Pre-Solicitation Number: HHS-NIH-OD-OLAO-SS-19-012
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THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT, NOT A SOLICITATION FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. A SOLICITATION DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED AND PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE REQUESTED.

The National Institutes of Health intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Elsevier B.V., Radarweg 29, Amsterdam 1043 NX NLD for web on-line access service to Elsevier's Science Direct®, Scopus® and EMBASE® databases as well as access to online journals and books published or produced by Elsevier. This access will be made available to NIH community as well as HHS staff. This is a critical information source for the researchers, clinicians and administrative staff of NIH, and other HHS agencies.

No solicitation exists for this requirement. The proposed contract action is for services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 6.302. The product is a commercial item as defined in FAR Part 2.101. The period of performance shall be for one twelve (12) month period, with options to renew for four (4) successive twelve-month periods.

It is believed that Elsevier B.V. is the sole source for this requirement under the authority of U.S.C. 253(c)(1) as set forth in the Federal Acquisitions Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1 "Only one responsible source and no other supplies and services will satisfy agency requirements" because of the following: Elsevier B.V. is the sole owner of "Science Direct", the only known source of the Elsevier titles on the world wide web; Elsevier developed the "Science Direct" on-line services and has exclusive proprietary rights to sell, distribute or provide online access to Elsevier's Science Direct and it's other databases.

Below is the Draft Statement of Work. This is NOT A SOLICITATION FOR COMPETIVE PROPOSALS. Interested parties may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement OR submit proposals which demonstrates their ability to supply the services described herein OR provide a capability statement that demonstrate how other potential databases can meet the requirements described. The capability statement and any other information furnished must be in writing and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow the Government to determine if the party can meet all of the requirements of the Statement of Work. Capability Statements and related materials must be received by the Contract Specialist, no later than September 20, 2019 at 11 a.m. EST.

Written responses received after this date and time will not be accepted. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based on the responses received is solely within the discretion of the government. The information received will be considered solely for the purpose of whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Address responses via email only to the attention of: O. Joy Ajao, The National Institutes of Health, OLAO, Office of Acquisitions, email address: [email protected]

DRAFT STATEMENT OF WORK

PROJECT TITLE: Access to Elsevier's "ScienceDirect" Online Services

I. Statement of Work

A. Background Information

For the past sixteen years, the NIH Library has provided access to over 1300 journals in a wide range of scientific, technical and medical subjects through its contract with Elsevier for ScienceDirect®. For the past decade, the contract also included access and use rights to the Scopus®, EMBASE®, and Reaxys® databases, online reference works, and thousands of online books published or produced by Elsevier. Each year well over two million articles are downloaded from ScienceDirect® by NIH researchers and hundreds of thousands of searches are conducted on the databases. Links from PubMed, Web of Science® the Elsevier databases, and the NIH Library website allow NIH staff to connect directly to the articles in ScienceDirect® following a search of the various sites. ScienceDirect® and the other resources included in this contract allow DLS to provide enhanced and timely access to information NIH staff need to perform their work whether they are intramural researchers or extramural program administrators. Feedback from NIH and HHS researchers, clinicians and administrators indicate that the easy accessibility of critical information made possible by providing electronic access to Elsevier eJournals, eBooks and the Scopus®, Embase®, and Reaxys® databases has increased their productive work time because of the time saved identifying and retrieving relevant content.

B. Objectives

The specific objective of this requirement requires the contractor to continue to provide the NIH and the HHS agency staff served by the NIH Library (DLS) access to the electronic version of select Elsevier journals including Cell Press titles, through its web interface ScienceDirect®. Access will be cumulative for articles published in the journals since 1995 or the first year a journal was offered on the ScienceDirect® platform. The contractor is also required to continue to provide access to other databases and journals as outlined under the "specific requirements" section of this SOW.

II. Services to be performed

A. General Requirements

1. Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, materials, equipment and facilities needed to perform the Statement of Work below.

2. All work under this contract shall be monitored by the Project Officer.

B. Specific Requirements

Specifically, the contractor shall:

1. Provide the NIH and the HHS agency staff served by the NIH Library (DLS) access to the electronic version of select Elsevier journals, including Cell Press titles, through its web interface ScienceDirect®. Access will be cumulative for articles published in the journals since 1995 or the first year a journal was offered on the ScienceDirect® platform, based upon previous investments.

2. The contractor shall also provide options for continued unlimited access to the Scorpus®, Embass® and Reaxys® databases for NIH and HHS staff. The contractor shall provide options for adding access to Elsevier online tools (including, but not limited to SciVal®, Pathway Studio®, Quosa® and Scopus® data sets) for NIH and HHS staff. The contractor shall also provide options for text data mining (TDM) for NIH and HHS staff.

3. The contractor also shall provide options for acquiring eBooks, online reference works, and backfiles of selected journals (journal articles published prior to 1995). Options should factor in all previous investments in print and digital subscriptions, as well as previous archive backfile purchases. The contractor shall provide a 90-day trial period for eBook acquisitions.

4. The contractor may also provide options to include all Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies with access to the same resources as identified in this requirement. The contractor may also provide options for including existing subscriptions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) into this agreement.

5. The contractor shall provide an option for DLS to add new titles as the contractor adds to its holdings through acquisition or publication of a new title. The contractor also shall provide an option for DLS to cancel selected journal titles should its funding be reduced.

C. Government Responsibilities

1. The Government will be responsible for providing an interface via web links for the NIH community to access the Elsevier "ScienceDirect" website.

2. NIH will be responsible for creating a system to validate security for entrance into the website.

3. Upon signature by the Government, the contractor license agreement will be incorporated into the contract.

D. Reporting Requirements and Deliverables

1. The contractor shall regularly provide the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) with monthly usage statistics for individual journal titles as well as aggregated use data for eJournals, eBooks, and databases, complying with industry standards such as COUNTER and SUSHI.

2. Monthly usage data shall be broken out separately for NIH and for the individual HHS agencies served by the NIH Library/DLS. Each report should include title, ISSN, eISSN, monthly usage, YTD usage, and an indication as to whether it is a subscribed title or a Freedom Collection title.

3. Use by selected NIH institutes may also be required when that use is identifiable, e.g. from IP range or log in.

4. A quarterly report detailing all titles being provided through this contract shall be provided. This report should include the title, ISSN, eISSN, publishing status, journal title URL, and any status-related comments.