GU’s main campus library (serving SCS and Qatar as well) is adopting OpenAthens as our new authentication system for electronic resources. We will be transitioning our authentication system fully to OpenAthens, and replacing our previous authentication system, EZproxy. This guide is intended to provide important information that Georgetown users need to know about this transition.
What is the difference between EZproxy and OpenAthens?
EZproxy uses IP address authentication. When you follow a link from the library catalog, A-Z Databases list, a course guide, or anywhere on the library's website, EZproxy prompts you to sign into your GU account. It then redirects your traffic through the Library proxy server for access to Library-subscribed articles, books, journals, databases, and other electronic resources.
In contrast, OpenAthens is a so-called "single sign-on" (SSO) service. Just like EZproxy, it will prompt you to sign into your GU account. However, it doesn't need to redirect your traffic through the proxy server. Instead, OpenAthens uses a secure method to tell the e-resource provider "this user is a genuine, logged-in GU patron." (It does this without passing any personal information to the e-resource provider.) It can also provide the same IP authentication method that EZproxy does for providers that are not set up yet for SSO.
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