Access to Elsevier's ScienceDirect Online Service for the National Library of Medicine

It is the intent of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), to negotiate on a sole source with Elsevier B.V., Radarweg 29, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, 1043 NX, Netherlands under the authority of 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. This acquisition is to provide access to content on the Elsevier ScienceDirect platform. ScienceDirect provides access to Elsevier titles selected for the NLM collection and indexed for Medline, Elsevier B.V. is the sole owner of ScienceDirect. This announcement constitutes the only synopsis for this requirement; and is issued for notification purposes only. Any interested party should contact the Contracting Officer below for more information regarding this posting. All correspondence shall be received no later than December 9, 2019 at 5:00 PM EST.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 511120: Periodical Publishers. The small business size standard is 1,000 employees. **See attached Statement of Work for full description. **

The purpose of this contract is to provide access to the Elsevier ScienceDirect database of journals. ScienceDirect, provides subscription-based access to a large database of journals which is a leading source for scientific, technical and medical research. Elsevier is the only responsible source which will satisfy the requirement for access to the Elsevier journal subscriptions and is the only known source of Elsevier titles online. Elsevier developed the ScienceDirect online service and has exclusive proprietary rights to it. Therefore, it is necessary for NLM to negotiate on a sole source basis with Elsevier B.V. for online access to ScienceDirect. There are no other acquisition sources or in-house alternatives. Any other solution would result in substantial duplication costs and unacceptable delays.

Responses to this posting must be submitted via NLM's Electronic Contract Proposal Submission (eCPS) system at https://ecps.nih.gov, no later than 5:00 p.m., (Eastern-Daylight Savings Time), Monday December 9, 2019.

NOTE: For directions on using eCPS, go to https://ecps.nih.gov and click on "How to Submit." To submit your electronic proposal using eCPS, all offerors must have a valid NIH External Directory Account, which provides authentication and serves as a vehicle for secure transmission of documents and communication with the NLM. The NIH External Directory Account registration process may take up to 24 hours to become active. Submission of proposals by facsimile or e-mail is not accepted.

All proposals received within forty-five (45) days from the date of publication of this synopsis will be considered by NLM. NLM Synopsis No. 75N97020R00001. EMAILS AND FACSIMILES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTABLE. Firms interested in responding to this notice must be able to provide the products and services required by NLM. The offeror shall include all information necessary to document and/or supports the qualification criteria in one clearly marked section of its proposal. All responses from responsible sources will be considered. Inquiries regarding this procurement may be made to the National Library of Medicine, Office of Acquisitions, 6707 Democracy Boulevard, Suite 105, MSC 5488, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, Attention: Uyen H. Phuong, Contracting Officer, on (301) 496-6546.