SOW Subscription Agent 2025.docx

DOCX document 23 KB Posted Oct 30, 2024

Attached to: National Institutes of Health Journal Subscription services
Solicitation number: NIHOLOASGFY20250001
Issued by: Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health Office of Logisitics and Acquisition Operations

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Written by GovTribe AI · Oct 30, 2024

This document is a Statement of Work (SOW) for a federal contract opportunity to provide subscription agent services to the National Institutes of Health Division of Library Services (DLS). The DLS is seeking a qualified subscription agent with the experience and resources necessary to support its acquisition of online journals, databases, and limited print journal subscriptions.

The key requirements include: a web-based subscription management system with comprehensive metadata on all journal titles and the ability to generate reports, accept and pay publisher invoices on behalf of the customer, support for various subscription models including transformative agreements and open access, and ability to provide alerts, reports, and customer support. The contractor must have technical and intellectual capabilities to effectively manage the subscription services. The contract is expected to be a multi-year agreement with the ability to place new orders and renew subscriptions on a calendar year basis. The contractor is required to provide standard reports including a price comparison index, renewal reports, and updates on serial titles. The DLS intends to award this contract through a competitive solicitation process.

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NIHOLOASGFY20250001 Sources Sought Notice.docx	DOCX document	Oct 31, 2024

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STATEMENT OF WORK

PURPOSE

The National Institutes of Health Division of Library Services (DLS) is seeking proposals from qualified vendors to act on its behalf by placing or renewing journal subscriptions in online and/or print formats and paying publisher invoices for subscriptions DLS has placed directly with publishers.

BACKGROUND

The National Institutes of Health Division of Library Services (DLS) supports the information needs, including access to journal literature, of all researchers, clinical staff and administrators employed by NIH. Since 2004 DLS also has provided these services to a number of other agencies of the Health & Human Services Department (HHS). Over the last 25 years, the DLS has successfully shifted completely from print to online-only access for the journal literature. Currently, nearly 20,000 journals are available to NIH staff and through the HHS Digital Library. NIH or select groups within HHS may also choose to acquire small, on-site print journal collections which DLS orders on their behalf.

REQUIREMENTS

DLS is seeking a qualified subscription agent with the experience and human, technical, and financial resources necessary to support its acquisition of online journals, databases, and to a very limited extent, print journal subscriptions. In addition to providing traditional subscription support, the offeror shall detail any experience with transformative agreements and open access funding management. Offeror shall describe their approach of providing specific title-level data such as payment details, renewal status, and general cost information. Offeror shall also provide a transition plan to ensure non-interruption of online access to subscriptions. Pricing formulas shall be predefined where possible. The offeror must have the appropriate combination of the following intellectual and technical capabilities:

1.	Subscription Management System
a.	This web-based system should contain metadata records for all biomedical journals and databases common to a large biomedical research organization.
b.	The web-based system should be available to customers 24/7 with at least a 99% average reliability.
c.	A user-friendly dashboard with multiple account levels (and unlimited local accounts) should be available to support subscription management and collection development needs.
d.	This system must have complete metadata on all journals considered for acquisition (if a title is not in the agent’s database, it must be added within 2 days). Complete data means:

· title

· publisher

· ISSN

· eISSN

· country of publication

· subscription period

· subscription package membership name (big deal bundles)

· available formats (including mobile site/app)

· volume

· price

· % increase in price from past year

· invoice-item number/date

· bill-to address

· ship-to address for print (if applicable)

· account number charged

· customer subscriber number (assigned by publisher)

· Restrictions or terms for institutional subscriptions clearly stated – e.g. online available only if purchased with print.

· subscription status – e.g. irregular, discontinued, slow

e.	Ability for customer to generate and export sortable, machine-readable reports (Excel spreadsheets) using any of the above fields in any combination as needed.
f.	Ability to generate sortable reports of titles contained within subscription packages, including all of the information listed in 1e above.
g.	Ability to capture, store and display all bibliographic and financial transactions in the customer’s account for the previous five years.
h.	Ability to export and/or synchronize this information (all fields on all titles within all orders) using standard protocols into a commercial or open-source electronic resources management system.
i.	Title information clearly and accurately indicates customer’s order history.
j.	Ability to capture and report (as an Excel spreadsheet) all titles ordered by the customer in the previous year; this report also must identify which purchase mechanism (credit card, purchase order, check) agent used to acquire the title on behalf of the customer.
k.	Ability to clearly distinguish payment for a subscription placed by the offeror and one placed directly by the customer but paid by agent.
l.	Ability to interface with the customer’s integrated library system using standard EDI transfer, or a future standard that may be developed and adopted.
m.	Ability to support transmission of purchase orders and invoices electronically.
n.	Provide web-based access to all customer and payment related data, including proof of payment
o.	Provide ability for customer to generate claims and report access issues online
p.	Provide address fields with maximum flexibility, with at least 5 lines and 30 characters per line.

2.	Subscription Services
a.	Ability to accept and pay any information provider invoices within two weeks of receipt on behalf of customer, whether or not the resource is subscribed to through the agent; and invoice customer within one week of payment to publisher.
b.	Traditional subscription agent services including working with publishers to obtain current prices for a list of publications, obtaining proper invoices and paying those invoices after customer approval.
c.	Ability to pay for non-traditional subscription types including, but not limited to, transformative agreements, Read & Publish agreements, Subscribe To Open (S2O) agreements, and other open access support
d.	Ability to verify payment of invoices with information provider/publisher to the correct NIH account within 48 hours of subscription agent payment.
e.	Support for multiple subscription accounts within the web-based electronic resources and serials management system, including separate reporting, review, and approvals for each account subscription list.
f.	Maintain records and provide reporting to show the amount spent, amount projected, and balance/deficit for each subscription account in the system.
g.	Variety of alerts and email reports to notify customer of changes to subscription mix including, but not limited to, changes in format, publisher, price increases about a pre-defined threshold, or discontinued titles.
h.	Ability to send customized messages to publishers meeting a specific selection criteria identified by DLS or to all publishers on an as needed basis (e.g., IP address changes)
i.	Maintain a current database of publisher point of contact information that can be used for alerting and renewal correspondence.
j.	Representative who has the authority to resolve problems arising in the DLS account. The representative or an alternate must be available Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST/EDT. They must be available for site visits, as well as by telephone or e-mail to resolve problems and provide updates. Technical support for access issues requires same business day acknowledgment and resolution to most problems within 2 business days.
k.	Ability to accept orders for new subscriptions at any time during the year. Publisher permitting, renewed subscriptions should be active on a calendar year (January through December) basis.
l.	Use of standard currency conversion rates when processing invoices in foreign currency. If rate used on invoice to customer differs markedly from rate found using a standard online converter, a clear explanation must be provided.
m.	Contractor shall be responsible for the professional quality and technical accuracy, and for the coordination, of all facets of work covering subscription ordering, listings, computer processing and invoicing.
n.	The Contractor shall, without additional compensation, correct or revise any errors or deficiencies in workmanship or other services.
o.	The Contractor shall notify the publisher within 10 working days when customer change of address occurs.
p.	The Contractor shall sign licenses on behalf of DLS as needed.
q.	The Contractor shall provide the following standard reports digitally by e-mail or via download through the online system:
•	Subscription Comparison Price Index Report. In October of each year, in addition to on demand, the Contractor shall provide a price comparison index report (covering a three-year period) in an Excel spreadsheet for all subscriptions, down to the individual title level (including packages). This report shall be sortable by any field listed in 1e above– e.g. title, publisher, etc.
•	Renewal Report. On a monthly basis provide a renewal report of all subscriptions based upon actual or estimated pricing for the following year. Clearly distinguish between an actual price and an estimated price and provide rationale for calculating the estimated price. Reports should be able to be segmented or customized to show renewals for each subscription account.
•	Regular Title Updates. The Contractor shall provide updates at least monthly on serial titles including data such as delayed issues, title changes, publisher changes, publication mergers, cessations, online availability status, and direct order requirements.

File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated Oct 30, 2024.