The AIS Desk Staff LibGuide: This Week at the AIS Desks

Open Athens at UAL

Starting November 17th, 2025, UAL will slowly be transitioning its resources to Open Athens and away from EZProxy. What this means for staff is we may seen a slight increase in questions surrounding authenticating for resources off campus. 

Here are a few go to answers for some regularly asked questions regarding authenticating through Open Athens (OA):
Q: How will I know which sources have already been moved to OA?
A: The library will maintain a list of databases that have been moved to OA in the A-Z Database list, you can sort by OA filter, and there will be an icon next to the source indicating that it has been moved. 

Q: Can I log in without going to the library website and logging in?
A: Yes! In resources that have been moved over patrons will not have to log in to the library website while off campus to access resources. In the resource itself there will be an option to log in through Institutional Login (wording may very). There the patron will select "University of Arizona" as their institution (NOT UA Global Campus). If UA subscribes to the source, it will become available to the patron. If not, suggest InterLibrary Loan.

Q: Why Open Athens?
A: Improved Security and improved user convenience! Open Athens is more secure and it easier to access resources directly through the database/publisher instead of needing to authenticate every time they browse or search through our catalog. 

If a patron has a question about the transition to Open Athens, you can direct them to the public Open Athens FAQ or you can direct them to the Contact Us form/create a ticket over chat.