Attachment 01 - Statement of Work.pdf

Statement of Work for

Collection Maintenance Services Contract at the

USDA, National Agricultural Library

Beltsville, MD

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 3

2. Scope of Work 3

3. General Requirements 3

4. Collection Services 4

4.1. Care and Handling of Collection Materials 4

4.2. Collection Maintenance 5

4.3. Shelving 6

5. Document Delivery 8

5.1. Automated Systems Used for Document Delivery 8

5.2. General Document Delivery Requirements 9

5.3. Patron Registration 10

5.4. Request Processing 10

5.5. Request Fulfillment 11

5.6. Interlibrary Borrowing 12

Attachments

Attachment 3: Organization of the NAL Collection Attachment 4: Statistical Reports Attachment 5: NAL Copy Retention Guidelines Attachment 6: NAL Circulation Guidelines Attachment 7: Estimated Volumes of Work

1. Introduction

The National Agricultural Library (NAL), part of the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is one of four national libraries of the United States. The NAL collection consists of over 3 million physical items (stored in the fourteen-story Abraham Lincoln Building in Beltsville, MD) as well as extensive electronic collections.

The NAL collection is a unique and valuable resource, and the centerpiece for all the services NAL provides. As a national library, NAL has a twofold mission regarding its collection: to provide access for current users and to preserve the collection for the use of future generations.

NAL requires a contractor to provide maintenance support for the physical collection and document delivery service for NAL users. The goal of this contract is to maintain the NAL collection in the best possible physical condition, to provide customers with quick and easy access to materials from the NAL collection, and to provide USDA employees with documents needed to support their work.

2. Scope of Work

The Contractor shall provide collection maintenance, document delivery and associated services as specified in the SOW. The government shall retain perpetual non-exclusive access rights to all intellectual property created during the performance of this contract. All products which are a result of this contract (including spreadsheets reports, procedures manuals, etc) become the property of the U.S. Government and shall be delivered to the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) upon request.

3. General Requirements

A. While working onsite the contractor shall follow all safety and security rules of the NAL building as posted in the building and as conveyed to them by the COR.

B. All contractor work performed onsite at NAL shall take place Monday through Friday between the hours of 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. The contractor will not have access to the NAL building outside of those hours without special permission from the COR. The project manager shall work onsite during NAL’s core working hours of 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to ensure contractor staff supervision and facilitate cooperation with the COR and other NAL staff.

C. The contractor shall monitor all systems and equipment which they use to ensure that it is operating properly, perform routine maintenance activities, promptly report any problems to the appropriate NAL staff and participate in testing of any new or upgraded systems which will be used by contract staff. Maintenance and monitoring of computer systems is crucial to the performance of this contract so the project manager shall be responsible for responding to the COR on all technical questions and issues related to the services provided. All contractor staff shall maintain the security of NAL databases and systems, complete required computer security training, and comply with all NAL and USDA electronic access and communication policies and requirements.

D. The contractor shall collect, and record statistics related to their work on this contract.

These reports are crucial tools for both the contractor and the government to monitor and assess collection and user needs as well as the quality of the work performed. Statistical reports shall be submitted to the COR monthly using the spreadsheet formats provided in Attachment 4 “Statistical Reports”. The COR, in conjunction with the contractor, may create new or modify existing statistics reporting sheets as necessary over the life of the contract. The contractor shall be responsible for maintaining other statistics as needed to manage their own workflow and assess staff performance. The contractor shall have access to Library Management Platform (LMP) and Relais data for the purpose of creating statistical and other reports.

E. The contractor shall provide a monthly narrative report describing any significant accomplishments or problems, progress on ongoing tasks, and any staff changes made during the month as well as any unexpected changes in volumes, technology/equipment problems or changes, suggested improvements, and requested supplies or equipment.

F. Narrative and statistical reports shall be completed and delivered to the COR no later than the 10th day of each month

4. Collection Services

4.1. Care and Handling of Collection Materials

As a national library, NAL’s mission includes long term preservation of its collection as well as providing access for current use. The NAL collection is over 100 years old and contains a significant proportion of materials which are fragile or in deteriorating condition. The contractor shall handle all collection materials with appropriate care and the conscious intent to conserve them for future usability. The contractor shall meet the following standards for handling of all materials whether from the NAL collection or borrowed from other libraries.

A. Keep all parts of an item together. If pages or pieces are loose or detached from an item, the contractor shall ensure that they are kept together with the material they belong to.

B. Ensure that the call number remains attached to the item. If any part of an item becomes physically detached make sure that the call number is clearly written in pencil on each piece.

C. Handle and transport materials in a manner that minimizes bumping, rubbing, or other harmful contact with surrounding surfaces.

D. While removed from their regular shelving locations store and handle items in the manner most appropriate to their physical format and condition. This includes shielding materials from unnecessary exposure to heat, light and other potentially damaging elements as well as using proper handling techniques.

E. The following materials shall not be used on any materials in the NAL collection.

a. Paper clips

b. Rubber bands

c. Any adhesive substance or labels other than labels which have been provided by the COR specifically for use on collection materials.

F. Contractor staff shall wash their hands with soap and water before working with collection materials. Collection materials shall not be exposed to hand sanitizer or other chemical cleaning agents.

4.2. Collection Maintenance

A. Monitor the overall environmental conditions on the stacks floors and promptly report any environmental problems to the COR and NAL facilities staff. In particular, the contractor shall be alert for leaks around windows or pipes and water on floors or shelves.

When environmental conditions pose an immediate threat to collection materials the contractor shall take action to mitigate the problem immediately when possible, such as placing buckets or water absorbent socks under a leak, covering a shelf with plastic or isolating contaminated materials.

B. Monitor lights and window blinds in the stacks and adjust them as needed to minimize light exposure of the collection. Lights left on in unoccupied stack areas shall be turned off by the contractor. Check all the lights on the stack floors quarterly to verify that they are working properly, and report any non-working lights to the COR.

C. Perform shelf checks for specific titles or collection areas at the request of the COR.

D. Retrieve materials for special projects at the request of the COR and reshelve them after processing is completed.

E. Create or modify and shelve gussets, dummies, temporary shelfmarkers or moveable shelf labels to identify materials which are shelved in an alternate location, and materials which have been removed for special projects or as part of routine retrieval and shelving.

All shelfmarkers shall be removed when the item is reshelved.

F. Create, delete or edit item records in NAL’s online catalog as needed for circulation or discard processing, or at the request of the COR.

G. In addition to routine shifting needed to shelve materials the contractor shall provide up to 800 hours of shifting per year in areas designated by the COR in order to reduce crowding in the stacks.

H. The contractor shall repair the following types of items when they are encountered during retrieval, shelving, cleaning or other processing, and as requested by the COR.

a. Items with loose or broken bindings shall be tied together with cotton string

b. Items with torn pages shall be repaired with Filmoplast tape

c. Broken Velobind or ring bind combs shall be replaced

d. Loose documents shall be stapled and/or foldered

e. Missing or defective call number labels shall be replaced.

I. The contractor shall clean materials and shelves in the stacks on an ongoing basis. The primary method of cleaning will be dusting; materials shall be removed from the shelf so that both the materials and the shelves can be dusted. The shelves on each stack floor (floors 6-13) shall be dusted at least once a year. Areas which are unusually dusty or dirty shall be identified, and a more frequent cleaning schedule shall be established for them using vacuuming rather than dusting when necessary. The COR shall be informed of areas where frequent cleaning is needed.

J. Collection materials that are surplus or have been designated for weeding shall be processed for disposal. Unbarcoded items shall be selected for discard unless the barcoded item is in poor condition. The NAL catalog record for the title shall be edited to reflect the current status of the title and associated items. The following types of materials shall be processed as discards.

1. Duplicate copies of monographs or serial issues which exceed the number of copies specified for retention in NAL’s Copy Retention Guidelines (Attachment 5).

2. Items or titles designated for weeding by the COR.

3. Donated items which are not in scope for the NAL collection, as determined by the

COR.

4.3. Shelving

A. The contractor shall shelve materials in the following areas of the NAL collection. All items shall be shelved in the appropriate order and properly supported on the shelf. (see Attachment 1 “Organization of the NAL Collection” for more information about the various parts of the NAL collection and how they are organized).

1. General Collection (floors 6-13).

2. Current Periodicals Collection (CPC). Incoming new materials labeled “CPC” or

“PRR (Periodicals Reading Room, the former name) ” on the front cover or page of the item are shelved in the CPC. Only the 4 most recent issues of CPC titles shall be shelved in the CPC. Prior issues shall have the PRR designation scratched out and be reshelved in the General Collection at the time the new issues are added.

3. Reference Collections. Materials labeled “Reference,” “Directories” or “USDA” shall be shelved in the appropriate part of the Reference Collection. Superseded volumes or editions shall have the Reference designation scratched out and be reshelved in the General Collection at the time the new volume is added.

4. Microform Collections

5. Loose-leaf updates to which NAL subscribes. These are identified by shelfmarkers in the stacks, by notes in holdings records in Voyager, or as designated by the COR.

6. Special Collections (5th, 12th and 13th floors). Reshelving in Special Collections areas shall be done once a week. Access to the Special Collections areas on the 5th and 13th floors is limited to authorized staff members and controlled by card key. Contractor staff will be admitted to the Special Collections areas by authorized NAL staff.

B. The contractor shall pickup materials for shelving daily from the following locations as well as receiving new materials for shelving from the COR.

1. Designated tables or bins in rooms 305, 310 and first floor staff areas.

2. NAL Main Reading Room including the Copy Center and tables in the public areas.

3. Tables, carrels and designated return shelves in the stacks

4. Acquisitions and Metadata Branch

5. Digitization Unit

6. All contractor work areas

B. The following types of materials shall be labeled with colored dots to identify special shelving requirements. The contractor shall add these labels prior to shelving if needed.

1. Oversize--coral dot on spine of book

2. Folio--green dot on spine of book

3. Software--one green dot and one yellow dot on call number label(s)

C. When misshelved items are encountered they shall be reshelved by the contractor in their appropriate shelving location. Items which are identifiably not part of the NAL collection (lacking an NAL call number or showing labels or call numbers from another library) shall be returned to their appropriate owner or location. If the contractor is unable to determine the correct location or ownership of an item they shall consult the COR.

D. The contractor shall make space for materials for which there is not space on the shelves, by performing minor shifting of up to one vertical section or the equivalent of eight full shelves of materials. When the shelving situation cannot be resolved by a minor shift an overflow shelfmarker shall be placed where the publication belongs on the shelf and the material shall be shelved in a designated overflow shelving area. The contractor shall notify the COR when a new area begins being shelved in overflow.

5. Document Delivery

5.1. Automated Systems Used for Document Delivery

In addition to standard office automation tools (such as Microsoft Office), the contractor shall use the following automated systems to receive and process document delivery and call slip requests. NAL may change or add systems to this list over the life of the contract.

A. Relais Enterprise: Relais Enterprise is NAL’s document delivery management system.

All requesters must be registered in Relais Enterprise before they can place a request.

All requests are uploaded or entered into Relais Enterprise and are processed, delivered and stored within that system. The Relais Enterprise record is the permanent NAL record for each request as well as the primary source of statistical data for document delivery so any processing of a request which takes place outside this system must be recorded as a note in the Relais Enterprise record for that request. NAL’s Relais system also includes webforms for submission of document delivery requests and registration of document delivery customers. 29% of NAL document delivery requests are received via Relais webforms.

B. OCLC: NAL uses the OCLC WorldShare interlibrary loan system to receive interlibrary loan requests from other libraries and to send borrowing requests to other libraries.

1. OCLC lending requests received from other libraries are automatically loaded into Relais Enterprise and processed there. For OCLC lending requests most processing updates in Relais are automatically transferred to OCLC but some still need to be entered manually. 70% of NAL document delivery requests are received via OCLC.

2. OCLC borrowing requests are generated from document delivery requests in Relais Enterprise but must be manually entered into OCLC and notes on their OCLC status must be manually recorded in Relais Enterprise. 70% of borrowing requests are submitted through OCLC.

C. Docline: NAL uses the Docline system to receive document delivery requests from other libraries and to send borrowing requests to the National Library of Medicine.

1. Docline lending requests received from other libraries are batch loaded into Relais Enterprise and processed there. Processing status of these requests (filled or unfilled) must be updated manually in Docline in addition to the regular Relais Enterprise processing. 1% of NAL document delivery requests are received via Docline.

2. Docline borrowing requests are generated from document delivery requests in Relais Enterprise but must be manually entered into Docline and notes on their Docline status must be manually recorded in Relais Enterprise. 15% of borrowing requests are submitted through Docline.

D. NAL Library Management Platform: Circulation processing, onsite request (call slip) processing, catalog record management, and call number searching are all performed within NAL’s library management platform. NAL is in the process of migrating its library management platform to Ex Libris’ Alma system. Staff implementation of Alma is expected to be happen sometime in 2022. Prior to that implementation NAL’s legacy Voyager system will be used.

5.2. General Document Delivery Requirements

A. The contractor shall complete all document delivery requests within the following timeframes. The Relais system will assign the request type “REG” (regular) or “BOR” (borrowing) to all requests at the time that they are received.

1. All REG type requests (whether filled or unfilled) shall be completed within two working days of receipt.

2. All BOR type requests shall be processed as filled or unfilled against the NAL collection and all unfilled requests shall be forwarded for borrowing processing within two working days of receipt.

B. All document delivery requests shall be received and processed through the Relais

Enterprise system. Any requests which are not received directly into Relais shall be entered into the system by the contractor after approval by the COR. The COR will provide training in the use of the Relais system prior to implementation.

C. The contractor shall process all incoming document delivery related mail, both electronic and paper. Mail or messages related to NAL services other than document delivery shall be referred to the correct NAL service point. Misdirected mail shall be returned to outgoing mail with address information corrected if necessary.

D. The contractor shall answer customer inquiries received by email or telephone relating to NAL’s document delivery service throughout NAL’s regular operating hours between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday. Customer service transactions within the contractor’s scope include inquiries about standard document delivery policies and procedures, patron registration, status of document delivery requests, renewal of borrowed materials, interlibrary loan (ILL) transactions, or receipt of incomplete or illegible transmissions of materials. When document delivery related questions fall outside of standard document delivery policies or procedures or otherwise cannot be resolved by the contractor then the contractor shall consult the COR. Questions which fall outside of the scope of document delivery shall be referred to the correct NAL service point.

E. Although NAL does not provide rush document delivery service, exceptions to this policy shall be made for VIP patrons (such as members of Congress, the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture or the Office of the President) and in cases where rush delivery of materials is required in response to a genuine emergency. Patrons must contact NAL directly to request emergency rush service. The contractor shall receive calls relating to requests for rush document delivery service and authorize rush processing as appropriate.

The contractor shall consult the COR if they cannot determine whether a rush request should be authorized. The COR may also submit rush requests to the contractor as needed.

5.3. Patron Registration

The following types of patrons are eligible for document delivery registration.

• USDA employees (BOR type user: eligible for borrowing)

• Libraries or Information Centers (REG type user: not eligible for borrowing)

• U.S. Congress (REG type user: not eligible for borrowing)

• Exceptions as designated by the COR.

The contractor shall create, edit, update, and maintain patron records in Relais to enable eligible users to submit requests and receive materials. The contractor shall receive registration requests from patrons and non-OCLC libraries via emails generated from an online patron registration form, and registration information for OCLC libraries through the Relais system. Corresponding patron records shall be maintained in NAL’s LMP to enable circulation and onsite request processing.

5.4. Request Processing

A. The contractor shall retrieve material to fill requests from all parts of the NAL collection, both physical and digital, as needed. See Attachment 3 “Organization of the NAL Collection” for details of special shelving locations in the physical collection.

Shelfmarkers shall be placed for items removed from the shelf for document delivery processing.

B. When a requested item is not found on the shelf, the citation and call number information shall be verified using NAL’s catalog and other bibliographic resources before continuing to try and locate the physical item, and a Relais exception code of SLF (NOS processing) shall be assigned to the request for statistical purposes. After NOS processing the contractor shall forward the request for borrowing, return to requester, or follow up retrieval as appropriate.

C. A follow up retrieval attempt shall be performed 12 working hours after NOS processing on all requests for which a more specific exception code cannot be determined. All follow up searches shall be performed after the contractor has performed a shelving cycle and the follow up search shall include contractor processing areas where collection materials are shelved temporarily as well as regular collection shelving areas.

D. Requests which are received without call numbers or which cannot be located with the citation information given on the request shall be researched in order to find sufficient information to retrieve the requested item and/or identify a reason for its unavailability.

E. When it is determined that the requested item cannot be filled from the NAL collection

(because it is not held by NAL, or the NAL copy is unavailable)

1. For REG type requests the contractor shall generate a return reply using the appropriate exception code describing why the request cannot be filled.

2. For BOR type requests the contractor shall identify potential borrowing locations and and route the request for borrowing in Relais. A “delay” message stating that NAL is attempting to borrow the item shall be sent to the patron.

F. The contractor shall provide onsite request retrieval for patrons in the NAL Reading

Room during NAL’s standard operation hours (8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday-Friday).

Onsite requests shall be received and managed through NAL’s LMP rather than in Relais.

Materials shall be delivered to the Service Desk in the NAL Reading Room via the freight elevator. Onsite requests shall be given priority by the contractor and the average turnaround time for onsite requests in any given month shall not exceed 1 hour.

5.5. Request Fulfillment

A. The contractor shall be responsible for determining when the condition of an item makes it unsuitable for loan or copying. When the contractor cannot come to a clear decision regarding the condition of an item they shall consult the COR.

B. Requests for copies of articles or sections of books shall be scanned directly into the Relais system for delivery.

1. All pages for the requested article shall be scanned including noncontiguous pages, references, pages not cited on the request form, and journal title page/publication information page if cited on request form.

2. Copies produced to fill requests shall comply with the terms of Copyright Law (PL-94-533) and Title 17 U.S.C. The page containing the official copyright statement (consisting of © or the word copyright along with the name of the copyright holder and year) shall be scanned along with the request and article.

If no copyright statement is found in the item, a copy of the copyright legend shall be included on the copied pages.

C. For requests filled from NAL’s digital collections the contractor shall send the URL to the patron in response to the request. Some licensed digital resources are available to USDA users only. The contractor shall verify that the requester is eligible to access the online resource requested before sending a URL in response to a request.

D. The contractor shall produce hardcopy from microforms in response to document delivery requests. NAL will provide a reader/printer for the creation of hardcopy from microforms. The printed copy shall be scanned into Relais for delivery.

E. Requested items which are in scope for NAL’s onsite digitization program (USDA publications and noncopyrighted items) may be recommended for digitization in lieu of loan. The contractor shall consult with the Digitization Unit to determine whether it is feasible to digitize the item within a timeframe that is reasonable for the request.

F. Requests for loans of entire items shall be processed using the circulation system of NAL’s Library Management Platform. The contractor shall perform and manage all phases of the loan process including check out, check in, renewal, holds, overdues, recalls, and creation of item records.

1. The contractor shall determine whether the requested item is eligible for loan based on NAL’s circulation guidelines (see Attachment 6 NAL Circulation Guidelines). If the item is noncirculating the contractor shall identify other ways to fill the request. The contractor shall consult the COR if they think an exception to standard circulation policy is warranted.

2. Loan tracking information shall be entered into Relais to reflect the current status of the request.

3. When computer software is requested for loan, circulating copies shall be created to fill the request; no original software shall be circulated.

4. Loans shall be packaged for delivery in envelopes or boxes of an appropriate size and sturdiness to ensure that they are received undamaged. All packages shall be clearly labeled with the recipient’s mailing address and shall include the NAL mail code “01E” on the outside of the package as part of the return address. A copy of the Relais request cover page (which acts as a due slip) and preprinted NAL return label shall be included with each loan.

5. Loans to patrons at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) shall be delivered by interoffice mail. Loans to all other locations shall be delivered by U.S. postal mail. Items for both types of mail delivery will be picked up daily by the NAL mailroom staff.

G. The contractor shall send replies to patrons for all requests which cannot be filled by NAL and for all BOR type requests which are forwarded for borrowing. Routine replies are generated by the Relais system based on the exception code(s) assigned to the request. The contractor shall ensure that accurate exception codes are assigned in order to generate appropriate reply messages. The contractor may also communicate directly with the user by email or phone when needed to provide additional information or clarify user needs. Communications which take place outside of the Relais system shall be noted in the Relais audit trail for the request.

H. The Relais e-mailbox and the Relais Failed Delivery Queue shall be monitored daily for failed transmissions. Address information shall be checked and verified for all failed transmissions and materials shall be re-sent. Deliveries which are reported as failed or incomplete by the recipient shall be re-sent by the original method whenever possible. If idiosyncrasies of the material make delivery by the original method impractical the material shall be re-sent by an alternate delivery method.

5.6. Interlibrary Borrowing

A. The contractor shall order materials from other libraries and document vendors to fill BOR type requests which cannot be filled from the NAL collection using standard interlibrary borrowing (ILB) protocols. ILB requests shall be ordered through the OCLC interlibrary loan request system or Docline request system (for requests from the National Library of Medicine) whenever possible. Other request methods (email, web forms, telephone, etc.) shall be used as appropriate for suppliers who don’t participate in OCLC or Docline.

B. A standardized “delay” message stating that the request is being borrowed shall be sent to the patron at the time the request is identified as an ILB request.

C. Supplier records shall be entered in the Relais system as needed to support borrowing from non-OCLC and Docline libraries.

D. A maximum cost of $30 shall be stated on all ILB requests. Exceptions to the $30 maxcost must be approved by the COR.

E. Appropriate notes regarding the order status of the request (such as Docline IDs, e-mail messages sent to potential suppliers, etc.) shall be maintained in Relais to accurately reflect the current status of all ILB requests.

F. Requests which remain pending without reply from the lender shall be reviewed monthly to ensure that the order was placed correctly. The contractor shall initiate a status check with the original source or reordering from a new source as appropriate for requests which have received no response. If no new sources for ordering can be identified the request shall be returned to the patron as NIL (not available through Interlibrary Loan).

G. The contractor shall review requests for which the Need by Date has passed, confirm whether the requester still needs the item, and update or cancel the request as appropriate.

H. Nonreturnable items received in response to ILB requests shall be uploaded into

Relais and delivered to the requester through standard Relais delivery methods. If incomplete or illegible materials are received the contractor shall contact the supplier and ask them to correct the problem and resupply the material.

I. The contractor shall perform and manage all phases of the loan process for returnable

ILB loans including packaging and delivery to requester, renewals, overdues, and return packaging and delivery to supplier.

1. ILB loans shall be managed in Relais using the Relais loan tracking functionality.

2. ILB loans shall be packaged for delivery in envelopes or boxes of an appropriate size and sturdiness to ensure that they are received undamaged.

Packages shall be clearly labeled with the recipient’s mailing address and shall include the NAL mail code “01E” on the outside of the package as part of the return address. A copy of the Relais request cover page (which acts as a due slip) and preprinted NAL return label shall be included when the item is sent to the requester. A copy of the borrowing request, an NAL courtesy slip and any return paperwork provided by the supplier shall be included when the item is returned to the supplier.

3. ILB loans to patrons at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) shall be delivered by interoffice mail. Loans to all other locations and return deliveries to suppliers shall be delivered by U.S. postal mail. Items for both types of mail delivery will be picked up daily by the NAL mailroom staff.

J. When a supplier indicates that they cannot fill an ILB request the contractor shall send a new borrowing request to the next supplier in the queue or attempt to identify additional suppliers if there are none remaining in the queue. If the request is persistently unfilled or the supplier’s notes indicate a problem with the request information the contractor shall verify and correct the citation before submitting the request to a new supplier. The contractor shall contact the requester for additional citation information when appropriate. If no new suppliers can be found the request shall be returned to the patron with a reject code of NIL.

K. Research/processing of a request conducted outside of the Relais system (sources searched, phone and e-mail inquiries, etc) shall be recorded in a Relais audit note for that request.

L. The OCLC Special Message Lender and Special Message Borrower files shall be reviewed at least once a month and updated appropriately in OCLC based on the nature of the message.