Kelechi Okere
Global Director, Seamless Access Initiative
Elsevier
Emily McElroy
Dean, McGoogan Library of Medicine
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Russell Palmer
Assistant Director for GALILEO Support Services
University System of Georgia/GALILEO
Federated access to library resources is not a new thing; in fact, it’s been around for about 15 years. But it has primarily been looked at as a backup to IP access and never something that could potentially replace IP as a primary access method or as the only access method. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged this historical view with the inaccessibility of IP access on so many campuses. A partnership with more than 15 libraries around the world, including a U.S. consortium, is helping Elsevier test the feasibility of federated authentication as the sole method of access to library resources. The study involved examining and making improvements to six areas: user experience, administration and management of access, customer support, granular (e.g. departmental level) usage reporting, security and privacy. Join two of the library partners as well as a member of the Elsevier project team to discuss why and how the libraries began working towards a move to federated authentication-only.