5_-_OCLC_JA_Redacted.pdf

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition

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NOTE: If a Justification and Approval was approved for the preceding acquisition, a copy of the approved J&A for the predecessor action must be included in the staff package for approval of the instant J&A. This applies to J&A staff packages that are submitted for review and approval at a level above the contracting officer. The predecessor J&A will be used as a reference document by the approving official.

Choose the funding level for this J&A Document:

< $700K > $700K and < $13.5M > $13.5M and < $93M > $93M

Contracting Activity: AFLCMC/PZIEC

Purchase Request / Local ID Number:

Program / Project (and PE, if applicable): OCLC CATALOGING AND INTERLIBRARY LOAN

Program Type (PEO or Other Contracting): AIR FORCE LIBRARY PROGRAM

Authority (include full title): FAR 13.106-1(b) Soliciting From a Single Source & FAR 13.501(a) Sole Source Acquisitions

Estimated Contract Cost (including options): J&A Type: Class Individual

COORDINATION (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date

04 Jan 2019

Project Lead / Program Mgr / Requiring Activity

Signature

APPROVAL (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date

04 Jan 2019

Contracting Officer

Signature

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I. Contracting Activity.

This justification and approval to request authority for Other Than Full and Open Competition supports requirements generated for the Air Force Libraries. The contracting activity for this requirement is the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Specialized Contracting Section (AFLCMC/PZIEC).

II. Nature and/or description of the action being processed.

Due to circumstances described herein, the activity requests authority to procure electronic access to OCLC's Cataloging and Interlibrary Loan system using Other Than Full and Open Competition as prescribed by FAR 13.106-1(b), Soliciting from a Single Source, and 13.501(a), Sole Source acquisitions. This subscription will expire on 9 JAN 2019. The subscription period of performance will run from 10 JAN 2019 to 31 DEC 2019. This subscription will be purchased with FY19 3400 AF Funds. This individual action will result in the award of a new Firm Fixed Price Contract. This sole source requirement will be acquired from the following organization:

Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC)

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

The AF Libraries require a cataloging and interlibrary loan product that meets the libraries mission to provide quality and technically capable materials as stated in AFI 34-150. Per the AFI, the AF Libraries provide professional military and-voluntary education program materials and services. The libraries also provide support to military personnel assigned to contingency operations, remote sites, and military missions IAW DoDI 1015.10 Military Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Programs. The required subscription will help the AF Libraries meet the above mission by providing the library users with resources for cataloging and interlibrary loans that are necessary to the education programs and are accessible to remote locations as well.

The proposed effort covered by this individual J&A is for a 12-month subscription to The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) for the Air Force Libraries. OCLC is a global library cooperative that provides shared technology services and original research for the library community. This subscription must provide connectivity with other off-site AF Libraries and have available training sessions for library staff. The OCLC subscription proposed is for Group Cataloging, WorldShare, and Interlibrary Loan (ILL) with a continuous access system. Group Cataloging includes online cataloging via multiple OCLC products such as WorldCat. WorldCat is a cataloging and meta-data application to streamline catalog work flows giving access to more than 415 million records shared by libraries worldwide. The records are in Machine Readable Cataloging format. In addition to WorldCat, WorldShare will provide reports for the evaluation of e-journal and e-book packages, determining overlap, acquiring appropriate new content and tracking use. Additionally, ILL provides a cloud-based interlibrary loan management system. The OCLC database contains over 336M records with 2.2 billion cataloged items.

IV. Statutory authority permitting Other than Full and Open Competition.

13.106(b), Soliciting from a Single Source 13.501(a), Sole Source Acquisitions

This acquisition uses Simplified Acquisition Procedures because it falls within the authority of the Commercial Item Test Program. Since this acquisition is less than $7M, Simplified Acquisition Procedures may be used in accordance with FAR 12.203.

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V. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited above (applicability of authority).

A sole source acquisition is justified because OCLC is the only suitable source of the data required. OCLC Catalog Systems are a unique resource for the Air Force Library Program, not available from any other source, and supplements the library's collection of educational materials. They host the data on servers in Dublin, Ohio (with backups around the nation), and the data is provided in a format suitable to libraries. No other vendor collects, updates, curates, and distributes the amount of bibliographic data that OCLC can provide to subscribers (members). OCLC has the exclusive rights to provide these systems to libraries and other educational institutions. WorldCat which is only available through OCLC provides a hub for data, as well as services and applications to find anything held in library collections, efficiently and quickly from anywhere. Without the OCLC catalog the library cannot search for books and the cataloger and technicians cannot update and catalog records.

This would result in work stoppage. The cataloging and library applications exclusively offered by OCLC are vital references for the AFSVA to accomplish a multitude of missions. Without this sole source acquisition, the AF library users and staff will not have access to critical, one of a kind products necessary to daily functioning and educational support.

VI. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

A Sources Sought notice (FA8604-19-Q-5027) was posted from 21 December 2018 - 04 January 2019 requesting any interested firms to submit a capabilities package indicating their capability to provide these required publications. The synopsis outlined minimum characteristics a similar product would have to meet to fulfill the requirement as described in sections II and V about. No responses were received.

An Intent to Award on a Sole Source basis notice (FA8604-19-Q-5027) will be posted on Federal Business Opportunity Net from 04 January 2019 - 08 January 2019. The synopsis outlined minimum characteristics a similar product would have to meet to fulfill the requirement as described in sections II and V about, the Air Force anticipates mo responses will be received. If a response is received, the strategy will be re-assessed accordingly.

The AFSVA surveyed the market for vendors to determine if competitions was a available for the requirement. The library used publisher advertisements, professional conference, vendor demonstrations, customer suggestions and new publication reviews to conduct surveys. No viable vendors were identified. The market research confirms that the publications required by Air Force Libraries are only available from OCLC.

The proposed sole source is the only known source able to satisfy the Government's requirements.

VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

In accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a), the Contracting Officer shall determine that the proposed price is fair and reasonable.

The basis of this determination is anticipated to be based on FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(ii) and FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(iii). This has been previously procured by AFLCMC/PZI for the AF Libraries and the price shall be verified against OCLC's price lists, catalogs, or advertisements and by comparison to prices previously paid.

VIII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

As described in Section VI above, market research, in accordance with FAR Part 10, was conducted by synopsis of the proposed acquisition, advising industry of the pending acquisition and soliciting inquiries from interested parties. Moreover, the AFSVA surveyed the market in order to determine if competition was obtainable. The library staff's market research in addition to the synopsis postings ensures the course of action for a sole source acquisition was the most appropriate moving forward.

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IX. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

None.

X. List of sources, if any, that expressed interest in the acquisition.

The proposed sole source is the only known source that can satisfy the government's requirements.

Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC)

XI. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required.

The contracting activity will post the Sources Sought and the Intent to Award Sole Source notice on FedBizOpps, as described in Section VI above, in order to obtain competition. If acceptable responses are received, the contracting activity will modify its strategy accordingly.

AFSVA/SVPL will attempt to obtain competition whenever possible by use of professional journals and trade exhibits. The AFSVA/SVPL personnel will continue to keep up-to-date and review new research databases to determine if another source will meet the needs of the students, faculty, and staff. The library staff will also keep an open dialog with our patrons and usage statistics to determine the necessity for future purposes.

XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

The contracting officer's signature on the Coordination and Approval Document evidences that he has determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of his/her knowledge and belief in accordance with FAR 13.501(a) (1)(ii) and FAR 6.303-2(b)(12).

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by their signatures on the Coordination and Approval Document, the technical and/or requirements personnel have certified that any supporting data contained herein which is their responsibility is both accurate and complete in accordance with FAR 13.501(a)(1)(ii) and FAR 6.303-2(c).