that allows us to link online library resources to your Lewis University account.

Why are we switching?

OpenAthens provides several benefits for the Lewis Library and campus community:

• Better account security -- OpenAthens authenticates using a more secure method (SAML) than is used by EZProxy.
• Single Sign-On (SSO) reduces the amount of logging in.
• Usage statistics -- OpenAthens can tell us how often our online resources are being accessed, so we can make more informed decisions about the resources to which we subscribe.
• Greater flexibility for licensing resources for specific campus groups.