AARC toolkit for libraries and library service providers

If you work in a library or a library service provider and you have an interest in learning more about federated access and what it can do for you and your users, this page is for you.

  • Are you not sure what federated access is?
  • Are you still not convinced about the benefits?
  • Or are you not sure what you can do yourself?

These training, informational and technical resources will help you.

Try it now!

The AARC project has piloted solutions for common problems. The solutions are available for immediate use.

If you need…

Now you can…

Centrally managed access for consortia

> Manage publisher contracts centrally, as a consortium.
> Save time implementing and managing: no need to establish many one-to-one trust relationships between IdPs and SPs.
> Retain control of branding and all policies.
> Produce accurate statistics reports quickly and easily.

Guest access for walk-in users

> Allow all users, even those without institutional accounts (i.e. ‘walk-in’ guest users), to access federated e-resources.
> Configure or change settings via an intuitive web-based interface.

Federated access to all resources

> Deliver quick federated access to all e-resources, even those which currently only support IP-based authentication, using AARC’s set-up of the EZProxy software.
> Give users one consistent method of authentication to access both federated and non federated e-resources.

Training materials for library staff

Training module: Federations 101

The training module Federations 101 will take you through the basic principles and questions. Includes information, supporting movies and useful links.

Training module for library service providers

Are you more into the technical field and actively contributing to services yourself? The training module for service providers will help you to make your resources and services available to users who are authenticated using an authentication and authorisation infrastructure (AAI).

Roleplay: mastering the workflow

Would you and your team like to learn about how federated access works? This roleplay game covers the basics in a playful way.

More about federated access

Infosheet: Federated access information for libraries

Are you looking for basic information on federated access, the benefits and what you can do to take the lead?

Poster: Federated Single Sign-On made easy!

How federated access can help you and your users.

Frequently Asked Questions

We compiled a set of questions and answers tailored for people working in libraries, from front desk to IT support, and for library service providers.

How to join eduGAIN as a service provider

eduGAIN is an interfederation service that interconnects academic identity federations around the world, and so interconnects service providers and identity providers.

For an explanation of the benefits to library service providers and how to join, download the leaflet “How to reach global customers with Federated Identity Management” (PDF).

Or see eduGAIN’s step-by-step instruction ‘How to join eduGAIN as a service provider’. Please note that this route implies that a service provider will join a national federation first.