OpenAthens has announced that OverDrive, one of the world’s largest digital content providers, has joined the OpenAthens access management federation. OverDrive took the business decision so it can more easily scale access to libraries in the education and healthcare sectors, creating a more seamless experience for users worldwide, added OpenAthens.
Based in the US, OverDrive works with more than 92,000 public libraries, schools, colleges and universities, and corporates in 115 countries. Its range of services include the Libby reading app, Sora reading platform and Kanopy streaming platform.
Following the pandemic, more organizations are investing in wellbeing and professional development resources to support their staff, reduce sickness absence and improve retention. OverDrive aims to support education and healthcare organizations by delivering relevant content at point of need via the Libby reading app.
One reason for OverDrive’s move to the federated access model is to support the NHS, one of the world’s largest healthcare providers, added OpenAthens. Previously, OverDrive supported single sign-on via multiple one-to-one connections which large and complex organizations would struggle to support. OverDrive is increasingly being used by NHS trust libraries to provide wellbeing and professional development for staff to access anytime, anywhere.
OpenAthens says key benefits of joining include:
- Scalable, seamless access to more industries and organizations through the OpenAthens access management federation
- Improved security: OpenAthens helps protect published content by working with publishers and library organizations to identify and act on any signs of misuse.
- Reduced overheads: Federated access removes the need for multiple one-to-one connections for sub-organizations.
Founder and CEO Steve Potash said: “At OverDrive, we believe that knowledge and educational resources should be easily accessible. Joining the OpenAthens Federation is a natural extension of our mission to connect people with the content they need, when and where they need it. By streamlining access for organizations in the education and healthcare sectors, we’re not only enhancing user experience but also helping institutions like the NHS make meaningful impacts on their communities through seamless, secure access to digital resources.”
OverDrive’s mission that all people should have equal access to explore new ideas and enrich their lives through digital content aligns closely with OpenAthens core values of creating simple, secure access to content and knowledge, added the organisation.
Jon Bentley, commercial director at OpenAthens commented: “OpenAthens connects millions of people each month, securely, to high quality digital resources. It's fantastic that one of the most used resources in our communities, OverDrive, is joining the OpenAthens Federation to help manage access.”
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