IPSWICH, Mass. — March 22, 2018 — The GALILEO (GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online) consortium is making the research experience easier for their library users by implementing federated single sign-on access, enabling end users to sign-on once into any resource from the site or within Discovery. GALILEO has entered into a five-year agreement with EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) and OpenAthens providing single sign-on software that allows the end user to move from resource to resource without re-entering their credentials. The software delivers all of GALILEO’s library resources to its 10 million users by simply having them sign in via a single login.
The GALILEO community, comprised of 400 libraries including those in academic and technical colleges, K-12 and public libraries, strives to provide unlimited and easy access to information for citizens of the state of Georgia. College students will seamlessly access GALILEO services on or off campus with one login, one time. Public library patrons and K-12 students will be also be able to utilize content in the library, at home, at work or wherever they go with their devices: One login, one time. With the implementation of OpenAthens, the need for users to sign in through multiple logins or for administrators to create complicated authentication processes is eliminated. GALILEO will benefit from an easily managed system, access in one place for all users, privacy protection for their libraries and huge reductions in time saved managing proxy servers on IT development.
OpenAthens also provides usage statistics which map content usage by individual users while preserving their privacy. It provides a federated SAML-based approach to single sign-on that is more secure, reliable, and transparent than IP recognition and involves minimum or no involvement of IT resources. GALILEO will gain improvements in reporting and analysis of resource use with access to better, accurate data that helps target resource investment more effectively.
GALILEO Executive Director Lucy Harrison says the agreement will provide many benefits to their consortium, including valuable data. “The OpenAthens authentication solution will help us redesign the login process for all GALILEO users, and provide valuable insight into the ways patrons use library resources. We are thrilled to provide this service for libraries in Georgia.”
OpenAthens Chief Commercial Officer, Mike Brooksbank, says “GALILEO has joined the OpenAthens Federation to upgrade its current IP authentication solution to OpenAthens federated single sign-on for on-and off-site provision. The new strategic partnership with GALILEO and EBSCO in North America enable both sides to learn more about best practices as the relationship starts with an in-depth user experience design phase. GALILEO will use OpenAthens to better serve its member organizations and patrons with secure, easy, authentication to their digital resources that will increase engagement opportunities for all.”
Vice President of Software-as-a-Service Innovation at EBSCO, Tim Lull, says EBSCO and OpenAthens have developed a close working relationship over the past few years to integrate OpenAthens and EBSCO products in order to provide a better experience for mutual customers. “The partnership between EBSCO and OpenAthens brings together two critical software experiences for libraries. EBSCO Discovery Service™, combined with OpenAthens, provides researchers with a complete solution that joins article level discovery with seamless access; anytime, anywhere and on any device. The positive impact of the software integration will be factually measurable for libraries with more granular statistical reporting. OpenAthens also provides innovative improvements for resource accessibility and security.”
About OpenAthens
OpenAthens offers identity and access management solutions and supports membership of the OpenAthens Federation. Our mission is to remove barriers to knowledge and connect people to information. More than 4 million users worldwide in over 2,600 organizations across 200+ countries benefit from OpenAthens. Our international customer base ranges from education and research organizations, to government, charities, corporates, publishers and other service providers. OpenAthens is part of Eduserv, a not-for-profit IT services company based in Bath, UK, with a range of services that span identity and access management, managed cloud services, cyber resilience and applications integration. For more information visit our website, watch our videos and follow us on Twitter. For more information please contact openathens@eduserv.org.uk.
About EBSCO Information Services
EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) is the leading discovery service provider for libraries worldwide with more than 11,000 discovery customers in over 100 countries. EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) provides each institution with a comprehensive, single search box for its entire collection, offering unparalleled relevance ranking quality and extensive customization. EBSCO is also the preeminent provider of online research content for libraries, including hundreds of research databases, historical archives, point-of-care medical reference, and corporate learning tools serving millions of end users at tens of thousands of institutions. EBSCO is the leading provider of electronic journals & books for libraries, with subscription management for more than 360,000 serials, including more than 57,000 e-journals, as well as online access to more than 1,000,000 e-books. For more information, visit the EBSCO website at: www.ebsco.com. EBSCO Information Services is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., a family owned company since 1944.
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For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy
Vice President of Communications
(800) 653-2726 ext. 2594
kmcevoy@ebsco.com
