Attachment 1 Single Source Justification MPT to SAT_Redacted.pdf

VHAPG Part 813.106 Simplified Acquisition Procedures: Soliciting from a Single Source Attachment 1: Single Source Justification for SAP under the SAT

Last Updated: 02/01/22 Page 1 of 2

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Justification for Single Source Awards IAW FAR 13.106-1

For

Over Micro-Purchase Threshold but Not Exceeding the SAT ($250K)

Acquisition Plan Action ID:_2237 No.: 523-24-4-3801-0118__

1. Contracting Activity: Department of Veterans Affairs, Network/Program Contracting Office 1, located at NCO 1, in support of VISN 1 VA Health Care System at 200 Springs Road, Bldg 10, Bedford, MA 01730

2. Brief Description of Supplies/ Services required and the intended use/Estimated Amount:

Request for a one year (base year) plus 1 option year subscription to Proquest Intota: includes Intota

ERM (Assessment and Electronic Resource Management), Discovery (Summon),and Intota Assessment for 8 VISN1 facility sites. The award will be made to ProQuest LLC. The projected period of product performance is one year (Base) - 9/15/24 to 9/14/25 and Option 1 9/15/25 – 9/15/26.

3. Unique characteristics that limit availability to only one source, with the reason no other supplies or services can be used:

The estimated value of the proposed action is

ProQuest’s INTOTA (owned by Clarivate) is a digital library content management platform that allows the control and management of the various digital resources, ebooks, databases and clinical tools for VISN1 facilities. The VISN1 Library staff can control the access of e-book and e-journal titles, change URLs where necessary and generate user access statistics. Furthermore, the Intota platform integrates with the VA’s Library National Office allowing VISN1 patrons to access and research resources subscribed to at the national level. All content in the Intota system is centrally indexed, which is vastly different from the other discovery search services that use repurposed database platforms and or repurposed next generation catalogs. These repurposed platforms and catalogs under the term “blended indexes” limit discovery and compromise the library’s mission of discovery.

The Intota platform allows the level of control the library staff needs to curate the digital collection, discover the pertinent information requested and is fully integrated with the VA National Library

Office’s system which means the national level resources are available on the Knowledge Library website.

The library team researched other products including EBSCO’s Discovery Service (EDS) with

EBSCO’s Usage Consolidation and SpringShares’ LibAnalytics. The team found that neither EDS nor the LibAnalytics platforms searched all of the library’s resources using a single index and do not provide the services and capabilities for usage statistics that the library staff are required to collect and report to the VA Library National Office.

The other option explored was an integrated library system (ILS) which is a popular option amid the public and university library space and offers a comprehensive array of functions for the library that loans physical resources (books, journals, media). The ILS is an all-inclusive library system that contains a catalogue, a door counter measure, a circulation measure; e.i. every function needed to run a physical resource library holding shelves of books and journals etc. The issue is that the VISN1

VHAPG Part 813.106 Simplified Acquisition Procedures: Soliciting from a Single Source Attachment 1: Single Source Justification for SAP under the SAT

Last Updated: 02/01/22 Page 2 of 2

Knowledge Library is primarily a highly specialized digital library for the use of the eight VISN1 facilities’ staffs in pursuing point of care, research and the VA mission in general; many of the ILS functions are unnecessary for the operation of the Knowledge Library and using such a tool would be a waste of funds.

At this time, no other branded product (besides Intota) is capable of acting as a substitute for this acquisition.

4. Description of market research conducted and results or statement why it was not conducted:

Market Research indicated that there are multiple authorized sellers of the required journal (Intota).

As a result the Contract Specialist recommends soliciting the requirement as unrestricted for brand name items only.

5. Contracting Officer's Certification: Purchase is approved in accordance with FAR13.106-1(b). I certify that the foregoing justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Tyler Kenyon Date

Contracting Officer