EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) and the OpenAthens redirector
This guide will help you configure your EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) instance to work with the OpenAthens Redirector.
Whilst the OpenAthens service desk will always try to be helpful, they can only support the OpenAthens end. Information about EBSCO was correct at the time of writing.
Prerequisites
- Access to your EBSCO admin pages
- Access to the OpenAthens administration area at the domain level
Method
Look up your redirector prefix
Access the administration area as the domain administrator and navigate to the redirect link generator (Resources > Redirector link generator).
The part you are interested in is the bit like this: https://go.openathens.net/redirector/yourdomain.com?url=
Add your Redirector prefix to EBSCO Discovery Service
Even though the redirector is not a proxy, we can use the proxy support function in EDS to insert the redirector prefix
- Login to EBSCO admin (http://eadmin.ebscohost.com/)
- In the choose profile drop-down select the EBSCO Discovery Service (eds) option
- Go to: Linking section > Setup / Maintain proxies
- You need to add two new proxy definitions:
| Proxy ID | EBSCOFT |
| Proxy Name | EBSCO Fulltext Athens |
| Proxy URL | {targetURL}&authtype=shib&custid=YOUR_CUSTOMER_ID |
| Proxy ID | RedirectorOA |
| Proxy Name | Redirector Athens Proxy |
| Proxy URL | YOUR_REDIRECTOR_PREFIX{UrlEncode({targetURL})} |
Even though the OpenAthens redirector is neither a proxy nor called Athens, these names and IDs are fixed in EBSCO's code and must be entered exactly.
Recommendations from EBSCO
To apply the Redirector prefix to resources in your EDS, modify your root proxy settings as per their guide at: https://help.ebsco.com/interfaces/Full_Text_Finder/Holdings_Management_User_Guide/Selecting_a_Root_Proxy_Setting
To apply the Redirector prefix to persistent or custom links, follow their guide at: https://help.ebsco.com/interfaces/EBSCOadmin/Admin_User_Guide/how_can_I_embed_Proxy_Server_settings_in_EBSCOhost_URL
If having difficulty, your EBSCO support contact may be able to help: https://connect.ebsco.com/s/contactsupport