Does your IT department/MFA system support physical security keys? (Like Yubikeys or Duo physical tokens.) These have their own limitations, but wouldn't be tied to a specific phone so may help in some of your scenarios.
Best,
Matthew Murray (he/they)
Data Librarian, Teaching Assistant Professor
Center for Research Data & Digital Scholarship
University Libraries
University of Colorado Boulder
Matthew.Murray-2_at_colorado.edu
orcid.org/0000-0001-5799-8471
I support undocumented students, staff, and their families.
CU Boulder acknowledges that it is located on the traditional territories and ancestral homelands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ute, and many other Indigenous nations.
-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries <CODE4LIB_at_LISTS.CLIR.ORG> On Behalf Of CODE4LIB automatic digest system
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:55:45 -0400
From: Alicia Ikerd <aliciaikerd_at_DEPAUW.EDU>
Subject: Shared Library Accounts & Multi-Factor Authentication
Hi Code4Lib Community,
We currently use a handful of shared accounts across our library for different systems/workflows. As time has passed we've seen an influx of multi-factor authentication requirements across our accounts/systems. We inquired with our IT about bypassing or disabling this, but unfortunately, we cannot. We have successfully tied some department accounts to department phones. However, we still have a couple of accounts that are more free floating accounts and thus hard to tie to a specific phone. I've included some example scenarios below. What are other libraries doing to work around these MFA issues with shared accounts?
- Faculty Librarian Applicants: In the past we provided a login/password
to applicants so they could access our e-resources off campus when
preparing an instruction presentation. Currently, it would require our team
be available off hours on their personal phones to text a MFA code to an
applicant.
- Community Users: We used to have a user login/password to log a
community patron into and out of a library computer. Now, if we tie it to a
department phone our workers would have to run across the library to
retrieve the MFA phone prompt from the access services phone.
- I'm aware some public libraries use software that generates
temporary usernames/passwords for community borrowers. We do not have that
software, and acquiring it anytime soon is unlikely.
We would love to hear your workflows and workarounds!
Thanks,
Alicia
--
Alicia Ikerd
Reference and Instruction Librarian
Coordinator of Library Technology
DePauw University
(765) 658-4410
Received on Thu Jul 23 2026 - 13:26:16 EDT