Overview
The Peres Academic Center is a multidisciplinary college in Israel serving more than 8,000 full-time students across diverse programs, including Business Administration (BA, MBA), Behavioral Sciences, Law (LLB), Nutritional Sciences, Educational and Clinical Psychology, and Organizational Consulting.
With 45 active researchers, 70 full-time lecturers, and administrative departments spanning Finance, Marketing, Library, Academic Affairs and more, the institution is committed to providing its community with seamless access to high-quality academic resources.
The library invests in a wide range of e-resources — including academic journals, databases and e-books — tailored to the needs of its departments and areas of specialization.
The Challenge: Secure and Simplified Authentication
With this range of e-resources, there came various challenges and complexities in providing access to users. The main concerns driving the search for a new authentication solution included:
- Password security concerns: The institution sought stronger protection for student and staff credentials.
- Limitations on database access: EZProxy restricted the number of e-resources accessible remotely.
- Complex login process: Without a unified authentication method, students often struggled with multiple passwords, leading to confusion and increased support needs.
The Solution: Implementing OpenAthens via EBSCO
In 2024, the institution began evaluating new authentication options. Based on recommendations from peer universities and colleges, OpenAthens quickly rose to the top of the list. OpenAthens is a modern single sign-on solution that offers users easy and secure access to e-resources with a single username and password, as well as an administrator dashboard for seamless account management and data retrieval. It provides a more stable and secure authentication experience than proxy services.
Implementation was carried out with support from EBSCO’s project team, with the following key milestones:
- Preparation phase: They had to begin by creating Microsoft 365 accounts for all students and faculty—a big but necessary step.
- Testing: In August and September, the library and IT teams worked with EBSCO to make sure OpenAthens links connected correctly to subscribed databases.
- Parallel access: To ease the transition, both EZProxy and OpenAthens ran side by side for several months.
- Final switch: On March 31, 2025, EZProxy was officially retired, and access was fully shifted to OpenAthens.
Users were notified well in advance, with opportunities to familiarize themselves with the new system prior to the final cutover.
Benefits & Results: Improved Security and User Experience
Although the implementation coincided with a challenging national context, the institution reported several key benefits:
- Improved security: Student and staff credentials are now better protected.
- Increased reliability: Access issues with certain databases were resolved.
- Simplified user experience: After an initial adjustment period, students and lecturers adapted well to the new login system.
Looking Ahead
The Peres Academic Center considers the project a success, with students and lecturers expressing satisfaction and no ongoing complaints.
The next milestone is the full implementation of Single Sign-On (SSO) to further streamline the user experience across platforms.
Today, after the successful installation, we can confidently say that the decision to switch to using OpenAthens via EBSCO was the right one.
Today, after the successful installation, we can confidently say that the decision to switch to using OpenAthens via EBSCO was the right one.