Reading List Tenders and the DCS

If your institution is considering tendering for a new Reading List provider, or reviewing your current Reading List software, we recommend that all DCS users ask about the following as part of their tender process. 

1. Does your system integrate with the DCS?
2. Does your system allow requests to automatically be sent to the DCS by the list creator?
3. Does your system allow institutions to set which Reading List roles are able to send requests to the DCS (i.e. academics, subject librarians etc.)?
4. Does your system notify the Digitisation Team when a request has been made into the DCS (does this link straight to the DCS request using the Request ID)?
5. Does your system enable courses that aren't in the DCS to be automatically added at the point a request is initially made?
6. Does your system allow course data to flow from the Reading List to the DCS using the DCS Course API (i.e. student numbers, length of course, status of course etc.)
7. Does your system automatically pull links from completed DCS requests to add these to the Reading List, where the request originated in the DCS?
8. Can your system read the DCS to pull links into the system that did not originate in the Reading List (i.e. by use of Request ID or bibliographic details)?
9. Does your system allow requests to be pulled back into the Reading List straight away?
10. Can you demonstrate the DCS / Reading List integration with your system?

We recommend all HEIs get as much information about the integration as possible, and talk to CLA, as well as the provider. Providers may wish to only recommend their own workflow, so it's important that users are aware of all their options before making decisions.

We recommend sharing this tender article with your acquisition team / Reading List team as soon as you go to tender or start a review process. It might help to share this now, in anticipation of any review in the future.