The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), National Agricultural Library (NAL) requires perpetual electronic access via IP authentication for all USDA users and public on-site users to scientific journals published by CSIRO Publishing.

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY AND A SOLICITATION IS NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. This notice is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or an obligation on the part of the Government. The information collected will be used for market research to define the government's requirements and create the appropriate acquisition strategy. Responding to this notice does not automatically include the responder on any bidders list, if such a list is developed. Depending on the quantity and quality of the responses received, the criteria may serve to generate the initial pool of potential contractors to be invited to respond to a resulting solicitation.

The National Agricultural Library (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 databases in electronic format from publishers and makes the databases 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 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), National Agricultural Library (NAL) requires perpetual electronic access via IP authentication for all USDA users and public on-site users to scientific journals published by CSIRO Publishing.

• The contractor shall provide electronic access via the Internet to CSIRO journals for use by all USDA employees, authorized public on-site users, and employees of other federal agencies that are authorized by the publisher to use NAL’s DigiTop service. All USDA locations worldwide are to be considered authorized premises. USDA employees and contractors, cooperators and volunteers working on behalf of USDA and acting within the scope of their relationship with USDA, as well as employees, contractors, cooperators and volunteers working on behalf of other federal agencies that are authorized by the publisher to use NAL’s DigiTop service, are considered authorized users of the journals. In addition to internal use, authorized users have the right to use content of the journals for ordinary business, scholarly and educational purposes of the Government, including but not limited to viewing, printing, saving, reusing and disseminating content.
• The contractor shall make the CSIRO journals accessible 24 hours per day. Authorized users shall be granted access to the CSIRO journals through the IP recognition authentication process without any impediments.
• The contractor shall provide the CSIRO journals in accordance with the following terms and conditions: The authorized users shall have the right to use content during the term of the subscription. The contractor shall grant perpetual data rights to the subscribed-to content. Upon request by NAL the contractor shall provide the subscribed-to or purchased content in the mutually agreed-upon electronic medium and format.  The right to perpetual use of the subscribed-to journal content will survive the termination of the contract for any reason.
• The contractor shall provide current COUNTER-compliant usage statistics for all subscribed journals on a monthly basis.

All vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) database as required by FAR 4.1102 to be considered for any awards. See FAR 52.204-7 for registration instructions. It is the vendor's responsibility to monitor FBO for any amendments.

Any interested vendor that feels able to fulfill the requirement shall submit supporting documentation via email to Jessica Moore at the following e-mail address: [email protected].  No information will be taken by telephone. In responding to this notice, please provide your company name, address, email address, phone/fax number, and DUNS number.