LTS Newsletter: November 2025
Welcome to Library Technology Service’s occasional newsletter for anyone interested in Harvard Library IT.
EZProxy Shutoff Schedule
With the successful implementation of OpenAthens across Harvard Library, LTS is preparing to decommission EZproxy in 2026. On May 31, 2026, EZproxy will be turned off for all Harvard Library resources. We are committed to helping library staff maintain seamless access to licensed e-resources for faculty, students, and researchers during this time.
This means that before May 31, 2026, any link using an EZproxy prefix or embedded proxy needs to be updated to an OpenAthens-compatible link. EZproxy links that are not updated prior to May 31, 2026, will stop working, so we encourage you to update them sooner rather than later!
To help facilitate these changes, LTS is providing an automated tool to transform your EZproxy links to OpenAthens-compatible links. Paste current links into the tool, and it will automatically transform them to OpenAthens links. The OpenAthens wiki also has information on manually updating links.
Wondering how to identify what links to update?
Any link using an EZproxy prefix or embedded proxy needs to be updated to an OpenAthens-compatible link.
You can identify these links by the presence of “ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu” in the URL.
Course reserves or Canvas links using HOLLIS permalinks do not require further action; they have automatically moved to OpenAthens.
Any resources using a URN beginning with "https://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource” will be automatically updated.
Check the LTS wiki page on decommissioning EZproxy for more details!
If you have any questions, please check the OpenAthens section on the LTS wiki for updates. For any other questions, please submit a ticket to LTS Support.
Meet the Team: Collections Explorer
Collections Explorer is an innovative, AI-driven search platform that’s reimagining how people discover Harvard’s distinctive collections. The platform is currently available in Public Beta and under active development. Behind the platform is a cross-functional team from Harvard Library and LTS:
UX Researcher and Designer: Jenny Rae Bailey
Software Engineers: Katie Amaral, Chris Axon, JJ Chen, Maura Meagher, and Doug Simon
Project Manager: Angela Kilsdonk
Portfolio Manager: Enrique Diaz
The team’s shared commitment to exploring new technologies that will make Harvard’s collections more open, usable, and engaging for everyone comes through each member’s experiences and motivations.
Jenny Rae Bailey, UX Researcher and Designer, is a Massachusetts resident with a background in public librarianship. She explains that, “Both of these perspectives are why I’m so excited about the general public goals behind this project. I know users of all kinds will be excited to find more ways to engage with the collections and with Harvard Library.” She adds, “I am particularly interested in facilitating easier access for the general public to Harvard Library resources. Creating easier access to special collections overall is also appealing, as these materials are notoriously difficult to find, use, and understand.”
JJ Chen, one of the project’s software engineers, observes that working on the project has been both a learning experience and a rewarding challenge. “I’ve been learning a lot about the various metadata standards and practices used in libraries and archives,” she explains. “This is data that I’m not used to working with, so there are many interesting challenges and solutions to think about.” Her hope is to “make library materials more approachable and accessible for our diverse audience of users. It would be awesome to hear, ‘I didn’t know Harvard Library had this, until I found it on Collections Explorer!’”
JJ’s curiosity and problem-solving mindset reflect the team’s larger approach of combining deep technical work with a shared excitement about what new discovery tools can make possible. Project Manager Angela Kilsdonk sees that same spirit of innovation reflected in the team’s work. “Collections Explorer is a unique opportunity to explore and innovate with AI in ways that directly benefit library users,” she says. “We’re learning as we go, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see how the team’s creativity and collaboration contribute to something that’s both innovative and deeply meaningful for discovery.”
As the team continues its work to integrate new data sources and refine search experiences, they are guided by collaboration, curiosity, and a shared belief in making discovery more human-centered.
Technical Overview of Collections Explorer
Last month, the Collections Explorer team provided a technical overview of the new platform. The talk is a deep dive into the technology used by Collections Explorer. Enjoy!
Support Team Roundup
As we approach the spring, we are updating library operating hours in Alma. If you have received an email to submit your library hours, please do so by November 21. Alma library hours affect library item due dates, so be sure to submit updated hours to avoid future due date discrepancies. If your library is planning on maintaining existing hours, please let support know. If you are not sure how to submit your library hours, please submit a ticket to LTS for more information on the process.
For Alma login liaisons - we have a new Alma login request form! Please update your bookmarks or saved documents to reflect the new form. You can find the new form on this wiki page, listed under Request an Alma Login Update/Change. If you have any feedback or questions on the form, please let LTS know.
Alma receives monthly upgrades with a few feature releases a year. November was a feature release month and introduced several enhancements. If you haven’t already, check out the Alma release notes for highlights of the new features. If you’re interested in learning even more about Alma workflows and tools, the Ex Libris LibGuides site contains many useful resources, links, videos, and training documents.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Support team!
What is Production Turnover?
As every new LTS-managed system or update nears completion, energy shifts from active development to planning how users will experience the new service in production and ensuring that we have solid systems in place to address issues that arise and provide support to users after the new tool goes live. This process, known as production turnover planning, involves project managers, developers, business owners and other key library stakeholders, together with the LTS Support team.
First the project team demonstrates the new system for LTS Support and business owners, walking through common functions and focusing on administrative tasks that the support team will maintain, such as user account permissions. We brainstorm likely questions from users, from known technical issues to changes in functionality or workflows. We decide on support workflows and escalation paths for issues that need further analysis, and we determine what documentation needs to be created and who will be responsible.
After the new service goes live, we regroup to review how the turnover has gone – what user questions surprised us, what concerns turned out not to be an issue at all, and what else we can refine to improve users’ experience in production.
ELUNA Learns
Did you know that the Harvard institutional membership with ELUNA provides access to all Harvard staff to an extensive series of online training? A great way to get some professional development in, either live or when you can fit watching the recordings into your schedule. Just enter Harvard University into the member field of the registration form to note our institutional membership.
On the ELUNA Learns webpage, you can register for future sessions or watch recorded past sessions on demand. Topics include: Data Visualization, E-Resource Management, Discovery, Content Management, Fulfillment, Workflows, Emerging Technologies, and Linked Open Data & AI.
“Library Technology Services Newsletter: November Edition,” Harvard Library, © 2025 by Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College is licensed under CC BY 4.0