This is a COMBINED SYNOPSIS/SOLICITATION for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6 as supplemented with the additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; a written solicitation will not be issued. PAPER COPIES OF THIS SOLICITATION ARE NOT AVAILABLE. The Request for Quotation/reference number is FDA-SOL-2008-1038595. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires an unlimited site license to EMBASE, in accordance with the below statement of work. Period of Performance: January 2008 through December 2008. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Contractor's site. The NAICS code is 519130 and the Small Business Standard is 500 employees. This solicitation documents and incorporates provisions and clauses in effect through FAC 2005-23. It is the responsibility of the contractor to be familiar with the applicable clauses and provisions. The clauses may be accessed in full text at these addresses: www.acqnet.gov. The provision 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors-Commercial applies to this acquisition. Offeror's should complete their representations and certifications at Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) at http://orca.bpn.gov. The Food and Drug Administration requests responses from qualified sources capable of provided these services in accordance with the statement of work. FAR provision 52.212-2, Evaluation-Commercial Items applies - All offers will be offers will be evaluated on technical factors and price with technical being more important than price. Technical factors will be how the product conforms to the statement of work. Offerors may include any warranty provisions and site licenses as applicable for quotations. FAR Provision, 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications applies, if the contractor is not registered in ORCA, the vendor shall complete and submit with offer. FAR Clauses 52.212-4 and 52.212-5 apply. The FAR clauses cited in the clause are applicable to this acquisition: 52.219-28, 52.222-3, 52.222-21, 52.222-26, 52.222-36, 52.222-36, 52.222-50, 52.225-13, 52.232-33, and 52.239-1. Contractor unit prices, when incorporated into a Government contract, will be released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) without further notice to the contractor submitter. If the Contractor takes issue with the release, it should submit its proposal data with the appropriate legends and explain in detail why such data cannot be released as a public record under the Freedom of Information Act. Offers are due on January 30, 2008 at 1:00pm (Rockville, MD, local time) and may be submitted electronically - submission less than 5Mb - to Patrice Coleman, Contract Specialist, at [email protected]. Ms. Coleman may be contacted at (301) 827-7169 - no collect calls accepted. The Contracting Officers below may be contacted if Ms. Coleman is unavailable. Statement of Work: 1.0 Scope and Purpose 1.1 The FDA Biosciences Library requires an online site license via IP web access to Embase.com. Site license provides unlimited searching to over 11 million bibliographic records from Embase and Medline international pharmacological and biomedical literature. The web site includes an easy to use interface with the following search forms - quick search, advanced search, field search, drug search, disease search and article search. Customers will also be able to limit their cross searching to humans, in English, priority journals, priority journals with abstracts, animals, search by the date the records were added to the system and dedup retrieval sets. We require the ability of customers to establish unlimited ?alerts? on various topics and have the results emailed to them by registering for a password. Customers are able to quickly navigate to the full-text of articles based on the electronic journals the FDA Biosciences Library subscribes to annually. Access is 24/7 for Agency staff. 2.0 Specific Requirements 2.1 The FDA requires a site license with unlimited access to Embase with the search templates and parameters provided above with unlimited email alerting service. 2.2 For the above, the contractor shall provide the following: a. A site license for 24/7 desktop web access, via IP b. Customer service shall be available to troubleshoot website/connectivity issues via phone, email, etc. c. Researchers and librarians need access to all of the resources below and must be able to search selected resources with one query and one interface. d. Customers require a single access interface to search across multiple resources. This type of simultaneous searching reduces the need for multiple searches and saves the agency time and the cost of purchasing multiple print subscriptions through various contractors. 3.0 Description of Work 3.1 Ideally, the FDA Biosciences Library prefers to search across one platform rather than multiple platforms. This method provides a more efficient manner for FDA researchers by saving of overall search time necessary for finding necessary information and performing the research work necessary to meet the mission of FDA. The contractor is expected to troubleshoot access as needed, but it will not be necessary to respond during non-operational hours as defined above. 3.2 Deliverables: 3.2.1 Ideally the FDA Biosciences Library prefers to search across one platform rather than multiple platforms in order to meet the needs of FDA researchers and save the Agency search time in order for researchers to perform the work in a timely manner to meet the mission of FDA. If a plug-in, additional software or recommended software is required for optimal use, please include specific requirements. Contractor will address any questions or problems encountered when using this product with supported software or hardware. The contractor shall provide usage statistics on a monthly basis. The format of the usage statistics is provided via email and should include number of sessions, total number of searches and number of searches per type of search. Contractor shall provide online tutorials or onsite training at one of the Library?s locations on a quarterly basis at no additional charge from the flat fee purchase. 4. Period of Performance Contract will commence on the date the contractor receives notification of award from the Office of Acquisitions and Grants. It will run for 12 months post date of award notification. 5. Payment Payment will be made only after satisfactory completion of concrete deliverables/service (i.e. access is available agency-wide via a static URL - IP access). Payment will be made in two installments. The first will be made once access has been established for the first 3 months and the second payment will include the remaining nine months. Contractor will submit two invoices that include the requirements listed below. Funding is currently only available for the initial payment, therefore, the second payment is subject to FAR Clause, 52.232-18, Availability of Funds. Payment for the deliverables/services will occur only after and in the following order: a. a purchase order has been generated by the FDA contracting office. The contractor shall NOT provide service to the FDA until a purchase order has been received. This is considered an illegal procurement by the government. b. the FDA is being provided access to the resource c. within 30 days of the FDA Office of Financial Services (OFS) having received and accepted a proper invoice as defined below. A proper invoice from the contractor shall contain the following: ? Invoice date ? Invoice name ? FDA account number issued by the contractor ? FDA purchase order number ? Description including price, quantity, discount, shipping and performance terms ? Tax Identification Number (TIN) ? Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and/or remittance information ? Company contact name, title and direct telephone number Omission of one or more of the above requirements will result in the invoice being rejected. The 30-day window for OFS to pay on the invoice will begin again once a proper invoice is received. The contractor shall address the invoice to the office noted in the purchase order. The contractor shall email a courtesy copy of the invoice to the Library Management Analyst. 5.1 Products to be delivered via email or mail 5.2 Static URL, password information (if necessary), product training, technical support numbers, account number, promotional materials, monthly usage statistics 6. Place of Delivery or Performance 6.1 The products provided shall be hosted by the contractor server, but will be available via the Library?s intranet page, agency-wide. 7.0 Section 508 The contractor shall provide paperwork, called a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), regarding the 508 Compliance status of the product(s) at the same time the bid is offered. For more information about 508 Compliance, please visit the following site: http://508.hhs.gov/vendors.htm The below links will provide overview and assistance to what is needed. A service still must be 508 compliant. The purpose of this part is to implement section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 794d). Section 508 requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology, Federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. Section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. So if federal employees or the public will use EIT that we procure, or develop, then it has to be accessible. Technical standards that apply to web-based resources are provided below: Subpart B -- Technical Standards ? 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications. (a) A text equivalent for every non-text element shall be provided (e.g., via "alt", "longdesc", or in element content). (b) Equivalent alternatives for any multimedia presentation shall be synchronized with the presentation. (c) Web pages shall be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color, for example from context or markup. (d) Documents shall be organized so they are readable without requiring an associated style sheet. (e) Redundant text links shall be provided for each active region of a server-side image map. (f) Client-side image maps shall be provided instead of server-side image maps except where the regions cannot be defined with an available geometric shape. (g) Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables. (h) Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers. (i) Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame identification and navigation. (j) Pages shall be designed to avoid causing the screen to flicker with a frequency greater than 2 Hz and lower than 55 Hz. (k) A text-only page, with equivalent information or functionality, shall be provided to make a web site comply with the provisions of this part, when compliance cannot be accomplished in any other way. The content of the text-only page shall be updated whenever the primary page changes. (l) When pages utilize scripting languages to display content, or to create interface elements, the information provided by the script shall be identified with functional text that can be read by assistive technology. (m) When a web page requires that an applet, plug-in or other application be present on the client system to interpret page content, the page must provide a link to a plug-in or applet that complies with ?1194.21(a) through (l). (n) When electronic forms are designed to be completed on-line, the form shall allow people using assistive technology to access the information, field elements, and functionality required for completion and submission of the form, including all directions and cues. (o) A method shall be provided that permits users to skip repetitive navigation links. (p) When a timed response is required, the user shall be alerted and given sufficient time to indicate more time is required. Note to ?1194.22: 1. The Board interprets paragraphs (a) through (k) of this section as consistent with the following priority 1 Checkpoints of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0) (May 5, 1999) published by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium: Section 1194.22 Paragraph WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint (a) 1.1 (b) 1.4 (c) 2.1 (d) 6.1 (e) 1.2 (f) 9.1 (g) 5.1 (h) 5.2 (i) 12.1 (j) 7.1 (k) 11.4 2. Paragraphs (l), (m), (n), (o), and (p) of this section are different from WCAG 1.0. Web pages that conform to WCAG 1.0, level A (i.e., all priority 1 checkpoints) must also meet paragraphs (l), (m), (n), (o), and (p) of this section to comply with this section. WCAG 1.0 is available at http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/WAI-WEBCONTENT-19990505. Subpart D -- Information, Documentation, and Support ? 1194.41 Information, documentation, and support. (a) Product support documentation provided to end-users shall be made available in alternate formats upon request, at no additional charge. (b) End-users shall have access to a description of the accessibility and compatibility features of products in alternate formats or alternate methods upon request, at no additional charge. (c) Support services for products shall accommodate the communication needs of end-users with disabilities.

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