ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO JSTOR

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), National Agricultural Library (NAL) intends to award a sole source, firm-fixed-price contract with ITHAKA HARBORS INC., 2 Rector Street, New York, NY 10006, for JSTOR membership and subscribe via IP authentication over the Internet to the JSTOR Global Plants database and Life Sciences journal archive collection, for all USDA users. NAL requires electronic access via IP authentication over the internet to the JSTOR Global Plants database and Life Sciences journal archive collection for use by all USDA employees, authorized public on-site users, cooperators and volunteers working on behalf of USDA and acting within the scope of their relationship with USDA. These annual subscriptions require payment of a one-time membership/access fee. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the global higher education community advance and preserve knowledge and to improve teaching and learning through the use of digital technologies in sustainable ways. ITHAKA has launched three of the most transformative and widely used services in higher education: JSTOR, Portico, and Ithaka S+R. ITHAKA works with a wide range of organizations in the academic community including foundations, universities, libraries, colleges, scholarly societies, publishers, as well as individual researchers JSTOR is a highly selective digital library of academic content in many formats and disciplines. The collections include top peer-reviewed scholarly journals as well as respected literary journals, academic monographs, research reports from trusted institutes, and primary sources. JSTOR works with a diverse group of nearly 1,200 publishers from more than 57 countries to preserve and make their content digitally available. JSTOR currently offers more than 10 million academic journal articles, 50,000 books, and 2 million primary sources documents in 75 disciplines. The largest of its kind, Global Plants is a community-contributed database used by students and researchers worldwide. JSTOR partners with herbaria worldwide to make more than two million plant type specimens and related reference and primary source materials available through Global Plants. Experts can use the database to determine and update plant names, and students can discover and learn about plants in context. The database is an essential resource for institutions supporting research and teaching in botany, ecology, and conservation studies In accordance with FAR 6.302-1 and 41 USC 253(1), only one responsible source and no other type of supplies or source will meet agency needs. NAL is mandated (7 U.S.C. 3101) to serve as the primary agricultural information resource of the United States. One of its functions in that role is the acquisition of information in all aspects of agriculture and allied sciences. In support of this function, the NAL acquires journal publications in electronic format from publishers and makes the journals accessible to USDA employees and library patrons via the internet. In keeping with its charge to collect agricultural and related information, it seeks to maintain a collection of publications in various formats from a variety of publishers and sources. The Global Plants Database and publications in the Life Sciences Journal Archive collection are proprietary. Only JSTOR has the rights to distribute these products. In the event that the JSTOR Global Plants database and/or Life Sciences journal archive collections are made available for distribution by other vendors, full and open competition will be considered. THIS NOTICE OF INTENT IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. This notice is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. Vendors that believe they can provide the services listed above are invited to submit substantiating documentation in writing to the identified point of contact. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. A determination by the Government to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely at the discretion of the Government.