7610--Library Journal Subscriptions

This is a Sources Sought only. The Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) VISN 21 is performing market research to identify companies capable of providing periodical subscription of magazine for the library at the VA Northern CA Health Care System. (a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this sources sought notice or to otherwise pay for the information solicited. (b) Although proposal, offeror, contractor, and offeror may be used in this sources sought notice, any response will be treated as information only. It shall not be used as a proposal. (c) Any information received from a contractor in response to this sources sought notice may be used in creating a solicitation. Any information received which is marked with a statement, such as proprietary or confidential, intended to restrict distribution will not be distributed outside of the Government, except as required by law. (d) This sources sought is to gain knowledge of potential qualified sources and their size classifications (Service Disabled/Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB/VOSB), Hub zone, 8(a), small, small disadvantaged, woman owned small business, or large business) relative to NAICS 511120. This is a sources sought notice only, no formal solicitation document exists at this time. Offerors response shall include the following information: - Reference Number 36C261-21-AP-0346 - Company Name, point of contact, title, phone number and email address. - DUNS number - Contractors shall identify the NAICS code for the product being offered as well as their size status. (e) Contractors with alternate Item submission: Offerors submitting alternate items must provide technical information sufficient for a layman person to determine acceptability. Information will not be paid for by the government nor returned to the supplying party. The information will be used to determine product acceptability. Please email all inquiries by November 13, 2020 to contact@example.gov. Only emailed received directly from interested persons are acceptable. New Equipment ONLY; NO remanufactured, used/refurbished or "gray market" items. All items must be covered by the manufacturer's warranty. No product in development shall be considered. Authorized dealers: Experienced firms only who are authorized distributor will be considered in addition to the original equipment manufacturer. A letter from the manufacturer stating your company is an authorized dealer for the line items must be in possession by the due date and be available for submission, if requested. There is no solicitation document as this time. The NAICS is 511120 with Small Business size of 1000. NOTE: Please ensure that System for Award Management (SAM) (www.sam.gov) indicates this NAICS code if you are interested in the requirement. STATEMENT OF WORK FOR LIBRARY SUBSCRIPTIONS 1.0 FISCAL YEAR ORDERS 1.0.1 Scope of Work The Contractor shall be responsible for the management, labor and equipment necessary to provide access to serial publication subscriptions (both in print and online) and related subscription requirements to VA Northern California Health Care System (VA NCHCS) Library. Related subscription requirements include paying publishers, handling claims for non-receipt, processing changes in subscriptions status (renewals, new and cancelled subscriptions), facilitating the activation of online access, and submission of required reports and other service problems. All subscriptions placed will be renewal subscriptions. 2.0 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 2.0.1 Subscription Orders. The solicitation is divided into two parts. Contractor(s) must qualify under Part 1 to provide requirements under Part 2. The two parts are: Part 1 - Basic Subscription Orders. Part 2 - Required Support Requirements 2.0.1.1 Part 1 - Basic Subscription Orders. Contractor shall provide basic subscription orders that would include all the tasks necessary to execute and manage orders for new and renewal subscriptions to serial publication subscriptions and point of care database subscriptions. These tasks fall into the following four critical areas, described in detail elsewhere in the solicitation: (a) Ordering subscriptions; (b) Serving as the fiscal agent with publishers, including making timely prepayments, processing refunds, claims, supplemental and bill-later charges; (c) Ensuring timely and complete delivery of ordered subscriptions; and, (d) Providing reports and other administrative support for subscriptions management. 2.0.1.2 Part 2 - Required Support Requirements. Contractor shall provide support to cover a range of subscription-related products to the library, in addition to basic subscription orders and renewals described under Part 1. 3.0 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS 3.1.1 Part One - Basic Subscription Orders and Renewals. Contractor shall provide subscription orders for all subscriptions in all media generally available via agents from foreign and domestic publishers, if the ordering customer can supply sufficient publication information. 3.1.2 The Contractor shall supply materials from a wide range of publishers. The journals subscribed by the VANCHCS are published by several different publishers. Contractor(s) shall be able to provide the services required under this contract by being able to order from any publisher as requested. 3.1.3 Subscription Periods. 3.1.3.1 Publisher permitting, the Contractor shall be required to place subscriptions at any time during the year, to provide common expiration dates for initial subscription and renewals whenever possible, and to assist in prorating for common expiration dates, as required by individual stations. 3.1.3.2 The Contractor shall provide administrative and other requirements for each subscription placed until three months after its expiration or for the life of the subscription. 3.1.4 Direct Orders. (a) Listing of any "direct only" subscriptions, meaning subscriptions which the Contractor cannot supply due to publishers licensing requirements, where privity of contract is required by the Publisher to be directly between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Publisher. The doctrine of privity in the common law of contracts provides that a contract cannot confer rights or impose obligations arising under it on any person or agent except the parties to it. Without VA Contracting Officer approval and that comply with the Publishers requirements, these orders cannot be placed through this contract action. 3.1.5 Payment. (a) The Contractor shall pay all regular subscription orders in advance, prior to submission of first invoice. (b) The Contractor shall make additional payments as necessary and be required to adjust for unforeseen contingencies, such as currency fluctuations, additional volumes. (c) The Contractor shall maintain complete records of all bibliographic and financial transactions of each Station for up to three years. The Contractor shall provide to the VA immediate access to these records on demand. If required by the VA, the Contractor shall provide copies of these documents at no cost. The Contractor shall retain the original records on-site. 3.1.6 Administrative Services. The Contractor shall provide the following administrative services to support subscription ordering services: (a) Claims for missing, defective or mutilated issues. The Contractor shall be the contract liaison for all VA Stations in obtaining from the publisher replacement copies of periodicals found to be defective, mutilated, lost in transit, or otherwise missing, provided the loss is reported within sixty calendar days. Contractor shall provide back issue ordering if requested. Contractor shall respond to Stations' claims within ten (10) calendar days of the claim. The Contractor shall offer electronic claims services at no additional charge. The Contractor shall, upon request of the government, demonstrate or make available for review its electronic claims system prior to contract award. (i) The Contractor shall provide each Station with the necessary training and written documentation to enable each Station to effectively use the electronic claiming system. (ii) The Contractor shall supply the VA and all "ship-to" addressees with full service assistance in claiming missing issues. (iii) The Contractor shall handle claims for any subscription for up to three months after the life of the subscription. (b) Personal Representative. The Contractor shall assign a representative by name to provide personalized in-house assistance for VA Station account. (c) Library Management Reports (i) Claims Lists. The Contractor shall provide to the station a monthly listing of all outstanding claims and any responses received from the publishers. The report shall be cumulative, by title, for all unresolved claims. 3.1.7 Licenses Contractor and publishers frequently have license agreements for their electronic publications, systems and software products. Licenses may be for the subscription agent s proprietary products, or publisher s proprietary products. All license agreements will be between the VA library and the Contractor/Publishers. Such individual licenses shall only pertain to the VA library for whom they were negotiated. License agreements will be reviewed, approved, signed and enforced by per local procedures. Contractor s proposals must contain copies of all Contractor proprietary licenses for all items offered. A.1 PRICE/COST SCHEDULE ITEM INFORMATION ITEM NUMBER DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES QUANTITY UNIT UNIT PRICE AMOUNT 0001 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ AORN Journal 0001-2092 0002 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ Brain and Language 0093-934X 0003 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ British Journal of Psychiatry 0007-1250 LOCAL STOCK NUMBER: 683.18 0004 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ Clinical Neuropsychologist, The 1385-4046 0005 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ CQ Magazine -AKA: CQ Amateur Radio 0006 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ General Dentistry 0363-6771 0007 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ International Journal of Safe Patient Handling and Mobility 2572-0562 0008 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 1550-9389 0009 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ Journal of Dental Technology (JDT) 1088-3118 0010 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy 0190-6011 0011 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ Journal of Palliative Medicine 1096-6218 0012 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ Journal of Womens Health 1059-7115 0013 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ LGBT Health 2325-8292 0014 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ QST 1385-4046 0015 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ Sleep 0161-8105 0016 1.00 EA __________________ __________________ Telemedicine & e-Health \F\ VA - N. CA 1530-5627\F\ GRAND TOTAL __________________ DISCLAIMER This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked as proprietary will be handled accordingly. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI.