Sources Sought 36C26326Q1003.docx

Sources Sought Notice Sources Sought Notice

GENERAL INFORMATION

SET-ASIDE

NETWORK CONTRACTING OFFICE 23

316 ROBERT STREET N, SUITE 506

SAINT PAUL MN 55101

POINT OF CONTACT*

Contracting Officer Jeffrey Brown Jeffrey.Brown8@va.gov

PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

1 Veterans Drive

Minneapolis Minnesota

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

AGENCY’S URL

URL DESCRIPTION

AGENCY CONTACT’S EMAIL ADDRESS

EMAIL DESCRIPTION

DESCRIPTION

The Minneapolis VA Health Care System requires serials periodicals that meet the requirements listed below in the draft Statement of Work.

This is a sources sought looking for businesses to provide the supplies listed below for market research purposes. No awards of a contract will be made from this announcement.

If you are a vendor that can provide the requested information above and required supplies described below with competitive pricing, send your information (to include your organization's Unique Entity Identifier number) with a description of proof of capability to: Jeffrey.Brown8@va.gov on or before August 11th, 2026. Only emailed responses will be considered.

Additionally, please provide answers as appropriate to the following questions in the table below with your response to this sources sought. Failure to respond to the following questions may affect the acquisition strategy.

*If applicable, VAAR 852.219-76 VA Notice of Limitations on Subcontracting—Certificate of Compliance for Supplies and Products, will apply to the potential solicitation if set-aside for Veteran Owned Small-Businesses.* *If applicable, VAAR 852.212-71 Gray Market Items, will apply to the potential solicitation.* *If applicable, FAR 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting, will apply to the potential solicitation if set-aside for Small-Businesses. *

Draft STATEMENT OF WORK (SOW)

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS (VA)

Minneapolis VA Medical Healthcare System Serials and Periodicals Subscription

SCOPE OF WORK

The scope of this effort falls in line with VA’s mission, goals and objectives in support of providing Veterans’ care. Contractors shall be responsible for the management, labor and equipment necessary to provide subscriptions for databases, e-books, e-journals, point-of-care and other related online services from multiple publishing houses to the Minneapolis VA Healthcare System. Subscriptions shall include single or multiple addresses for domestic and foreign periodicals and related services. Related services include paying publishers, handling claims for non-receipt, cancellations, submission of required reports and other service problems.

BASIC SUBSCRIPTION ORDERS

Contractors shall provide basic subscription services that would include all of the tasks necessary to execute and manage subscriptions of publications. These tasks fall into the following four critical areas: (1) Ordering subscriptions; (2) Ensuring timely delivery of ordered subscriptions; and (3) Providing reports and other documentation as outlined below as needed and other administrative support for subscriptions management.

ORDERS AND RENEWALS

Contractors shall provide subscription services for all requested subscriptions.

Contractors shall supply materials from a wide range of publishers, to include, but not limited to:

Medical publishers General circulation periodical publishers Trade publishers University presses Societies and Associations, Scientific Societies and Associations, Non-Scientific Small Presses Non-paper format publishers Government agencies Quasi-Governmental organizations (e.g., United Nations, World Health Organization)

Subject areas shall include materials in the following listing of subject/categories (Not intended to be all inclusive):

Health Sciences Allied Health Sciences Social and Behavioral Sciences Science and Technology Management Business and Administration Marketing General Interest

Subscription Renewal Lists Subscription Renewal Lists - At a minimum, Contractors shall be able to provide a renewal list as described below within 90 days prior to renewal. Contractors may propose other formats which the Station may, at its discretion, choose instead. The lists shall be provided in MS Excel format with optional print delivery. The Station provides Contractors listings by multiple ship-to addresses by category, i.e., medical, general, administrative; Contractors shall respond to the lists in the same manner. The listings shall be on separate pages for each "Ship to" address, shall alphabetically list all subscription titles ordered or on record for that consignee, and shall contain the following information:

Title Quantity Subscription Period based on VA Data New, Renewal, Subscription added or Transfer Frequency Bibliographic status of those titles currently under review for renewal All additional titles which may not be due for renewal, but which are on record for a specific consignee Renewal documents; to contain an 80-character capacity local information field or fields for the storing of unique data for each title (e.g., internal fund accounting, subject identification, VA assigned numbers) Listing of any "direct only" titles, or titles which the Contractors cannot supply Listing of "standing order" or "billed as published" titles Documented constraints (i.e., irregular publication, discontinued, volume year or calendar year basis only, publisher will not pro-rate, no refund available,) shall be noted on subscription listing International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) or International Standard Book Number (ISBN) Publisher

Notification Of Ceased Or Discontinued Titles Contractors shall notify VA Stations of any ceased or discontinued titles within 30 calendar days of being notified that the titles are being discontinued.

Claims For Missing, Defective Or Mutilated Issues Contractors shall be the contract liaison for all VA Stations in obtaining from the publisher replacement copies of periodicals found to be defective, mutilated, lost in transit, or otherwise missing, provided the loss is reported within sixty business days.

Procedures outlined in FAR 52.212-4(b) will be followed in the event the Contractor fails to provide a replacement copy of the periodical within one month of the reporting of the issue.

Back Issues Upon request from a VA Station, Contractors shall acquire back issues of a title for up to one (1) year prior to the date of the current volume.

Contractor Representative Contractors shall assign one Project/Program Manager to work directly with the VA COR. The representative shall have at least three (3) years of experience in servicing organizations similar in size, scope, and complexity to VA. Past experience in servicing clients in the health sciences fields is required.

MARC Record Data Contractors shall provide electronic files of catalog data in MARC format in accordance with current MARC Standards as published by the United States Library of Congress, local or consortia holdings data in current MARC Standards as published by the United States Library of Congress, for loading into customer’s local system. The Contractors shall have the ability to provide stable and accurate URLs either in title list format or included in the 856 field of the MARC record.

ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Electronic Data Records Contractors shall have the capacity to maintain accurate and current information regarding periodical titles, prices, publisher information, claims status, communication with consignee locations, address and mailing list maintenance.

Financial Resources Contractors shall have the financial resources to pay publishers in full and in advance for all VA orders placed with them.

SCHEDULE FOR DELIVERABLES

Note: All draft Deliverables shall be submitted 14 calendar days prior to the final Deliverable due date. Deliverables with due dates falling on a weekend or holiday shall be submitted the following Government work day after the weekend or holiday.

List of Serials or Periodicals required:

Sources Sought Notice