Access to Chemical Abstracts Service Databases through its web-based interface, SciFinder

THIS IS A NOTICE OF INTENT, NOT A REQUEST FOR A PROPOSAL. A SOLICITATIO DOCUMENT WILL NOT BE ISSUED AND PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE REQUESTED. The National Institutes of Health intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Chemical Abstracts Service, 2540 Olentangy River Rd., Columbus, OH 43210 for access to CAS SciFinder available to the entire NIH community. No solicitation exists for this requirement. The proposed contract action is for services for which the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 6.302. The product is commercial as defined in FAR Part 2.101. The total contract dollar amount will not exceed $5.5 million; therefore it will be solicited under the Commercial Test Program as authorized funder FAR 13.5. The period of performance shall be for one twelve (12) month period, with options to renew for four (4) successive twelve month periods. It is believed that Chemical Abstracts Service is the sole source for this requirement under the authority of U.S. C. 253 ( c ) (1) as set for the in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1 because the Chemical Abstracts Services (CAS), a division of the American Chemical Society has the sole and exclusive right to sell or distribute content from their databases. The Scifinder is the proprietary platform CAS provides for end-user (researchers/chemists) to search these databases. Acquiring either from another source would be a violation of copyright law. Below is the Draft Statement of Work. This is not a solicitation for competitive proposals. However, if any other interested party believes that it can meet the requirements, it may submit a statement of capabilities. The capability statement and any other information furnished must be in writing, and must contain material in sufficient detail to allow the Government to determine if the party can meet all of the requirements of the Statement of Work. Capability statements and related materials must be received by the Contract Specialist no later than April 7, 2009, at 10:00 AM Eastern Time. Written responses received after April 7, 2009, 10:00 AM Eastern Time will not be accepted. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Address responses to the attention of Lorraine Geiser at the National Institutes of Health, Office of Acquisitions via email at geiserl@od.nih.gov DRAFT STATEMENT OF WORK PROJECT TITLE: Access to Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) Databases through its web-based interface, SciFinder. PURPOSE DLS intends to award a contract for discounted access to CAS SciFinder available to the entire NIH community as a fixed price requirement. BACKGROUND INFORMATION SciFinder is a critical information source for NIH researchers. For more than five years, the Division of Library Services (DLS) has facilitated access by NIH researchers to this resource through an umbrella contract that allowed interested groups throughout NIH to obtain discounted access to the resource for a flat annual fee by issuing their own task orders against the contract. NIH groups that acquire access to SciFinder in this way have unlimited access to the databases. SciFinder is a web-based interface that provides desk-top access to the proprietary chemical information contained in CAS databases. CAS is a division of the American Chemical Society. CAS is recognized by academic and corporate researchers as the producer of the world's largest and most comprehensive chemical databases. As such they are indispensable to biomedical scientists and chemists engaged in new product and patent development as well as basic research. CAS indexes chemical articles from more than 10,000 journals; its database contains more than 30 million abstracts. The CAS Registry is the authoritative collection of disclosed chemical substance information with more than 43 million organic and inorganic substances and more than 60 million sequences. SciFinder as a research tool allows users to: o identify chemical substances by searching their chemical structure or sub-structure, o find data about chemical reactions, o search by Nucleotide or Protein sequence, and o link to relevant patents and articles that can be obtained through the NIH Library OBJECTIVES The specific objectives of this requirement is to provide the NIH community with cost-effective access to SciFinder, the gateway to search the proprietary and comprehensive databases of chemical information produced by the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), a division of the American Chemical Society (ACS). This action provides a centralized license agreement that shall consolidate accounts from NIH institutes. As a result of the centralized licensing agreement, the NIH will receive a discount to the price charged for each registered user. This also will save the NIH groups who need the service the time and effort to prepare and negotiate separate contracts. Services to be Performed A. General Requirements Independently and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all necessary labor, materials, supplies, equipment, and services (except as otherwise specified herein) and perform the work set forth below. All work under this contract shall be monitored by the Contract Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) B. Specific Requirements The Contractor shall provide web-based access to CAS databases through the SciFinder interface. This contract shall be open to the entire NIH community no matter the location. The Contractor shall provide NIH researchers with an open option to annually purchase as many personal accounts as required for the discounted price. Each NIH SciFinder account holder shall have the option to discontinue his/her account within 30 days of their account expiration date. The Contractor shall provide all SciFinder software and updates as issued. NIH account holders will be able to scan and search the database, and print or download the results of their searches for their personal and work-related use. These searches may either be repetitive scanning of all or portions of the database for current awareness (profiles), or they may be one-time, non-repetitive, interactive searches of all or part of the databases. Among the various search capabilities offered by the Contractor, structure and sub-structure searching are required. As part of the base price for the databases and the interface, the Contractor shall provide maintenance service in the form of periodic software updates and technical support. Technical support must be available Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm Eastern time. Government Responsibilities The Government shall provide all computer hardware for authorized users to access the databases and interface on its secure network. Deliverables - N/A