(i) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. (ii) The solicitation number is FDA-SOL-1049733. This solicitation is being issued as a BRAND NAME OR EQUAL TO Request for Quote (RFQ). (iii) This solicitation document and incorporated clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular (FAC) 2005-23. (iv) The associated NAICS code is 511199 and the small business size standard is 500 employees. (v) Subscription to Freedom Choice or equivalent & Optional Subscription to Science Direct or equivalent (vi) The Food and Drug administration requests responses from qualified sources capable of providing these services in accordance with the statement of work listed below: STATEMENT OF WORK BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Biosciences Library requires online, electronic access to a series of journal and book subscriptions. The Biosciences Library currently has a subscription with Elsevier through Science Direct and has a requirement to enhance its access to available scientific journals and book subscriptions by purchasing a 15-month subscription to Elsevier’s Freedom Collection. Through this action, the FDA will purchase subscriptions meeting the requirements listed below for the Freedom Collection or equivalent and will include an option to purchase a 12-month subscription to Elsevier’s Science Direct or equivalent. The requirements for these services are listed below. SCOPE AND REQUIREMENTS 1.1 The FDA Biosciences Library requires online, full-text, electronic access to a series of journal and book subscriptions via Elsevier Science Direct, through the Freedom Collection, an enhancement to our web based platform that provides publications that offer scientific, technical, medical and scholarly research to support FDA scientists meet FDA’s research mission. The Biosciences Library access via IP authentication to the Freedom Collection or equivalent. The contractor shall provide electronic access to the full text of all articles similar or equal to the list available from the Elsevier journal titles published since January 1, 1995 as set forth in the Freedom Collection Journal Title List at http://www.info.sciencedirect.com/content/journals/titles/#freedom. Included with the Freedom Collection title list is the purchase of 15 additional journal titles. These 15 new titles are: American Journal of Human Genetics, Cell, Clinics In Chest Medicine, Clinics in Laboratory Medicine, Clinics in Perinatology, Dental Clinics of NA, Dermatological Clinics, Endocrinology & Metabolism Clinics of NA, Molecular Cell, Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, Neurologic Clinics of NA, New Scientist, Obstetric & Gynecologic Clinics of NA, Otolaryngologic Clinics of NA, and Rheumatic Disease Clinics of NA. The Freedom Collection will enhance and supplement the Biosciences Library core subscribed title list of searchable journals and books published by Elsevier Publishing through its Science Direct platform, to provide greater breadth to the publications available on Science Direct. The benefits to FDA are that Science Direct allows for quick searches across all publications simultaneously in one search statement; provides continuously available access, FDA wide; and eliminates the need for the Library to purchase duplicate copies of individual journal titles for the library’s multiple print collections, saving the Agency research time and money while providing broader access at the desktop to all FDA users. The Freedom Collection content is via an access only model offering access to current year publications back to 1995, to put the access in sync with our core subscribed title list that provides access to subscribed titles back to 1995. Access is cumulative providing Biosciences Library renews the Freedom Collection annually. If the Biosciences Library chooses not to renew the Freedom Collection as an enhancement to the core subscribed title list, it will not impact renewal of the titles contained in the core subscribed title list. The Biosciences Library also requests to exercise the option to renew the regular subscription to the Science Direct core subscribed title list for the term of January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009. 2.0 SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS 2.1 Freedom Choice Subscription or equivalent, providing access to same publications The Contractor shall provide to FDA full-text online access for authorized users to all 2,000 or more currently non-subscribed Elsevier publications included in the Freedom Collection title list, with access back to 1995, including the 15 new journal titles described above (or equivalent). The contractor will also provide as part of the annual contract previously purchased (one-time purchases) subject backfile collections of journals, providing access back to the first year the journal titles were published, issue # 1. These backfile collections are a perpetual part of the license when the core list of subscribed titles is renewed, and are in the following subject areas: Agriculture and Biological Sciences; Pharmacology & Toxicology; Immunology & Microbiology; Environmental Science; Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine; Oncology; Anesthesiology, Pain and Critical Care; Radiology and Imaging; Perinatology & Child Health/ Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health; hematology, Cardiology and Cardiovascular; and Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Diabetes. Also, the Contractor will provide electronic access to the following new journal titles: American Journal of Human Genetics; Cell; Clinics in Chest Medicine; Clinics in Laboratory Medicine; Clinics in Perinatology; Dental Clinics of NA; Dermatological Clinics; Endocrinology &Metabolism Clinics of NA; Molecular Cell; Molecular; Nutrition and Food Research; Neurological Clinics of N.A.; New Scientist; Obstetric and Gynecology Clinics of N.A.; Otolaryngologic Clinics of N.A.; Rheumatic Disease Clinics of N.A. 2.2 Science Direct Subscription or equivalent, providing access to same publications (Optional Item) The Biosciences Library Science Direct requires access to a core, similar to the Elsevier Science Direct. If awarded, the period of performance for the subscribed title list will be the subscription period of January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009. If a journal title transfers from one publisher to another, the FDA Biosciences Library’s current provider shall immediately substitute a different scientific/technical/medical journal of equal value in its place that meets FDA’s research needs. Academic Radiology; Acta Tropica; Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews; Advances in; Enzyme Regulation; Advances in Neuroimmunology (incorporated into: Journal of Neuroimmunology); Ajic - American Journal of Infection Control; American Heart Journal; American Journal of Emergency Medicine; American Journal of Hypertension; American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology; American Journal of Ophthalmology; American Journal of Otolaryngology; American Journal of Preventive Medicine;Analytica Chimica Acta; Analytical Biochemistry; Annales de l'Institut Pasteur. Immunologie; Annales de l'Institut Pasteur. Microbiologie (continued as: Research in Microbiology); Annales de l'Institut Pasteur. Virologie; Annals of Epidemiology; Annals of the ICRP; Antimicrobic Newsletter (incorporated into: Antimicrobics and Infectious Diseases Newsletter); Antimicrobics and Infectious; Diseases Newsletter (incorporating: Antimicrobic Newsletter and Infectious Diseases Newsletter); Antiviral Researchl; Aquaculture; Aquatic Toxicology; Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics; Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics; Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; Arthroscopy: the Journal of Arthroscopy and Related Surgery; Artificial Intelligence in Medicine; Atherosclerosis; Biochemical Pharmacology; Biological Psychiatry; Biologicals; Biology Of Blood And Marrow Transplantation; Biomaterials; Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy; Bioorganic &; Medicinal Chemistry; Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters; Bioorganic Chemistry; Biosensors and Bioelectronics; Biotechnology Advances Blood Cells Molecules and Diseases; Bone; Burns; Cancer Cell; Cancer Detection and Prevention; Cancer Letters; Cancer Treatment Reviews; Cardiovascular Research; Cellular Immunology; Chemico-Biological Interactions; Clinical and Diagnostic Virology; Clinical Immunology; Clinical Immunology Newsletter; Clinical Microbiology Newsletter; Clinical Neurophysiology; Clinical Nutrition; Clinical Radiology; Comparative and General Pharmacology (continued as: General Pharmacology: The Vascular System); Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C: Comparative Pharmacology (continued as: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Endocrinology); Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C: Pharmacology,Toxicology and Endocrinology (continued from:; Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part C: Comparative Pharmacology); Comparative Immunology Microbiology & Infectious Diseases; Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases; Contemporary Clinical Trials; Contraception; Controlled Clinical Trials; Current Opinion in Immunology; Current Opinion in Microbiology; Current Opinion in Pharmacology; Cytokine; Dermatological Clinics; Developmental & Comparative Immunology; Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease; Drug And Alcohol Dependence; Drug Discovery Today; Drug Resistance Updates; Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety; EJSO - European Journal of Surgical Oncology; Enzyme and Microbial Technology; Epilepsy Research; European Journal of Cancer; European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery; European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry; European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences; European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (incorporating: Pharmaceutica Acta Helvetiae); European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics; European Journal of Pharmacology; European Journal of Pharmacology: Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology; European Journal of Pharmacology: Molecular Pharmacology; European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery; European Neuropsychopharmacology; European Urology; Experimental Cell Research; Febs Letters; Fertility and Sterility; Fitoterapia; Food and Chemical Toxicology; Food and Chemical Toxicology (continued from: Food and Cosmetics Toxicology); Food and Cosmetics Toxicology (continued as: Food and Chemical Toxicology); Food Chemistry; Food Control; Food Microbiology; Food Research International; Forensic Science International; Free Radical Biology & Medicine; Gastroenterology; Gastrointestinal Endoscopy; Gene Analysis Techniques (continued as: Genetic Analysis: Biomolecular Engineering); General Pharmacology: The Vascular System (continued from: Comparative and General Pharmacology); Genetic Analysis: Biomolecular Engineering (continued from: Gene Analysis Techniques); Genomics; Heart Rhythm; Hormones and Behavior; Human Immunology; Human Pathology; Immunochemistry (continued as: Molecular Immunology); Immunology Letters; Immunology Today; Immunopharmacology; Immunopharmacology; Infectious Diseases Newsletter (incorporated into: Antimicrobics and Infectious Diseases Newsletter); International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation (continued from: International Biodeterioration); International Biodeterioration (continued as: International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation); International Dairy Journal; International Immunopharmacology; International Journal for Parasitology; International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents; International Journal of Cardiology; International Journal of Food Microbiology; International Journal of Food Microbiology; International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics; International Journal of Immunopharmacology; International Journal of Neuropharmacology (continued as: Neuropharmacology); International Journal of Pharmaceutics; Journal of Arthroplasty; Journal of Autoimmunity; Journal of Biomechanics; Journal of Biotechnology; Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery; Journal of Chromatography Parts A & B; Journal of Clinical Epidemiology; Journal of Clinical Virology; Journal of Comparative Pathology; Journal of Controlled Release; Journal of Critical Care; Journal of Electrocardiology; Journal of Endodontics; Journal of Ethnopharmacology; Journal of Food Composition and Analysis; Journal of Food Engineering; Journal of Health Economics; Journal of Hepatology; Journal of Hospital Infection; Journal of Immunological Methods; Journal of Infection; Journal of Microbiological Methods; Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology; Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling; Journal of Neuroimmunology; Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry; Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; Journal of Pediatric Surgery; Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis; Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods (continued from: Journal of Pharmacological Methods); Journal of Pharmacological Methods (continued as: Journal of Pharmacological and Toxicological Methods); Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery; Journal of Reproductive Immunology; Journal of Stored Products Research; Journal of Surgical Education; Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology; Journal of the American College of Cardiology; Journal of the American College of Surgeons; Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry; Journal of Vascular Surgery; Journal of Virological Methods; Life Sciences; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Matrix Biology; Maturitas; Medical Engineering & Physics; Metabolism; Microbes & Infection with Research in; Microbiology; Microbial Pathogenesis; Microchemical Journal; Molecular and; Biochemical Parasitology; Molecular Genetics and Metabolism; Molecular Immunology (continued from: Immunochemistry; Mutation Research Combined Subscription to All Sections; Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology; Mutation Research/Reviews in Genetic Toxicology; Neurobiology of Aging; Neuropharmacology; Neuropharmacology (continued from: International Journal of Neuropharmacology); Neuroscience; Neurotoxicology; Neurotoxicology and Teratology; Nuclear Medicine and Biology; Nutrition; Nutrition Research; Ophthalmology: Journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology; Oral Surgery Oral Medicine Oral Pathology Oral Radiology and Endodontology; Osteoarthritis and Cartilage; Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery; Pain; Pediatric Neurology; Pharmaceutica Acta Helvetiae (incorporated into: European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences); Pharmacological Research; Pharmacology & Therapeutics (continued from: Pharmacology & Therapeutics Parts A, B and C); Pharmacology & Therapeutics. Part A: Chemotherapy, Toxicology and Metabolic Inhibitors (incorporated into: Pharmacology & Therapeutics); Pharmacology & Therapeutics. Part B (incorporated into: Pharmacology & Therapeutics); Pharmacology & Therapeutics. Part C: Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (incorporated into: Pharmacology & Therapeutics); Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior; Physiology & Behavior; Phytochemistry; Plasmid; Polymer Degradation and Stability; Polymer Testing; Preventive Medicine; Preventive Veterinary Medicine; Process Biochemistry; Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases; Progress in Lipid Research; Progress in Neurobiology; Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry (continued from: Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology); Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology (continued as: Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry); Psychoneuroendocrinology; Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine; Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology; Reproductive Toxicology; Research in Immunology; Research in Microbiology (continued from: Annales de l'Institut Pasteur. Microbiologie); Research in Veterinary Science; Research in Virology; Respiratory Medicine; Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism; Seminars in Nuclear Medicine; Soil Biology & Biochemistry; Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic; Spectroscopy; Steroids; Surgery; Surgical Neurology; Survey of Ophthalmology; The American Journal of Cardiology; The American Journal of Medicine; The American Journal of Surgery; The Annals of Thoracic Surgery; The Journal of Emergency Medicine; The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation; The Journal of Pediatrics; The Journal of Urology; The Knee; The Lancet (North American Edition); The Lancet Infectious Diseases; The Lancet Neurology; The Lancet Oncology; The Veterinary Journal; Toxicology; Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology; Toxicology in Vitro; Toxicology Letters; Toxicon; Transfusion Medicine Reviews; Translational Research; Transplant Immunology; Transplantation Proceedings; Trends in Analytical Chemistry; Including Compendium; Trends in Biochemical Sciences; Trends in Biotechnology; Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine; Trends in Food Science & Technology; Trends in Genetics; Trends in Immunology; Trends in Microbiology; Trends in Molecular Medicine; Trends in Neurosciences; Trends in Parasitology; Trends in Pharmacological; Sciences; Tuberculosis; Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology; Urology; Vaccine; Vascular Pharmacology; Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology; Veterinary; Microbiology; Veterinary Parasitology; Virology; Virus Research 2.3 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES a. A site license providing authorized users search capability across all subscribed titles, accessible via one query statement, for continual desktop access via the web, via IP authentication, for the Agency b. Customer service to troubleshoot website/connectivity issues provided via phone or email, during normal business hours. Customer service is also provided to FDA researchers via “Live Chat”, a feature that provides online technical support, 24 hours daily, Monday through Friday. etc. c. A single point of access interface to search across multiple resources to benefit FDA researchers as simultaneous searching reduces the need for multiple searches, saving the agency research time and the cost to retain multiple print subscriptions. e. The ability via the Science Direct platform for FDA researchers to create alerts and run these alerts on a regular basis across research areas to receive updates that include content loaded after the initial search was completed. areas f. The ability to display related articles is provided by Science Direct, so customers can pull up other articles related to their area of research, and link to related content from the original search results. 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF WORK 3.1 The Contractor will provide the FDA Biosciences Library a search platform via Science Direct to a compilation of more than 2,000 non-subscribed full-text scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publications included in the Freedom Collection. This platform allows subject, keyword, title, or author searching with one search statement, so FDA researchers obtain needed research information at the desktop. FDA Biosciences Library requests option years as part of a recurring subscription. The benefit to option years is a fixed cap on the annual inflation rate, rather than a rate that may vary. The Contractor is expected to troubleshoot access as needed, but it will not be necessary to respond during non-operational hours as defined above. 3.2 DELIVERABLES 3.2.1 The Science Direct interface including the Freedom Collection, is hosted on the Contractor’s server, available on the Science Direct website at http://sciencedirect.com, and accessible to authorized (IP authenticated) FDA researchers. If a plug-in, additional software or recommended software is required for optimal use, please include specific requirements. Contractor will address any questions or problems encountered when using this product with supported software or hardware. The contractor shall provide usage statistics on a monthly basis. The format of the usage statistics is provided either via email or contractor provided login and should include session count, search count and total document retrievals per title. Contractor shall provide online tutorials. Contractor shall also provide on-site training, briefings and updates to FDA researchers, in the DC area as well as selected remote offices. (vii) DATES and PLACES of DELIVERY a. Subscription to Freedom Choice or equivalent, September 2008 through December 2009. b. Optional Subscription to Scientic Direct or equivalent, January 2009 through December 2009. The products provided shall be hosted by the contractor server, but will be available via the Library's intranet page, agency wide. INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS: (viii) The provision at 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors----Commercial, applies to this acquisition. (ix) In accordance with 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications----- Offerors should complete their representations and certifications at Online Representations and Certifications Application (ORCA) at http://orca.bpn.gov. EVALUATION FACTORS (x) The provision at 52.212-1, Evaluation -- Commercial Items (Jan 1999) The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will offer the best value to the Government, technical factors, price, and past performance considered. To determine technical merit, each quotation will be evaluated against the technical evaluation factors. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers and are listed in descending order of importance. 1) Technical Understanding and Approach. The proposed technology will be evaluated on its ability to meet all of the requirements listed in part (vi) of this solicitation. Contractors shall furnish as part of their quotation all descriptive material necessary for the government to determine whether their service meets the technical requirements. The technical proposals will be graded subjectively with final scores of, “Minimally Acceptable”, “Acceptable”, or “Exceptional”. A score of “Minimally Acceptable” would mean that the proposed technology minimally met the requirements and demonstrated to be difficult to implement. A score of “Acceptable” would mean that the proposed technology fully met the requirements and demonstrated its ability to be implemented. A score of “Exceptional” would mean that the proposed technology exceeded the requirements and would be easy to implement. If applicable, the contractor shall also include in their technical proposal recommended software that is required for optimal use and address any software or hardware problems that may be encountered while using the requested product. 2) Price. FDA will award a purchase order to a responsible vendor whose quote is the lowest price meeting or exceeding the required technical factors. 3) Past Performance: Vendors should provide two references of similar efforts performed during the last three years. This will include a description of the project, project title, contract number, contract amount, client identification including agency or company name, contracting and technical reviewing official name(s), address and telephone number. The government is seeking to determine whether an offeror has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to customer satisfaction and high performance of services. This is a matter of judgment. The government will assess the relative risks associated with each offeror. Performance risks are those associated with an offeror’s likelihood of success in performing the acquisition requirements as indicated by that offeror’s past performance record. Rating of positive, neutral, and poor will be given. A positive past performance will take precedence over neutral or poor past performance. Neutral past performance takes precedence over poor past performance. A contractor with no past performance will be given a score of neutral, which will neither be used to the advantage nor disadvantage of the offeror. The Government will assess the relative risks associated with each offeror. Performance risks are those associated with an offeror’s likelihood of success in performing the acquisition requirements as indicated by that offeror’s record of past performance. COMMERCIAL CLAUSES (xi) The clause 52.212-4, Contract Terms and Conditions-----Commercial Items applies to this acquisition. (xii) The clause at 52.215-5, Contract Terms and Conditions Required to Implement Statutes or Executive Orders----Commercial Items applies to this acquisition. The following 52.212-5 clauses are applicable: 52.203-6, Restrictions on Subcontractor Sales to the Government (Sep 2006), 52.219-4, Notice of Price Evaluation Preference for HUBZone Small Business Concerns (Jul 2005) (if the offeror elects to waive the preference, it shall so indicate in its offer)(15 U.S.C. 657a). 52.219-8, Utilization of Small Business Concerns (May 2004) (15 U.S.C. 637(d)(2) and (3)); 52.219-28, Post Award Small Business Program Rerepresentation (June 2007) (15 U.S.C. 632(a)(2)); 52.222-3, Convict Labor (June 2003)(E.O. 11755); 52.222-19, Child Labor—Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies (Feb 2008) (E.O. 13126); 52.222-21, Prohibition of Segregated Facilities (Feb 1999); 52.222-26, Equal Opportunity (Mar 2007)(E.O. 11246); 52.222-35, Equal Opportunity for Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans (Sep 2006)(38 U.S.C. 4212); 52.222-36, Affirmative Action for Workers with Disabilities (Jun 1998)(29 U.S.C. 793); 52.222-37, Employment Reports on Special Disabled Veterans, Veterans of the Vietnam Era, and Other Eligible Veterans (Sep 2006)(38 U.S.C. 4212); 52.222-39, Notification of Employee Rights Concerning Payment of Union Dues or Fees (Dec 2004) (E.O. 13201); 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons (Aug 2007) (Applies to all contracts); 52.225-5, Trade Agreements (Nov 2007) (19 U.S.C. 2501, et seq., 19 U.S.C. 3301 note); 52.225-13, Restrictions on Certain Foreign Purchases (Jun 2008) (E.O.’s, proclamations, and statutes administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury); 52.232-33, Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer—Central Contractor Registration (Oct. 2003)(31 U.S.C. 3332); 52.239-1, Privacy or Security Safeguards (Aug 1996)(5 U.S.C. 552a). OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS Full text of clauses and provisions can be accessed at www.arnet.gov/far. (xiii) In order to comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Government asks vendors to complete a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) and submit it with their quote. The technical standards applicable to this requirement are: § 1194.22 Web-based intranet and internet information and applications. § 1194.41 Information, documentation, and support. (xiv) All questions must be submitted in writing to Jody.O’[email protected] no later than Friday, September 12, 2008 at 5pm EST. Answers to all questions will be posted as an amendment to the solicitation. Price Proposals, Technical proposals, and VPAT may be submitted electronically at Jody.O'[email protected] no later than Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 5pm EST.

Bid Protests Not Available