Remote Access to Library Resources via OpenAthens

To comply with vendor licensing agreements and accessibility best practices, please link directly to electronic content rather than posting downloaded files, such as pdfs. 

Persistent Links/URLs are the best way to link to library resources.

• The URLs from the address bar may work temporarily but are likely to be inaccessible at a later date or from off campus. Don't copy the URL from the address bar unless instructed. 
• Also called durable, permanent, stable, standalone link, document URL, or permalink
• Typically contain UMB information in the URL so the resource will know to route you through UMB access.
• Some databases provide persistent links with this information in the URL and others do not

With OpenAthens authentication, the syntax for the links to library resources has changed. If you have any persistent links/URLs with the term, ezproxy.lib.umb.edu ,saved or bookmarked or shared on your reading lists, you will need to update them (unless they're one of the handful of resources remaining on ezproxy).

Many of the old EZproxy links will continue working until January 2024, but we suggest that you update your links as soon as possible, especially since there are several popular resources that can no longer use ezproxy.

Use the Athenizer Tool below to strip out the ezproxy string and add the OpenAthens prefix:

The URLs will be encoded (which means, certain special characters will be replaced by percentage signs and codes), which is best practice, but not necessary in most cases. Keep in mind that there are some content providers which won't work with the tool since they don’t use the OpenAthens prefix.  EBSCO, Gale, Kanopy, Proquest (except Pivot, History Vault, and African American Heritage), Proquest Ebook Central, Digital Theatre Plus, and Skillsoft URLS will not be using any sort of prefix.  In those cases, try taking out the proxy with our Deproxifier:

Create persistent links to databases

Find the Share icon beside the database and copy the link provided.  

Create persistent links for books, articles, films

One way is to find the resource in UMBrella and use the “Permalink” option. This link will point to the UMBrella record, which will have the most up-to-date links. Your umbrella.lib.umb.edu permalinks do not have to be updated with the switch to OpenAthens. 

Some publishers and content providers provide persistent links. Find where they are in the below chart.

If the publisher/content provider isn’t listed, it is usually pretty safe to just copy the url from the address bar and to make it work off-campus, prefix it with the OpenAthens prefix (unless they're one of the handful of resources remaining on ezproxy):  https://go.openathens.net/redirector/umb.edu?url=

 For example:

https://go.openathens.net/redirector/umb.edu?url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9780691232768/html

Or use our handy Athenizer tool!  

No Prefix Please!

For the following databases, do not add any prefix. They will use the account/institution information in the link to prompt authentication. If you need to remove ezproxy.lib.umb.edu from an old link, use our Deproxifier. 

We recommend the database platforms' built-in persistent link tools, which are typically accompanied by the label, permalink or share link. These persistent links will typically have account info in them.