UK Access Management Federation

The UK Access Management Federation is a group of UK educational institutions and e-resource service providers (e.g. EDINA, MIMAS, JSTOR). It controls access to services which have implemented a new identity management system called shibboleth. We have joined the Federation so that University members can continue to access these resources. 

We are continuing to use Athens as a gateway to these resources to provide familiar logging in facilities for University members. At present only a few databases have withdrawn direct Athens access, but we expect more databases to switch to shibboleth over the next few years.

How do I access a resource via the Federation?

When you try to access a shibboleth-controlled resource you will be taken to another web page. This is known as the WAYF - as it effectively asks Where Are You From?

Simply type "Reading" into the search box or select "University of Reading" from the list of institutions and click on the Select button.

You will then be directed (via the Reading Athens Cookie) to our login page. Just login with your University username and password.

Example

The MediaHub resource has uses shibboleth access via the UK Federation.

When you click on the option to login via the UK Federation you will see this screen:

Type "Reading" into the search box and select University of Reading when it appears, or select it from the list, and click on the "Select" button

If you have the Reading Athens cookie installed on your machine you will see this screen directing you to the Reading login page:

Login with your University username and password.

If you do not see the above screen you need to Download the Reading Athens Cookie and try again.

Help 

If you have any problems please fill in our E-resources problem report form

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