The Northeastern Libraries are beginning the process of replacing our authentication system. This is the system where, if you’ve used library resources from home or off-campus, you enter your myNEU username and password to access e-journals, databases, and other online resources.
The good news?
There’s a lot of good news, in fact it’s almost all good. First and foremost,
your login will not change and your access to content will not change. The only thing you’ll notice right away, if you’re doing research off-campus, is that the login screen itself looks a little more updated, similar to the university G-apps and
Lynda.com login screens.
So where you used to see this:
You’ll start seeing this:
The reason for this change is that is the library is becoming more tightly integrated with the Northeastern authentication system using a new standard called “shibboleth” that facilitates collaboration and identity management across many different organizations. This change is part of a larger upgrade in the library’s technology infrastructure taking place over the summer of 2013.
The benefits to you may seem small at first. The chief one is that if you log in to one of the shibboleth-compliant systems at Northeastern, or licensed by Northeastern, like Lynda.com, you won’t need to log in again to get to others, like library resources during each browsing session. As more e-journal and database publishers become part of the shibboleth standard, you’ll be able to carry your identity with you and move more seamlessly on the web with fewer login requirements and fewer different logins and passwords to remember. For example, you’ll log in once to manage saved citations in our discovery search and won’t need to log in again to manage e-books in eBrary, or saved courses in Lynda.com.
In the long term, the benefits increase as more organizations participate, facilitating inter-institutional collaboration as well as the management of personal accounts and settings with all kinds of content providers.
The downside?
There is one hangup: The Northeastern-specific URLs that you may have bookmarked for logging in to your favorite library databases and other content are going to change. Between now and July 1 both old and new URLs will work. But after July 1, you’ll need to update bookmarks and other links. We’ll be sure to remind you about this, and we will be able to assist you with updating your URLs. There will also be a self-service tool on our web site to convert URLs into the appropriate format for you.
Finally, the University’s Blackboard support team will help ensure any links to library-licensed course readings in Blackboard are updated for you and your students who are off-campus.
We’re looking forward to this upgrade, and would like also to thank the University’s Identity Management staff who worked with us to make it possible!
You’ll start seeing this:
The reason for this change is that is the library is becoming more tightly integrated with the Northeastern authentication system using a new standard called “shibboleth” that facilitates collaboration and identity management across many different organizations. This change is part of a larger upgrade in the library’s technology infrastructure taking place over the summer of 2013.
The benefits to you may seem small at first. The chief one is that if you log in to one of the shibboleth-compliant systems at Northeastern, or licensed by Northeastern, like Lynda.com, you won’t need to log in again to get to others, like library resources during each browsing session. As more e-journal and database publishers become part of the shibboleth standard, you’ll be able to carry your identity with you and move more seamlessly on the web with fewer login requirements and fewer different logins and passwords to remember. For example, you’ll log in once to manage saved citations in our discovery search and won’t need to log in again to manage e-books in eBrary, or saved courses in Lynda.com.
In the long term, the benefits increase as more organizations participate, facilitating inter-institutional collaboration as well as the management of personal accounts and settings with all kinds of content providers.
The downside?
There is one hangup: The Northeastern-specific URLs that you may have bookmarked for logging in to your favorite library databases and other content are going to change. Between now and July 1 both old and new URLs will work. But after July 1, you’ll need to update bookmarks and other links. We’ll be sure to remind you about this, and we will be able to assist you with updating your URLs. There will also be a self-service tool on our web site to convert URLs into the appropriate format for you.
Finally, the University’s Blackboard support team will help ensure any links to library-licensed course readings in Blackboard are updated for you and your students who are off-campus.
We’re looking forward to this upgrade, and would like also to thank the University’s Identity Management staff who worked with us to make it possible!