2025-SOW-Sole-Source-Subscription_Services_Contract_9_3_25__1.pdf

Statement of Work: Subscription Services for the National Library of Medicine

STATEMENT OF WORK

I. TITLE: Subscription Services for the National Library of Medicine

II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) in Bethesda, Maryland, is a part of the National

Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NLM, the world’s largest biomedical library, acquires and preserves biomedical literature from throughout the world in all formats and many languages. As a mandate in its authorizing legislation (Public

Law 84-941), NLM acquires library materials pertinent to medicine. The Collection

Development Program of the Collection Branch requires subscription services to build the

NLM modern biomedical literature collection, including print and electronic resources, and to support NLM products and services.

III. OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this contract is to obtain subscription services and management for biomedical literature published worldwide by multinational, commercial, governmental bodies, and non-commercial organizations, in various formats and languages.

IV. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

Anticipated period of performance will be for 6 (six) months, with the potential of an additional 6 (six) month extension.

09/29/2025 – 03/31/2026

V. SERVICES TO BE PERFORMED

A. General Requirements

1. Independently and not as an agent of the government, the Contractor shall furnish all necessary labor, materials, supplies, equipment and services, except as otherwise specified herein, to place new and renewal subscription orders on NLM’s behalf and to provide related services as set forth below for titles sold on subscription. The subscriptions include print and electronic formats. Subscriptions may be for print only

(or other physical format, such as DVD), print bundled with electronic access, or electronic only. Services related to acquiring and managing access to electronic resources/packages will also be required. (See attached title list.)

2. The Contractor must be capable of providing a consolidation service for supply of print issues as outlined with requirements below in Section C.

3. The Contractor must supply a machine-readable equivalent of their paper invoices in

EDI invoice message format, using EDIFACT, the international EDI standard.

4. The Contractor must have an online system, accessible for customer use via the

Internet. The following functionality shall be available:

a) Content and features:

1. bibliographic information for each publication including title, publisher, ISSN, E-ISSN, frequency and available formats

2. pricing models for available formats and/or packages

3. order information for each subscription including title, publisher, ISSN, E-

ISSN, frequency, price and format(s) acquired

4. invoice payment information for at least the current and previous year

5. list of outstanding claims (by title) including current status and number of times claimed

6. shipping information including list of issues supplied in current year’s shipments and expected dates of future issues

7. ability to add notes to renewals

8. ability to submit questions and track resolutions

b) Ability to search by:

1. title or series

2. ISSN; E-ISSN

3. customer order (NLM PO Line number)

4. vendor reference number

c) Output capabilities:

1. ability to produce EDI format invoices

2. ability to produce all deliverable reports in electronic format

3. ability to export data in spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel

4. ability to review shipment data

5. All invoicing, shipments, reports and other communication produced by the contractor shall bear the NLM Purchase Order line number cited on the original purchase order request, unless otherwise changed or modified.

6. The Contractor shall correctly maintain in its records information about negotiated prices for licensed online and print plus online subscriptions. The negotiated prices should be reflected in the Contractor’s subscription database and should be correctly stated in billing.

7. The Contractor shall have a Contingency Plan for continuity of contracted services in the event of disaster at any of its facilities. The Contractor must be capable of holding and storing consolidation shipments if an emergency onsite NLM results in the need for shipments to be held for an extended period of time.

8. All work under the contract shall be monitored by the Contracting Officer’s

Representative (COR) whose position is defined in the contract.

B. Subscription Services

The Contractor shall perform the work set forth below and shall be responsible for the professional quality and technical accuracy and for the coordination of all facets of such work. The Contractor shall without additional compensation correct or revise any errors or deficiencies in workmanship or other services.

1. New Subscription Orders

a) Orders for new subscriptions may be issued by NLM at any time during the year.

b) Orders shall be placed with the publisher within five (5) working days of receipt from NLM.

c) All subscriptions shall begin with the volume or date given on the order and in the quantity noted. If the starting volume or date is not the current subscription period for the title, then the Contractor shall supply prior volumes or issues as indicated on the order in addition to establishing a current subscription for the title. Prior volumes or years should be billed as separate subscriptions.

d) All annual or other indexes, special issues and unnumbered supplements, and other materials included in the basic subscription price shall be supplied automatically. Supplements which are not supplied on subscription should be brought to NLM's attention so that orders may be issued for their supply.

e) If multiple titles can be combined under one payment at a reduced charge and if all titles are ordered by NLM, the Contractor shall enter one payment at the combined rate and such payment will be counted as one subscription (Group

Title) for the terms of this contract.

f) NLM shall be notified promptly if a title is not available or cannot be supplied by the vendor. The notification shall state the reason why the material cannot be supplied. Once notified that it cannot supply the ordered material, the Contractor shall not ship without obtaining prior approval of NLM.

g) The vendor should attempt to adjust all subscriptions to a common expiration date of December 31, regardless of when during the calendar year the order was placed.

h) If the Contractor determines that the title is available free of charge, the

Contractor shall return the order to NLM, noting that the title is available free of charge.

i) If the Contractor determines that the title is not sold on subscription, the

Contractor shall return the order to NLM, noting that the title is not sold on subscription.

2. Renewal Orders

a) Based upon a review of subscriptions and instructions from NLM, the Contractor shall renew each NLM subscription annually for a one-year period unless and until the order is canceled by NLM.

b) The Contractor shall enter renewals for a one-year period.

3. Cancellations and Ceased Titles

a) The Contractor shall notify the publisher within five (5) working days of receipt from NLM of a request to cancel a subscription or reduce the number of copies of a title. NLM shall indicate the effective date/volume of the change.

b) When a title for which a subscription is placed under this contract ceases, the

Contractor agrees to make a refund in full to NLM of all amounts refunded by the publisher.

4. Title Changes

a) The Contractor shall notify NLM of title changes upon receipt of such information.

b) NLM will provide information about changes of title if NLM has information that is not listed in the Contractor’s database. Within five (5) working days of the receipt of such information, the Contractor shall update NLM’s order information in its files for each title noted by NLM as having changed.

c) If the change of title also involves a change of publisher, the Contractor shall notify NLM. The contractor and NLM must concur on the capability of the contractor to supply serials from those countries.

d) If the Contractor holds orders for two or more subscriptions and the titles merge, only one order shall be renewed, as indicated by NLM. The Contractor shall request verification from NLM which previous order number remains active.

5. Format and Subscription Option Changes

a) If a title ceases in print and continues as an online-only publication, the

Contractor shall notify NLM within five (5) working days of the receipt of such information.

b) Information about access to the online version shall be provided to NLM including price and whether or not a license is required.

c) If a print-only subscription option ceases to be offered by the publisher, the

Contractor shall notify NLM within five (5) working days of the receipt of such information.

d) The Contractor shall notify NLM if a title is temporarily suspended or can no longer be supplied by the Contractor.

e) The Contractor shall supply the format requested by NLM, without substitutions, unless substitutions are explicitly requested by NLM. “PDF by email” is unacceptable.

6. Electronic Access

For subscriptions that include electronic access (print plus electronic) or are electronic-only, the Contractor shall:

a) Maintain IP address information and supply to publishers with electronic orders

b) Provide notification to the NLM of publisher and platform changes

c) Act as a technical contact for claiming lost access to online resources and provides a response to NLMs inquiry within two (2) working days

d) For new subscriptions on current NLM licenses, ensure that access is activated and notify NLM upon activation

7. Bibliographic Verification

a) The Contractor shall make every effort to procure the correct publication described by NLM's order. Care must be exercised to examine not only the title but also the imprint, the ISSN and other bibliographic descriptors, so that publications with common titles are not ordered in error.

b) If the Contractor does not have sufficient data to place the order, given the information NLM supplies, the Contractor shall search standard bibliographies and Internet resources to determine the appropriate source. NLM may, at its discretion, assist the Contractor by photocopying current order and subscription information from issues in its collection, but the Contractor is expected to make every effort to obtain these data without resorting to the bibliographic expertise of

NLM staff. The Contractor is expected to search NLM’s online public access catalog, LocatorPlus®

(https://catalog.nlm.nih.gov/discovery/search?vid=01NLM_INST:01NLM_INST) for additional bibliographic and publisher address data prior to requesting assistance from NLM.

8. Account Service

The Contractor shall designate a specific representative/account executive to be the primary contact person for NLM personnel for servicing the Library's account, responding to problems with orders, delivery, claims, invoices, credits, and management reports, and providing training and troubleshooting assistance for the online system. All queries from NLM shall be directed to that individual or their designated backup. Oral queries must be responded to within one (1) working day;

e-mail within three (3) working days.

C. Consolidation Service for Print Subscriptions or Print Bundled with Online Access

1. Consolidation Service

The Contractor must be capable of providing a consolidation service for print issues.

The contractor shall:

a) collect all issues of the publications at one or more locations,

b) record issues in their online system and on packing lists in alphabetical order,

c) pack and ship the issues via courier service with online tracking in accordance with approved schedule

d) provide access to online system giving information for issues received, processed, and shipped

The Contractor shall propose a shipment schedule whereby shipments are received at NLM on an agreed upon schedule and all issues are shipped within 5 working days of receipt at consolidation site. The weight limit for each shipment box is 50 lbs. The Contractor shall ship all issues to the address provided with the initiating order and continue such shipment until notified to cancel or change the shipping address.

2. Shipment Details

The Contractor shall make available to NLM details of shipments by providing access to an online system, which provides information as to issues received, processed, and shipped. The shipments must be numbered or otherwise inventoried for tracking purposes.

3. Claims for Titles in Consolidation Service

The Contractor shall make every reasonable effort to assure that the publishers supply the material for which payment has been rendered.

a) The Contractor is required to make at least one follow-up request when the publisher fails to respond to a claim. If after three (3) claims have been made to the publisher, or if after 6 months from the date the issue was published, the material has still not been supplied, the Contractor shall declare the claim unfulfilled and shall notify NLM in writing that the issue cannot be supplied.

b) The Contractor shall also notify NLM when any issue due under the Contract will not be supplied because the publisher has declared it to be out of print. The

Contractor may attempt to supply these claimed and out of print issues from the

Contractor’s own in-house supply of back issues. However, any additional charges for these issues must be approved in advance by NLM.

4. Lost or Damaged Issues

The Contractor shall make every reasonable effort to provide replacement copies of material found to be defective, mutilated or determined to have been lost in transit provided the loss is reported by NLM within ninety (90) calendar days. If the

Contractor is unable to supply the material, the Contractor will notify NLM in writing.

D. Invoicing

1. Monthly invoices shall be submitted concurrently as follows:

a) The original summary invoice to the following designated NIH payment office as instructed in the contract.

b) One copy of the summary invoice and one copy of the detailed invoice to the

NLM Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) at the email designated after award.

c) One electronic copy of the summary invoice delivered to the Contracting Officer as instructed in the contract.

d) One copy of the EDI file representing the data on the detailed paper invoice made available via ftp with an alert sent to the NLM file address designated after award.

2. Summary invoice

Each invoice shall bear a unique invoice number that may be referenced in payment records and order queries. This invoice must include the following:

a) Subscription charges and a numeric count of the subscriptions billed

b) Credits against subscription charges previously billed

c) Handling charges

d) Consolidation service charges

e) Single issue charges

f) Shipping charges

g) Total amount due from the above for each category

h) Total invoice amount for all categories combined

The summary invoice must also contain additional information as required by the NLM

Office of Acquisitions and detailed in the contract.

3. Detailed invoice:

The detailed invoice is sent directly to the COR in accordance with the following information:

a. The Contractor shall bill each subscription payment as a single line item. Each line must state the NLM Purchase order line number, the proper title as established by NLM, the number of copies, the subscription period or the issue numbers covered by the charge, the amount paid by the Contractor in dollars, and any other relevant details. ISSN should be listed, if available. Note that the line item charge must be the amount advertised by the publisher or negotiated by NLM as the subscription price, substantiated in catalogs, rate sheets, or other price listings.

b. Consolidation service charges, handling fees, shipping charges and any other costs must be rendered as separate line items on the invoice.

c. Each detailed paper invoice must be accompanied by an EDI file containing the machine-readable equivalent of the paper invoice data. The Contractor must be capable of providing a full EDI invoicing process, using EDIFACT, the international EDI standard, including the ability to interface with NLM’s integrated library system.

4. Payment to the publisher must be made when the invoice is rendered or as soon as payment of the invoice is received.

5. All invoicing must be in US dollars.

6. Upon request, the Contractor shall supply supporting documentation on the prices charged on any invoice.

E. Reporting and Delivery Requirements

Item # Deliverable Frequency

1 Print issues as specified in NLM purchase orders. The Contractor must provide all material published within the paid subscription period. Issues not received must be claimed by the contractor and subsequent reports given as to the disposition of said issues.

As published

2 Schedule for consolidated shipment deliveries including all Contractor sites from which issues will be shipped.

Within 30 days of contract award

3 Claims report containing a listing of all issues that cannot be supplied due to unfulfilled claim or out of print status. Report shall be made available via the contractor’s online system exportable into spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel.

Monthly

4 Claims report containing a listing of claim responses received from publishers for titles mailed directly to NLM. Report shall be made available via the contractor’s online system and emailed to the COR.

Monthly

5 EDI file containing machine-readable equivalent of paper invoice along with one (1) copies of invoices in PDF or DOC format (summary and detailed) emailed to COR, (2) copies of invoice summary in PDF or DOC format emailed to the Office of Acquisitions, and (3) original summary invoice emailed to the Office of Financial Management.

Monthly

6 Subscription status reports detailing cessations, title or frequency changes, format changes, mergers, delays in publication, or other bibliographic irregularities, and publisher or platform changes for online subscriptions. Reports shall be made available via the contractor’s online system exportable into spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel and emailed to the COR.

Weekly

7 Electronic list of all orders to be verified for renewal, available via the online system and exportable into spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel.

Upon request

8 Order data covering the contract period, including each subscription year, available via the online system and exportable into spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel.

Upon request

9 Projection of future subscription charges for a stated period. Upon request

10 Contingency plan detailing: (1) back-up procedures and how they would be implemented in the event of a disaster at one or more of contractor’s facilities to ensure contracted services would continue to be provided and (2) procedures and how they would be implemented for contractor’s response to changes requested by NLM in the event of a disaster at NLM.

Within 30 days of contract award

11 Reports by publisher detailing format ordered for each title exportable into spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel.

Upon Request

VI. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

A. All tasks under this requirement shall be performed at the vendor’s site.

VII. TRANSITION PLAN

A. Prior to completion of period of performance or termination of the contract, the Contractor shall provide the Government with a Transition Plan that shall ensure an orderly and successful transition of orders to a successor contractor. As part of the Transition Plan, the Contractor shall transition all knowledge, and complete or in process orders in sufficient detail to ensure ongoing performance of the requirements specified in this

Statement of Work.

B. The comprehensive Transition Plan shall detail the process, timeline, communication plan, key personnel roles, and data migration procedures for transferring all order information, including outstanding claims and missing issues, ensuring a smooth transition with uninterrupted online access to subscriptions and print subscriptions, and with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.