OpenAthens Transition

OpenAthens is our new authentication system for access to library resources. It replaces our EZproxy authentication system. With the change to OpenAthens, our resources remain the same, and you'll still log in with your Langara email and password.

You will need to log in with your Langara email and password both on- and off-campus. OpenAthens sessions remain open for up to 8 hours within a browser, so you won't need to log in again during that time.

• Allows Langara Library to securely provide single sign-on authentication. OpenAthens uses the same authentication system as other Langara resources like Brightspace.
• Allows the Langara Library to collect important usage data that informs our collections decisions.
• Allows us to pinpoint unauthorized access and block that specific user, rather than the whole college community losing access temporarily.
• OpenAthens provides the option to login directly from some publisher/journal sites.
• Some resources allow users to create personal accounts to save searches and citations, which can be synced with your OpenAthens account. Note that you do not need to create personal accounts on any library vendor website.

If you have links to library content in your Brightspace courses, you will need to update those links. For more information, see the Linking to Resources section of this guide.

Some publisher websites allow for users to directly log in. If you happen to be browsing online and find yourself on a publisher website looking to read an article, for example, look for a login link. Different publishers use different terminology:

• “Login through your institution”
• "OpenAthens"
• "Federated login"
• or even just "Sign In"

You will often be asked to find your organization, in which case you should enter Langara College and you will be brought to the Langara OpenAthens login screen. Sometimes there will be a direct OpenAthens login, however this will be for those with an individual OpenAthens account, not via their institution. When given the option, always search for our institution.

Please note that we do not have a subscription with every publisher, and even if you can log in to a publisher website that does not mean that we have access to all content on that site.