2023_Literature_SOW_Draft_2.docx

Statement of Work (SOW) for Literature Acquisitions for the National Library of Medicine May 3, 2023

I. BACKGROUND

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) in Bethesda, Maryland, is a part of the National Institutes of Health, United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Library’s primary mission, as mandated by Congress, is to provide biomedical and health care literature and information to health professionals. NLM, the world’s largest biomedical library, acquires and preserves biomedical literature from throughout the world in all formats and languages. The Collection Development and Acquisitions Section of the Technical Services Division is responsible for building the NLM biomedical literature collection, including print and electronic resources. The focus of the collection is original research and works of international interest aimed at health professionals, scholars, and scientists. The NLM online public access catalog may be searched at https://catalog.nlm.nih.gov/discovery/search?vid=01NLM_INST:01NLM_INST or https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/

II. PURPOSE

The purpose of this agreement is to obtain biomedical monographs, monographic series (numbered and unnumbered), and related services for NLM through firm and standing orders and approval plans. The biomedical literature is published worldwide by multinational, commercial, Governmental and non-commercial organizations. Publications are acquired from all regions of the world in various languages.

III. REQUIREMENTS

SCOPE OF WORK

NLM selects and acquires biomedical literature worldwide with the geographic or language regions broadly defined as North America, Central and South America, western Europe, eastern Europe (including the former Soviet Union), Africa, and Asia. Under this contract, the Contractor shall identify monographic literature (print and electronic formats) available for the NLM collection based on the Collection Development Guidelines of the National Library of Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK518693; prepare information (a slip or notification Approval Plan service) about the publications for NLM to review; process orders in accordance pricing in the anticipated contract; and provide consolidated shipping and invoicing.

Category 1: Slip or Notification Approval Plans

1. The vendor shall develop, maintain and implement a slip or notification Approval Plan service for identifying monographs that are in scope for the NLM collection based on the Collection Development Guidelines of the National Library of Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK518693.

2. The Contractor shall provide NLM staff with information about publications for review and approval. After review of the information, NLM will authorize shipment and issue a delivery order, purchase order, or credit card payment validating the shipment of materials.

3. The vendor must have a bibliographic database and online system, accessible for customer use via the internet.

4. The Contractor shall ship materials from a central location to the address provided by the shipping instructions in the order. Drop Shipments whereby the Contractor arranges shipment direct from the publisher to NLM are not acceptable.

5. The Contractor shall maintain an effective mechanism to preclude duplications of materials supplied through approval plan, firm orders or standing order arrangements.

6. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) for orders and invoices is preferred and must be certified by ExLibris, the library services platform utilized by NLM.

7. Deliverable reports in electronic format are preferred.

8. The Contractor shall ship all materials within five (5) working days of receipt at central location. The Contractor shall inform NLM of any shipping delays.

9. The Contractor shall supply interim open order status reports in electronic format.

10. The Contractor shall supply new title notifications which would be of potential interest to NLM but which are excluded from the approval plan profile established with the Contractor.

11. Under no circumstance shall the Contractor ship material to the NLM that has not been authorized by the Contracting Officer.

Category 2: Firm Orders for Monographs

1. The Contractor shall supply monographs in response to NLM firm orders, upon receipt of an authorized purchase order or credit card authorization as soon as materials are available.

2. Orders shall be placed with the publisher within five (5) working days of receipt of an authorized order from NLM, or as soon as available if order is pre-publication.

3. The Contractor shall promptly ship materials from a central office to addresses provided by NLM. Any necessary Drop Shipments, direct from publisher to NLM, must be pre-approved for firm orders.

4. Items which are not available within 30 days of receipt of an order from NLM, but which the Contractor believes can be obtained, shall be treated as back orders. The Contractor shall notify NLM of back-ordered items in accordance with status report requirements.

5. The Contractor shall claim items not received or as requested by NLM. Any responses from the publisher for items that cannot be supplied shall be forwarded to NLM within five (5) working days of receipt. The Contractor is required to make two follow-up claims when the publisher fails to respond to initial order.

Category 3: Standing Orders

1. The Contractor shall begin standing order service for monographic series (numbered or unnumbered) with the volume or issue number provided by NLM and shall automatically ship each new publication in the series within 30 days of publication and within the period of performance defined, unless NLM cancels the order prior to the end of the period.

2. The Contractor shall notify NLM when a standing order title changes or ceases or changes format.

3. Orders shall be placed with the publisher within five (5) working days of receipt of an authorized order from NLM, or as soon as available if order is pre-publication.

4. Multipart sets shall be supplied in entirety beginning with the first volume ordered.

5. The Contractor may supply new title notifications for numbered or unnumbered series which would be of potential interest to NLM.

6. The Contractor shall promptly ship materials from a central office to addresses provided by NLM. Any necessary Drop Shipments, direct from publisher to NLM, must be pre-approved for standing orders.

Category 4: Electronic Books

1. For monographs that include electronic access or are electronic-only, the Contractor shall:

a. Maintain Internet Protocol (IP) address information and supply to publishers, as requested

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

c. Act as a technical contact for claiming lost access to online resources

d. For new titles added to current NLM licenses, ensure that access is activated and notify NLM

Shipping Instructions

1. The Contractor shall receive items at a central location, pack adequately to avoid damage with a weight limit of 50 lbs. per box, and ship via a courier service with online tracking.

2. A shipping schedule shall be agreed upon between the Contractor and NLM.

3. The Contractor must ship items and invoice by order type: Approval orders; Firm orders; and Standing orders

4. Send shipments of materials with the packing list and/or copy of invoice to:

A. Approval Plan Shipments

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE - APPROVALS

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITIONS SECTION

8600 ROCKVILLE PIKE BLDG 38 RM B1W10 MSC3803

BETHESDA MD 20894-0001

b. Firm Orders Shipments

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE – FIRM ORDERS

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITIONS SECTION

8600 ROCKVILLE PIKE BLDG 38 RM B1W10 MSC3803

BETHESDA MD 20894-0001

c. Standing Order Shipments

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE – STANDING ORDERS

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT AND ACQUISITIONS SECTION

8600 ROCKVILLE PIKE BLDG 38 RM B1W10 MSC3803

BETHESDA MD 20894-0001

Invoice Instructions

The Contractor is required to submit its invoice in the manner directed by the delivery order or purchase order. In addition to details specified by the delivery or purchase order document, the following is required for all invoices:

1. Billing must be in U.S. dollars.

2. Each title must be billed as a separate line item, giving the publisher’s list price. Identify each item by title, edition, volume, issue, part, International Standard Book Number (ISBN), International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), etc. and NLM order number (with exception of titles supplied on approval)

3. Line items should appear in alphabetical order by title or may be sorted by NLM order number for firm and standing order shipments.

4. Invoice must state any discount and service or other charges.

5. State shipping charges separately unless included in service charge.

6. Include all service fees as single last line item on invoice.

Acceptance/Returns

Items will be inspected upon arrival. NLM staff will review items for defects and damage, check that the supply of the work was not duplicated by the Contractor and verify that the supplied title is that which was requested by NLM. NLM will return and deduct from the invoice the cost of items that are not accepted due to defects, damage, duplicated from the same Contractor, or incorrect title, volume or edition. The Contractor may be responsible for covering the cost of shipping these returned items. In the case of returned materials, a copy of the marked packing slip or invoice will be enclosed with returned item(s) with a form indicating the reason for the return by NLM staff.