DCS, CLA and COVID-19

In March everyone’s work life and personal lives were massively upheaved by the need for us all to self-isolate where possible.

For universities this meant closing down campuses and for a lot of universities and higher education institutions this meant a new focus on remote learning and remote learning tools.

CLA’s Digital Content Store (DCS) is one of the most popular technology tools in higher education, with 123 institutions currently using the DCS.

For many, they are relying on the DCS content and repository more than ever.

CLA have created some useful FAQs about how the DCS and its development are continuing to operate, even under self-isolation. It’s updated as information changes and offers tips for how to share content, how to analyse usage and how to quickly react to changes (such as having to change authentication systems – if needed).

The FAQ can be found here: https://cla.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/sections/360002057818-DCS-CLA-and-COVID-19

They cover the following topics:

• Will CLA and the DCS be able to continue to operate while we are being asked to self-isolate?
• How is EHESS affected, can the British Library still support outsourced scanning? UPDATED 25.03.20
• What if I need to outsource a scan from outside the DCS to add to the DCS?
• What about the content in the DCS, is the Data Centre secure?
• What happens if there is disruption to authentication systems?
• I am interested in seeing student engagement during this period. And how many requests are being made. How can I do this?

If you are interested in any other topics that we could add, please get in touch.

The DCS and CLA remain operational during this time and if you have any questions or suggestions on what we can do to help please do let us know by contacting intouch@cla.co.uk.

About the Author

David has been a Product Manager for the DCS at CLA since August 2017, previously working in the Education and Operations Teams in CLA since 2008. Outside of work David enjoys writing, reading, gaming (currently obsessed with the new Red Dead Redemption), and films.

You can find out more about the Digital Content Store here.