Attachment 1- SERIALS SOW.docx

STATEMENT OF WORK – LIBRARY SERIALS SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE

Table of Contents

Background General Information Instructions for Proposals Solicitation Summary Library Background Scope of Work General Requirements Subscription and Electronic Access Services Administrative Services Claims, Cancellations, Replacements Management Reports Usage Training Customer Support Security Travel Place of Performance Period of Performance Proposals Vendor Company Information Description of Staff References Evaluation Criteria

Background

General Information This statement of work is for a serials subscription management service from a professional serials jobber to oversee and coordinate the Ralph J. Bunche Library’s (hereafter referred to as the Library) serial, periodical, and annual subscriptions. The Library provides serial subscriptions to the Department of State (hereafter referred to as the Department or the Department of State) via its collections and holdings and provides acquisitions services (including ordering and market research) for serial titles to Department Bureaus, posts, and components, including renewals and new requirements. These serial titles are required by both patrons of the Library and staff across the Department for the performance of job duties. Serials are items in many formats, published serially both in the U.S. and abroad, and include common magazines, newspapers, technical and specialty journals, online resource packages, publications available via membership organizations, newsletters, trade journals and trade publications, and academic and scholarly publications. Basic serials subscription management services provided by the Vendor will include placing new and renewal orders with publishers for both print and electronic format materials, processing renewals for both print and electronic materials (including late renewals), prepaying publishers, handling invoicing with publishers, claiming missing issues, facilitating access to back issues, adding copies to existing subscriptions, managing special orders, placing orders for memberships, and providing a range of administrative and customer services. Pricing and publication information, including title change alerts and updates, as well as management reports are expected to be routinely and regularly provided and a username and password-controlled portal must be provided for Library staff self-service and self-research.

The successful Vendor shall provide subscription and serials management services that will include all of the tasks necessary to execute and manage orders for new and renewal subscriptions to serial publications, chiefly in electronic format, but also for some print. The successful Vendor will have the capability to manage multiple customer codes and delivery addresses, to include multiple physical delivery addresses for print format materials, as well as multiple points of contact for the delivery of username and password account information via email. The successful Vendor will be prepared to handle duplicate subscriptions ordered for different locations, i.e. the same journal title, ordered on behalf of multiple offices, each with their own shipping address, and sometimes with varying pricing, number of copies required, and periods of performance.

Instructions for Proposals Instructions detailing the format for the proposal are given on page 11 of 12. The contractor shall demonstrate an understanding of the technical requirements and the capability to effectively provide the services. Contractors may provide sample materials (catalogs, management reports, invoices, etc.) to illustrate the narrative descriptions of their services required by the statement of work, but shall not submit such materials in lieu of narrative description. All invoice information, prices, and payments shall be in US dollars. Brief clarifying details and additional summarized information in the responses are welcome.

Solicitation Summary This solicitation is for a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA). The Library anticipates a repetitive need to obtain recurring serials, newspapers, subscriptions, and annual services. The Library desires a contract containing a base year plus four options years. Subscription and serials management services can be found in the commercial marketplace.

Library Background The US Department of State Ralph J. Bunche Library (hereafter referred to as the Library) has a requirement for a subscription management service.

The following is a profile of the Library’s current serial resources:

1. Serial Titles and Collections in the Library’s Holdings : 185

2. Serial Subscriptions (Titles and Collections) Placed by the Library in Support of Bureaus and Posts : 48

3. Unique Bureau Customer Codes : 23 Currently In Use; 373 Total

The Library subscribes to serials, newspapers, reoccurring publications, and annual products from both major and niche publishers. Publishers include, but are by no means limited to, Taylor and Francis, Inside Washington Publishers, Cambridge University Press, Springer USA, Oxford University Press, Routledge Publishing, Brill, SAGE Publications, Inc., De Gruyter, VLEX JUSTIS LTD, Palgrave MacMillan, Law Business Research, Cuba Media LLC, Countrywatch.com, United Nations Publications, Johns Hopkins University Press, American Association for the Advancement of Science, JOC Group, Wolters Kluwer, Chronicle of Higher Education, Informa, and American Interest.

Each unique Bureau customer code is assigned to an individual point of contact (or a team name point of contact) at that Bureau, and corresponds to Bureau names/acronyms, as well as specified delivery addresses, both physical for mailed or shipped items, and email addresses for electronic delivery. Despite the use of multiple shipping addresses, the Vendor must simultaneously support the use of one billing address.

Group collections are made available to specific teams within Bureaus when serial titles allow for multiple users per subscription. This could include terms such as “up to four users,” or “five or more users.” It is typical for a point of contact to be named for each team receiving a group subscription. Example : The Library may assist with a group subscription for four users for World Trade Online and Inside US Trade for the Bureau XYZ and may work with John Doe of Bureau XYZ to verify requirements.

As the Library continues to build the Acquisitions Services program, usage of the Library for the purchase of serials subscriptions on behalf of Bureaus and Posts is expected to grow. The Library anticipates an increase in both the number of unique customer codes in use and in the number of subscription orders made on behalf of Department Bureaus.

Notwithstanding the above noted anticipated increase in serial subscriptions, approximately 85% of subscriptions placed by the Library are expected to be renewal subscriptions. The Library has a requirement for the Vendor to furnish all qualified personnel, facilities, and supplies for the placement of new and renewal subscriptions to single and multiple addresses for domestic and foreign serials and periodicals published in paper and other formats, and for related services.

The COR on this contract will be Lisa Jochelson.

Scope of Work This solicitation is for the acquisition of a serial subscription management service for the Ralph J. Bunche Library, U.S. Department of State, via a Blanket Purchase Agreement contract vehicle.

General Requirements

Subscription and Electronic Access Services The Vendor shall provide subscription services that would include all the tasks necessary to execute and manage orders for new and renewal subscriptions to serial publications, both print and electronic. These tasks fall into the following four critical areas:

(1) Ordering and renewing subscriptions;

(2) Serving as the customer’s fiscal agent with publishers, including making timely prepayments and payments, processing refunds, and handling supplemental or bill-later charges;

(3) Facilitating timely access to subscriptions, both print and online, and assisting with the claiming of ordered but not yet received subscriptions;

(4) Providing reports and other administrative support for serials management.

The Vendor must provide subscription services for all subscriptions in all media generally available via agents from foreign and domestic (U.S.) publishers, provided that the ordering customer can supply sufficient publication information. Ongoing subscription services shall include assistance with the following:

(a) New subscriptions, in both print and electronic formats.

(b) Renewals of subscriptions, in both print and electronic formats.

(c) Late renewals, in both print and electronic formats.

(d) Back issues and/or back files.

(e) Added copy subscriptions.

(f) Special orders.

(g) Memberships.

(h) Claiming.

Best Price Available to the Government The Government Customer may be eligible for certain discounts offered by the publishers to Government Customers. If so, the Customer must be charged the lowest of the available prices. The service fee or discount offered by the Vendor shall be applied to this actual publisher subscription price paid by the Customer. No administrative charges are to be applied to credit invoices.

Establish Subscription Period The Vendor is required to place subscriptions at any time during the fiscal year unless prohibited by the publisher. If the Library requests a common expiration date or a specific POP end, the Vendor will assist in pro-rating the price, if allowed by the Publisher.

Servicing the Subscription The Vendor shall provide administrative services for each subscription until three months after its expiration or cancellation, i.e. the publication of the last issue covered by the most recent subscription period.

Order Placement The Vendor shall enter all new and renewal orders within five (5) working days after the receipt of the Delivery/Purchase Order from the Library, or the receipt of the reviewed and approved title list, whichever is later. Delays are allowed only by prior written agreement. If the Vendor has agreements with Publishers that establish terms for batching orders and/or payments, then the orders must be entered and confirmed within the original five-day period, but can be released in accordance with the Publisher agreements.

Initial Title List Order Placement The Vendor will provide the Customer with a newly formatted subscription list based on the title list provided.

Renewal Orders in Option Years

a) Unless otherwise agreed to in writing between the Vendor and the Library, within 120 days prior to subscription expirations, or on a mutually agreed upon date, the Vendor will provide a complete list of previously ordered subscriptions.

b) An Annual Renewal List, including any additional parts or titles that are now a part of the original ordered subscriptions, including new additions to Publisher package subscriptions, will be provided by the Vendor.

c) If the option year is being exercised, the Customer will make changes to the list and will return it to the Vendor for renewal/order. Changes made by the Customer may include subscriptions for ceased, delayed, or canceled titles, or for titles that have been changed by the Publisher in significant ways. For example, if a title has been merged with a new title, so that the content of the new serial is no longer relevant to the Customer, substitution information may be provided for the Customer’s consideration, in an effort to procure the desired content.

d) Upon receipt of authorization to proceed with the option year from a Contracting Officer, and receipt of the corrected annual renewal listing from the Library, the Vendor will place the orders/renewals. If the Customer does not return the list to the Vendor, subscriptions on the list will not be automatically renewed. The preferred method of transmittal of this list, and of add on requirements, between the parties is through electronic means.

Rush Orders Upon receipt of a Customer order requesting a rush order, the Vendor shall endeavor to transmit the order to the Publisher within 24 hours.

Subscription Ordering Support Services In support of basic subscription order and renewal services, the Vendor shall perform the following services and provide products as described below :

Electronic Vendor System The Vendor shall provide an electronic system to provide self-service information regarding prospective, new, renewal, and previously ordered subscriptions information via the Internet, that, at a minimum, includes the following features :

(a) Ability to search by :

1. Title or Series

2. ISSN

3. Publisher

4. Vendor reference or title number

(b) Display features :

1. Bibliographic and order information for each serial title including title, publisher, ISSN, frequency, and format.

2. Pricing or rate information, to include available pricing options, an option to follow up with the serials agent for rate information, or a note stating that the publication must be ordered direct from the publisher.

3. License details and/or terms of use information, whenever available.

4. Access and registration information.

5. Package and/or title change information.

6. Order history, with indications displayed at the title level in search results indicating current orders and past orders.

7. Invoice payment information for, at a minimum, the current and previous year of service.

8. A web form providing the ability to submit a billing or invoicing question direct from the electronic system.

9. A web form providing the ability to submit a general question direct from the electronic system.

10. A list of outstanding claims, including the current status.

11. Ability to switch the interface view from one customer code or subscriber code to another.

12. Downloadable invoices and credit statement, in PDF and/or Excel format, available on demand. Invoice and credit statements must be searchable and sortable, with the ability to sort by date, document type, and amount (in USD).

13. Downloadable monthly statements showing account information, balance information, payment information, invoice information, and credit information.

The Vendor shall provide the Library with the ability to search the Vendor’s database to determine availability and cost prior to the placement of an order, and with no expectation that searched orders will be placed, and shall provide database system training and/or documentation at no additional cost to the Library. As this system will be used for market research on behalf of the Bureaus and Posts of the Department, the system must contain a robust database of all available titles and must be comprehensive of a variety of publishers and presses, format types, and countries of origin. Access to the electronic system must be available via registered user accounts to facilitate searching outside of Library IP ranges.

Unavailable Titles If publications are only available through a direct order arrangement, or become discontinued, suspended, or otherwise unavailable, the Vendor shall notify the Customer by the time of invoicing or at the time the renewal notifications are sent to the Library. The Vendor shall notify the Customer of title changes and frequency changes for publications on a routine and reoccurring basis and in renewal notifications, if applicable.

Continuations or “Bill Later” Items Initial pre-order price quotes may contain estimates of costs for “bill later” items. In subsequent option years, estimates of such continuations will be included on renewal lists to ensure that funding availability is maintained. The Vendor shall supply, upon request and at no charge, a listing by title showing “bill later” titles billed versus those not yet billed.

Membership Entitlements The Vendor shall provide, upon request, a written summary of all publications and/or materials received through memberships, to include title, frequency, quantity of each publication, and any applicable special membership benefits.

Payment to Publishers The Vendor must have the financial capability to pre-pay publishers for serials subscriptions and to then invoice the Library. Failure to maintain adequate financial responsibility may disqualify the Vendor for placement of orders under this contract.

Adjustments The Vendor shall make additional payments as necessary and will be required to adjust for unforeseen contingencies, such as currency fluctuations, additional volumes, etc.

Government Audit of Vendor Records The Vendor shall maintain complete records of all bibliographic and financial transactions of each Customer for up to three years. The Vendor shall provide, to the Customer, immediate access to these records on demand. The Department of State reserves the right to audit the transaction records.

Account Management The Vendor shall provide support to the Library in tracking funds obligated and items ordered. The Vendor shall provide, by request, best estimates of possible outstanding supplemental and bill-later charges. The Library may request a report of estimated outstanding charges prior to the end of the fiscal year. The Library may instruct the Vendor to cancel outstanding orders, publisher permitting. The Vendor shall be responsible for ensuring that all orders are completed and invoices issued. The Vendor shall, at the Library’s request, provide renewal lists that indicate expected inflation and price increase estimates for the Library’s renewal list. An Accounts Receivable Representative should be available via email and a direct, toll-free phone number to address concerns surrounding billing, payments, invoices, accounting, fiscal maintenance, funds, etc.

Ongoing Subscription Services In addition to renewal listings, subscription services encompass items ordered throughout the year. Such subscription order requests shall be submitted by Library authorized persons and forwarded to the Vendor for placement with the publisher for the subscription period indicated, subject to the terms of this Contract and individual customer fees and terms as established in the RFQ process. Reports of confirmed orders will contain the same information as the renewal lists, plus Delivery Order Number or Purchase Order Number. The Vendor must be able to accept order information generated by the OCLC WMS Integrated Library System, including purchase order PDF files.

Not Included in the Basic Subscription Price The Vendor shall be responsible for facilitating delivery of all material published within a given subscription year. The Vendor shall notify each Customer of special issues, indexes, and unnumbered supplements not included in the basic subscription price. These items shall be made available to the Customer by special order under this Agreement at the publisher's price and firm fixed service fee percent, with no additional charges, other than any handling and transportation costs charged to the Vendor by the publisher. In addition, when Publishers make available title pages, tables of contents, or other materials that are normally supplied by Publishers to requesting subscribers at no cost, the Vendor will facilitate the delivery of such materials to the Library by request, at no additional charge.

Sample Copies The Vendor shall request that Publishers provide sample copies of serials when requested to do so by the Agency.

Back Issues Upon request from the agency, the Vendor shall acquire back issues of a title for up to one year prior to the date of the current volume, if the title exists and the back issues are attainable by routine means.

Administrative Services The Vendor shall provide the following administrative services to support subscription ordering services:

Personal Representative. The Vendor shall assign a representative by name who is familiar with the terms of this Contract and the needs of federal libraries and information centers to provide personalized in-house assistance (via toll free or local telephone number and email) for each account and who can provide support in account transition from the incumbent and account claims resolution. The representative shall respond to all inquiries within three business days, whenever possible.

Management of Electronic Publication Subscriptions. The Vendor must be able to provide products and services to help with the management of electronic publication subscriptions, licenses, links, collection assessments, and collection development reports. The Vendor must be capable of liaising directly with publishers for access issues, rate information, and orders, must maintain profile information for packages, and must verify the accuracy of pricing and estimates for title lists, including renewal lists.

Claims for Missing, Defective, or Mutilated Issues. The Vendor shall act as the contact point for the agency 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 calendar days. The Vendor shall handle claims for any subscription for up to three months after the termination date of the subscription.

Claims for Back Issues. The Vendor must, at no additional cost, provide the Library with the ability to locate back issues of claimed publications that are no longer available from publisher(s). The Vendor must house a rolling inventory of physical back issues of publications and must use this stored bank of publications to fill claims for missing issues, in the event that the specific requested issues are shown as unavailable or out of stock direct from the publishers. Information pursuant to the availability of titles or publications within the storage bank of back issue publications should be displayed in the Vendor’s electronic subscription management platform or website.

Electronic Claims. The Vendor shall offer electronic claims services. The Vendor must be able to handle EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) for claims stemming from Integrated Library Systems, including OCLC WMS. The Library may report access issues with subscribed-to publications to the Vendor, whereupon the Vendor will be expected to explain or research the outage, and, when necessary, correspond with the Publisher to restore access.

Claims, Cancellations, Replacements Time frame The Vendor shall place all claims with the publisher within a minimum of five working days after receipt. In addition, the Vendor shall accept rush claims electronically, by telephone and fax and process them in fewer than five working days, whenever feasible.

Claim Information Claims types shall include missing issues, damaged issues, gaps in receipt of a title, non-start of a new order or renewal, error in consignee address, and duplicate issues received. The claim notice sent from the Vendor to the publisher shall include the following information:

(1) Title being claimed

(2) Specific issues

(3) Date of Vendor's order to publisher

(4) Order period

(5) Amount paid

(6) Proof of payment (complete check information)

Claim List A list of claims, which have been made, shall be accessible by electronic means and shall include information on the current status of each claim.

Cancellations and Refunds All cancellations shall be accomplished within five business days upon appropriate notification from the Library. If no funds will be recovered under a cancellation, the Vendor will notify the Library. However, if funds are recovered they must be promptly credited to the Customer and no administrative fee shall be charged.

For Lost Periodicals, Replacements, and Discontinuance of Publication In the case where replacements are unavailable and refunds are offered instead, the Vendor shall provide to the Library a credit in full of all amounts refunded by the publishers.

Due to Cancellation In those instances in which a refund has been requested due to timely cancellation of a subscription, the Vendor shall provide written evidence of his attempts to secure the refund for the Government.

Management Reports The Vendor shall provide access to the following reports in electronic format. The below specified reports, in general, should be available at no charge for download on-demand as MS Excel, HTML, XML, Comma-delimited Text files, and/or Tab-delimited Text files:

a) Collection Assessment. Detailing all ordered titles and including title information, such as cost and subject classification.

b) Current Subscription List. Detailing all current subscriptions (i.e. those subscriptions that have a POP End on or after the date the report is generated).

c) E-Journal Registration. Detailing those electronic serial titles ordered for which additional steps or customer assistance may be required for access. Contains publishers’ access policies, account information, title information, and license details, whenever available.

d) Price Analysis. Detailing current and historical pricing data for titles ordered. Ideally up to five years of data will be included, if available.

e) Subscriber Lists/Subscriber Data. Detailing the names (or office names), mailing or delivery addresses, and customer or subscriber codes for each individual customer. This data is essential for organizing the Bureau and Post requirements serviced by the Library.

f) Claims Processed. Detailing claims made through the Vendor, preferably within the last 12 months.

g) Indexing Information. Detailing currently ordered journal subscriptions and providing data on where those journal titles are indexed.

Vendors are welcome to provide additional details on available reports, especially as they concern the serials management process, collection development decision-making, and financial tracking and analysis.

Usage The Vendor must be capable of providing usage data for ordered serials and products and must be able to provide a self-service functionality for the examination of usage statistics by the Library for electronic resources, titles, and databases direct from the Vendor’s electronic system. Collection statistics should display key metrics such as cost per title (including those titles actively subscribed to) and cost per use, when available, as well as data on the number of titles actively subscribed to, total cost, total usage, and sub-totals of items ordered by format (including print, print and online both, and online only). Vendors are welcome to describe additional analytics and usage tools available.

Training On request, the Vendor shall provide training to Library personnel concerning the ordering process and the electronic database interface, including any recent updates to said interface.

· Online training during normal working hours of 8:30 AM EST - 5:00 PM EST Monday through Friday.

· Online or on-site (when possible) “hands on” training for Library staff.

· Customized and specific admin, module, or reports training requested by the Library.

· Regularly-scheduled online training sessions available to the Library and to the broader Library community or customer base.

· Tutorials and help information available online 24/7.

Customer Support The Library requires ongoing customer support, both through an appointed Vendor representative and through a Help Desk or customer service team. While the appointed personal Vendor representative is expected to address questions or concerns on orders, pending and upcoming renewals and renewal lists, electronic access and access troubleshooting, claims, and delivery issues, the Vendor must also provide help desk support via email, a ticket system via the Vendor’s electronic system, and/or a toll-free hotline during operating hours of the Library. Coverage must be provided during business hours, 8:30 AM EST - 5:00 PM EST Monday through Friday. The Vendor shall set priorities for notification of each problem and will provide responsive updates for the resolution of critical, urgent, and other problems.

Security

There should be no security issues with this effort.

Travel

There are no travel requirements associated with this effort.

Place of Performance

Access to Library subscriptions is handled by the Ralph J. Bunche Library, located at the Harry S. Truman building in Washington, DC. Print materials may be expected for delivery within the continental United States, sometimes beyond the Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia region.

Period of Performance

The Library desires a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) contract containing a base year plus four options years.

Proposals

Vendors are welcome to supply brief narrative descriptions confirming or denying their ability to fulfil the requirements above. Vendors may submit supplemental materials to elaborate on their abilities, but only in addition to the narrative descriptions.

While no standardized format for responses is required, sample responses may align with, then briefly elaborate on, the following options :

1. “Complies.” The Vendor shall respond “Complies” to indicate they offer the capability described by the RFP.

2. “Deviates.” The Vendor shall respond “Deviates” to indicate the capability described by the RFP is available with minor deviations. The Vendor shall describe the capabilities that are available and how they deviate from the RFP. “Deviates” may be an acceptable response to a required feature or function if the Library deems the deviation acceptable.

3. “Not Planned.” If the Vendor does not plan to provide a function, the Vendor must respond “Not Planned” to that function or requirement.

4. “Development (date).” Where the Vendor’s system is under development for a capability described in the RFP, the Vendor must respond with “Development ____,” stating the date of availability and what, if any, deviations it will have from description in the RFP.

5. “Planned (date).” Where the Vendor’s proposed system is planned, but not yet under development, the Vendor shall respond “Planned ____,” and state the target date of availability.

6. Some questions require an answer not included in one of the terms mentioned above.

Vendor Company Information Please provide the following profile information:

· Name

· Home office address

· Sales/customer service office

· Name, title, telephone and email address for primary contact for proposal

· Number of years in operation

· Total size of knowledge base, including both packages and unique titles

· Total number of providers, including traditional publishers and open access providers

· Total number of reports available, both through the electronic system and by request

· Total number of titles available for search in the Vendor’s electronic system or online title database

· Additional applicable information on electronic resources discovery capabilities

· Additional applicable information on the integration of electronic resources and serials with aggregator holdingsus

· Total number of Libraries the Vendor serves, including Special Libraries

· Dun and Bradstreet Financial Strength Rating, along with a statement comparing this rating to that of comparable companies, if available.

Description of Staff Use these categories as guidelines and represent the Vendor’s staffing in the most appropriate ways.

· Customer Service/Support

· Sales

· Administration

· Accounts Receivable/Fiscal Support

· Training

· Research and Development

References Provide two to five references that accurately reflect serials management and Vendor support abilities. References from Government and/or FEDLINK customers are of particular interest.

Evaluation Criteria The Government will make an award to the responsive and responsible Vendor whose proposal is most advantageous to the Government. The successful proposal will demonstrate a clear understanding of the statement of work and will indicate the degree to which the Vendor’s approach is technically and managerially sound. Vendors will also be evaluated on past performance for similar contracts.