Final_JandA_Redacted.pdf

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

25 May 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Page 1 of 4

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

Is this a new or amended J&A Document? New Amended ( Prior to Award Only! )

Is this a Bridge Action as defined in the AF Bridge Action Reduction Plan? Yes No

Funding level for this acquisition: >SAT and < $700K > $700K and < $13.5M

Contracting Activity: AFLCMC/PZIEC

Purchase Request / Local ID Number:

Program / Project (and PE, if applicable): EBSCO NoveList

Program Type (PEO or Other Contracting): Other Contracting

Authority: AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2302b, Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901)

AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2304a, Special Emergency Procurement Authority (41 U.S.C. 1903)

Estimated Contract Cost (including options): Justification Type: Class Individual

COORDINATION (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date

04 Sep 2018

Project Lead / Program Mgr / Requiring Activity

Signature

APPROVAL (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date

05 Sep 2018

Contracting Officer

Signature

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

25 May 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Page 2 of 4

I. Contracting Activity.

This justification and approval to request authority for Other Than Full and Open Competition supports requirements generated for the Department of Defense 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 the EBSCO NoveList, NoveList Plus and NoveList K-8 Plus 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 individual action will result in the award of a new Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Contract. The current subscription will expire on 29 SEPT 2018. The subscription period of performance will run from 30 SEPT 2018 to 29 SEPT 2019. This subscription will be purchased with FY18 0100 DoD Funds. This sole source requirement will be acquired from the following company, EBSCO Inductries, Inc.

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

The proposed effort covered by this individual Justification and Approval is for a twelve (12) month subscription to the EBSCO NoveList, NoveList Plus and NoveList K-8 Plus subscription. The DoD Library Consortium, including the Air Force Library Program, has a requirement for an a subscription that meets the libraries mission to provide quality and technically capable materials as stated in AFI 34-150 and the DoD libraries program mission 1015.10. The libraries support military personnel assigned to contingency operations, remote sites, and military missions IAW DoDI 1015.10, Military Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Programs. The program provides professional military and voluntary education program materials and services. The libraries also provide facilities, resources, and services to enhance the quality of life, and provide regeneration and resiliency for authorized customers. The required subscription will help the DoD Library Consortium meet the above mission by providing the library users with educational materials while also enhancing the personnel's quality of life.

The Department of Defense (DoD) Library Consortium exists to create partnerships among the libraries within the various services of the DoD. They cooperatively acquire materials that are made available to military and civilian employees across the DoD. These resources relate to various overarching goals of the DoD such as recreation, physical wellness, emotional resiliency, and educational pursuits. To meet these needs the DoD Library Consortium requires a database that provides up-to-date knowledge of media in numerous formats including books, e-books, and audio books. This database needs to provide tools to enhance the reader advisory services provided by librarians and include data on similar authors, reading levels, interests and subject matters. The database must also include the ability to provide data on pre-release materials, independent from publishers, to assist librarians in developing their library collection effectively and cost efficiently. The database needs to cover a wide age range and reading levels to ensure the libraries can meet the needs of all of their patrons. The database must include both fiction and non-fiction titles and offer reviews from multiple independent sources and free from publisher bias on title qualities. The database also needs the ability to coordinate with a library's Online Public Access Catalog to provide librarians and patrons information on books currently available in the library. The database needs a mobile application to meet the needs of all patrons and be available through third party applications such as Boopsie.

The proposed effort covered by this individual J&A is for a 12-month subscription to the NoveList Plus and NoveList Plus K-8 databases for all members of the DoD libraries. The NoveList software helps readers discover books and connects them to library collections that contain those books using a database of over 500,000 titles for all ages. Books are searchable by interests, title, author, and reading level. This database is important for educational pursuits by creating a way for members to broaden their searches to more books with relevant material based upon an initial title.

This database also enhances the quality of life by providing users the ability to discover new books to read for recreation based upon their interests. NoveList Plus is the only known product that satisfies all of the DoD libraries requirements.

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

25 May 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Page 3 of 4

IV. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2302b Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901)

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

The EBSCO NoveList databases are a unique resource for the DoD Libraries, not available from any other source, and it supplements the library's collections of books for a broad subject area. Sole source acquisition is justified because EBSCO has exclusive copyright to their data. EBSCO does not allow their data to be purchased from any other sources, nor can DoD go direct to other publishers.

NoveList provides read-alike advisory information for readers and provides reviews on all material in the database from multiple independent sources. NoveList's On The Shelf can interface with a library's OPAC and can provide librarians and patrons with information on what is currently in the collection. This increases the library's efficiency in providing patrons with information and saves money on collection development. NoveList is regularly updated and provides information on materials even before publication. NoveList is also available through their own mobile application and can also connect through third party mobile applications. This is required by DoD to achieve their mission.

There is no equivalent to the NoveList databases in the market at this time. A failure to acquire this product creates inefficiency through an increased need of library resources and creation of unproductive processes to help readers find relevant material. In addition, buying the books on-demand instead of using EBSCO's interlibrary loan system would greatly increase the cost. Accordingly, EBSCO is the only firm capable of providing the supplies described above without the U.S. Air Force experiencing unacceptable delays and substantial duplication of cost that could not be recouped through competition.

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

A Sources Sought posting on Federal Business Opportunity (FBO) from 29 June 2018 - 18 July 2018 requesting any interested firms to submit a capabilities package indicating their capability to provide the requirement. The synopsis outlined minimum characteristics a similar product would have to meet to fulfill the requirement as described in sections III. and V. above. One response was received from EBSCO, the incumbent vendor.

An Intent to Award Sole Source was posted on FBO from 18 July 2018 - 23 July 2018 advising industry of the intent of the government to award sole source and requesting any interested firms to submit a capabilities package indicating their capability to provide the requirement . The synopsis outlined minimum characteristics a similar product would have to meet to fulfill the requirement as described in sections III. and V. above. No responses were received.

AFSVA/SVPL surveyed the market for vendors to determine if competition was available for the requirement. The library used publishers' advertisements, professional conferences, vendor demonstrations, customer suggestions and new publication reviews to conduct its surveys. No viable vendors were found.

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 DoD Libraries and the price shall be verified against 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

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

25 May 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Page 4 of 4 of the proposed acquisition, advising industry of the pending acquisition and soliciting inquiries from interested parties. Moreover, the AFSVA/SVPL surveyed the market in order to determine if competition was obtainable. The library reviewed advertisements, new publications, and available conferences to ensure the course of action for a sole source acquisition was the most appropriate moving forward.

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

None

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

EBSCO Industries, Inc.

The proposed sole source is the only known source that can satisfy the government's requirements. No other sources expressed interest.

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 a Sources Sought and Intent to Award Sole Source 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 keep an open dialog with the users/patrons and evaluate statistics to determine the necessity to use this resource to supplement its collection of research databases. AFSVA/SVPL will continue to survey the market for vendors to obtain competition in databases. The library will use publishers' advertisements, professional conferences, vendor demonstrations, customer suggestions and new publication reviews in conducting its surveys.

XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my (our) signature(s) above, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our) responsibility, is both accurate and complete.