AFICA 773 ESS/PK-MEDICAL VIRTUAL LIBRARY
Medical Virtual Library Subscription
General Information
Classification Code: 7610- BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS
NAICS Code: 519130 - Libraries and Archives (Small Business Size Standard 500 Employees)
THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)/ SOURCES SOUGHT ANNOUNCEMENT to
conduct market research relative to the Medical Virtual Library Subscription requirement. This RFI
announcement is NOT a Request for Proposal (RFP) and the Government is not committed to award a
contract pursuant to this announcement. The information from this RFI is for planning purposes only
and will assist the Government in planning its acquisition strategy and is not to be construed as a
commitment by the Government, implied or otherwise, to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a
contract.
General Intent
The Air Force is looking to award a single contract to facilitate this requirement. This market research
is being conducted to assist in determining the best acquisition strategy for the subject service. Any
information regarding contract type, commercial practices, and specifications are requested and being
considered for the development of the solicitation.
This announcement is targeted for all qualified businesses that can perform the services as stated in the
DRAFT Statement of Work (SOW) dated 04 September 2014; responses from all interested parties are
appreciated and accepted.
Description
This subscription shall be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Content will be linked to full-text
journal content including figures, pictures, and graphs; electronic tables of contents, early release
articles, and alerts concerning corrected articles. The vendor shall provide multiple, simultaneous
access via internet/world wide web to the site. The vendor shall ensure an internet browser, such as
Explorer, Firefox, or Netscape, enables authorized users to search the database and retrieve full-text
journal articles and bibliographic citations.
Background
The Air Force (AF) Medical Service (AFMS) maintains a virtual library to replace physical medical
libraries. Subscriptions to online databases of medical journals and indices from medical publishers
are required. A link to the subscriptions is posted on the AFMS Virtual Library site
https://kx2.afms.mil/kj/kx8/VirtualLibrary/Pages/home.aspx and also Internet Protocol (IP)-
authenticated at each Air Force Medical Treatment Facility (MTF). The online resources provide
full-text journals and indices to medical literature to the desktop of physicians, nurses, and allied
health personnel throughout the AFMS. The database must have search tools including the National
Library of Medicine Subject Headings. The database and full-text titles in the appendix to this SOW
(Attachment 1) were carefully chosen to meet the clinical and research needs of the providers in the
AFMS and cannot be substituted. Titles must include current full-text issues and access to older
issues.
The previous contract number is FA7014-09-F-A147, awarded to EBSCO Industries Inc.
[Cage Code: 002M2] for the total amount of $224,424.00.
Information Requested
The AFICA 773d Enterprise Sourcing Squadron (773 ESS) is seeking responses to the questions
listed below. Please provide your responses on company letterhead to the Point of Contact (POC)
identified at the end of this RFI.
1. Please provide your company's name, mailing address, Cage Code, Data Universal
Numbering System (DUNS) identification number, Point of Contact (POC), telephone
number and e-mail address. Please also provide the name of the company's Parent
Company, if applicable.
2. Please provide your business size status (i.e. 8(a) Business Development Small Business
Certification, Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), Woman- Owned Small
Business (WOSB) or Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDCOSB), Small
Business, Large Business, etc.) under NAICS 541611. *If you are under the 8(a) program,
please identify when you graduate from the program.
3. Given the nature of the work described in the draft SOW, if you feel another NAICS code
better fits this requirement, please identify that.
4. Has your company had experience with this type of service, and/or at this magnitude in the
last 5 years?
5. Based on the draft SOW, do you have enough information to provide an accurate proposal?
If not, what additional information can the Government provide to assist you in creating a
more accurate proposal?
6. Identify any factors that likely contribute risk or uncertainty to developing a contractor
proposal for this proposed requirement. Please rate any factors you identify as either high or
low regarding the degree of risk to the contractor. For the high risk drivers, please explain
why the risk is high and suggest how the Air Force might mitigate or reduce this risk.
7. Do any components of the SOW conflict with standard industry practice? If so, please
describe.
8. Would your company be interested in participating in this solicitation?
Please provide any additional questions, comments, concerns, etc. you have concerning this
proposed acquisition. Provide feedback on whether the objectives, requirements, and other
information presented in the Draft SOW are clear, achievable within the proposed period of contract,
and provide suggested changes, as appropriate.
Format of Responses
Limit RFI responses to 10, single-sided, single-spaced pages. The font for text should be
Times New Roman 12-point or larger. The Responder may use oversized pages (including
"foldouts") where appropriate to contain graphic presentations. Oversized pages do not
count as extra pages within the page limitations. Submitted responses should be in Microsoft
Word or Adobe Acrobat format. Existing commercial documentation and product literature
can also be submitted and is not subject to a page limitation. Responses must be
To protect such data, each line or paragraph on the pages containing such data must be
specifically identified and marked with a legend similar to the following:
"The following contains proprietary information that (name of Responder) requests not be
released to persons outside the Government, except for the purposes of review and
evaluation."
Interested parties must send their responses to this RFI, no later than (NLT) 1300 (1:00p.m.) Local
San Antonio Time, 23 September 2014 to [email protected].
Disclaimer
reimburse the responder for information submitted as a result of this RFI. The Government reserves
the right to use the information provided by any respondent for any purpose deemed necessary and
legally appropriate. Information submitted will become the property of the Government. The
Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant
solicitation.
- This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwiseunclassified and any proprietary information provided must be marked accordingly.