SOFTWARE SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE FOR VOYAGER INTEGRATED LIBRARY SYSTEM

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Agricultural Library (NAL), in Beltsville, MD intends to negotiate on a sole source basis a contract with Ex Libris (USA) Inc., 1350 E Touhy Ave Ste 150w, Des Plaines, IL, 60018-3319, for maintenance and support services to fully support the Voyager Integrated Library System and its Oracle database produced by Ex Libris (USA) Inc. NAL utilizes the Voyager Integrated Library System to fully support the acquisition of books, journals, audiovisual material, electronic materials, serials check-in, serials claiming, fund accounting, cataloging, indexing, document delivery, circulation, reader requests, authority control for names and subjects and file export and import capabilities for its MARC 21 (Machine-Readable Cataloging 2 1) formatted records. The Voyager Integrated Library System is an Oracle based application that supports the mission of USDA by providing access to agricultural information throughout the department. Maintenance and support services are required to fully support the Voyager Integrated Library System and its Oracle database. It is necessary to obtain contractor support with experience in administration of the Voyager Integrated Library System and in Oracle database administration to provide customers with the best possible support for use of NAL's library materials via use of the Voyager Integrated Library System. Maintenance services must support library industry standards. The contractor shall perform the following tasks in accordance with the schedule: 1. Install all available software updates within thirty (30) days of the National Agricultural Library's request. 2. Provide other ongoing support, including installation of any software patches released, index regens and any other standard technical support. 3. Acknowledge receipt of problem notification by NAL and assign priority status of problem within 24 hours of receipt. The contractor will accept notification of problems via phone or email. The contractor shall troubleshoot problem and notify NAL of problem resolution mechanism within one week of initial notification by NAL. The contractor will classify the problem as: a) being resolved in a future software release, b) being resolved by contractor, or c) instruct NAL how to resolve the problem. The circumstance permitting other than full and open competition is FAR 6.302-1 and 41 USC 253(c)(5), 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 Voyager Integrated Library System is a proprietary software package produced by Ex Libris (USA), Inc. and no other vendor can provide maintenance services for the software. Ex Libris (USA), Inc. confirmed that the Voyager Integrated Library System software is manufactured and distributed solely by Ex Libris (USA), Inc. There are no other distributors of the Voyager Integrated Library System. Ex Libris (USA), Inc. provides the implementation, training and customer support services for the Voyager Integrated Library System. The Voyager Integrated Library System is the exclusive intellectual property of and is represented, licensed and installed solely by Ex Libris (USA), Inc. Anticipated Date of Award: 01/31/2018 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.