**STATEMENT OF WORK**

**[TITLE:]{.underline} U.S. and Foreign Serial Subscription Services**

I.  [BACKGROUND INFORMATION]{.underline}

> The National Library of Medicine (NLM) acquires and preserves
> biomedical literature from throughout the world in all formats and
> languages. Core to its collection are publications in medicine and the
> life sciences originating in North America, Western Europe and
> selected other countries. Much of this material is sold on
> subscription only. At the end of FY 2006, the NLM collection stood at
> about 9.1 million items including 2.5 million printed book and serial
> volumes and 6.6 million other items including both monographic and
> serial audiovisuals and computer software packages, manuscripts,
> prints and photographs. During FY 2006 alone NLM staff processed over
> 130,000 serial issues.
>
> NLM purchases approximately 65% of its subscriptions through
> competitive contracts, purchase orders and blanket purchase
> agreements. These are awarded by NLM\'s Office of Acquisitions
> Management to U.S. and foreign Contractors. The remaining
> subscriptions are acquired using open market purchases or through gift
> or exchange. These are either materials which must be ordered directly
> from the publisher, from areas of the world where the volume of
> activity is small, or where materials are difficult to procure through
> ordinary trade mechanisms. In addition, some titles are acquired
> through an interagency agreement with the Overseas Acquisition Program
> of the Library of Congress.

II. [OBJECTIVES]{.underline}

> The purpose of this contract is to place new and renewal subscriptions
> for serials and periodicals published in the following countries:
> Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England,
> Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Israel,
> Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand,
> Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, South Africa, Spain,
> Sweden, Switzerland, United States and Wales. Services will be
> obtained for managing serials and periodicals published in print and
> online formats. A consolidation service and shipping will be provided
> for print serials and periodicals. Services related to acquiring and
> managing access to online serials and periodicals will also be
> obtained. On an annual basis approximately 8800 subscriptions are
> renewed and 700-800 orders for new subscriptions are placed. The 2006
> dollar value for subscriptions and related services was approximately
> \$5,723,000.

III. [TERMS]{.underline}

     A.  For publications produced on paper or in another physical
         format, such as CD, DVD or video, a subscription is defined as
         that payment which will generate one copy of each piece and
         title advertised as supplied for said payment for a specific
         volume or time period.

     B.  For online publications, a subscription is defined as that
         payment which will provide access to the stated online file and
         ancillary services within the terms of the agreed license.

     C.  Serials published in any physical format are collectively
         referred to as "print" and serials made accessible and
         distributed over the Internet are referred to as "online".

     D.  If multiple titles normally sold separately can be combined
         under one payment at a reduced charge and if all titles are
         ordered by NLM, the Contractor shall enter one payment at the
         combined rate and such payment will be counted as one
         subscription for the terms of this contract.

IV. [SERVICES TO BE PERFORMED]{.underline}

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A.  [General Requirements]{.underline}

    1.  Independently and not as an agent of the government, the
        Contractor shall furnish all necessary labor, materials,
        supplies, equipment and services, except as otherwise specified
        herein, to place new and renewal orders on NLM's behalf and to
        provide related services as set forth below for serials sold on
        subscription and produced in the following countries: Andorra,
        Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland,
        France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Israel,
        Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New
        Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, South
        Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States and Wales.
        Publishers may be commercial, governmental bodies and other
        non-commercial organizations.

    2.  For journals published by multinational companies, country of
        origin is determined by the stated publication address, the
        ordering address advertised for new publications, or the known
        address of the principal office of the company or the
        organization. The imprint as established by the NLM Cataloging
        Section shall determine country of origin in any dispute.

    3.  During the performance period of this contract, if the publisher
        of a given subscription changes to outside the geographic area
        of the contract, the contractor shall not renew nor make further
        subscription payment and must notify the project officer in
        writing of the change.

    4.  The Contractor must be capable of providing a consolidation
        service for issues supplied for print publications. The
        Contractor must:

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a)  Collect all issues of the publications at a central location;

b)  Record issues onto a packing list;

c)  Pack and ship the issues via airfreight;

d)  Provide access to an online system giving information as to issues
    received, processed and shipped.

    1.  The Contractor must supply a machine-readable equivalent of
        their paper invoices in EDI invoice message format that is
        certified by Ex Libris Group for use in the Voyager Integrated
        Library System.

    2.  The Contractor must have an online system, accessible via the
        Internet, that has, at a minimum, the following features:

        a.  Content and display features:

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1.  bibliographic information for each serial including title,
    publisher, ISSN, frequency and available versions;

2.  pricing models for available versions and/or packages;

3.  order information for each subscription including title, publisher,
    ISSN, frequency, price and format(s) acquired;

4.  invoice payment information for at least the current and previous
    year;

5.  list of outstanding claims (by title) including current status and
    number of times claimed;

6.  shipping information including list of issues supplied in current
    year's shipments and expected dates of future issues.

    a.  Ability to search by:

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1.  title or series;

2.  ISSN;

3.  customer order or reference number;

4.  vendor reference number.

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c)  Output capabilities:

    1.  ability to produce EDI format invoices;

    2.  ability to produce all deliverable reports in electronic format;

    3.  ability to provide dispatch data in a standard electronic format
        such as EDI or SRN.

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    1.  All invoicing, shipments, reports and other communication
        produced by the contractor shall bear the NLM order cited on the
        original purchase order request, unless otherwise changed or
        modified.

    2.  The Contractor shall correctly maintain in its records
        information about negotiated prices for licensed online and
        print plus online subscriptions. The negotiated prices should be
        reflected in the Contractor's subscription database and should
        be correctly stated in billing.

    3.  Subscriptions for titles that are subscribed to only in online
        format must be managed by the Contractor in a separate account
        and invoiced separately from print and print plus online
        subscriptions.

    4.  All work under the contract shall be monitored by the Project
        Officer, whose position is defined elsewhere in this contract.

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B.  [Subscription Services -- All Formats]{.underline}

> The Contractor shall perform the work set forth below and shall be
> responsible for the professional quality and technical accuracy and
> for the coordination of all facets of such work. The Contractor shall
> without additional compensation correct or revise any errors or
> deficiencies in workmanship or other services.

1.  [New Subscription Orders]{.underline}

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a)  Orders for new subscriptions may be issued by NLM at any time during
    the year.

b)  Orders shall be placed with the publisher within five (5) working
    days of receipt from NLM.

c)  All subscriptions shall begin with the volume or date given on the
    order and in the quantity noted. If the starting volume or date is
    not the current subscription period for the serial title then the
    Contractor shall supply prior volumes or issues as indicated on the
    order in addition to establishing a current subscription for the
    title. Prior volumes or years should be billed as separate
    subscriptions as defined in the terms in Section III above.

d)  All annual or other indexes, special issues and unnumbered
    supplements and other materials included in the basic subscription
    price shall be supplied automatically. Supplements which are not
    supplied on subscription should be brought to NLM\'s attention so
    that orders may be issued for their supply.

e)  NLM shall be notified promptly if a title is not available or cannot
    be supplied by the vendor. The notification shall state the reason
    why the material cannot be supplied. Once notified that it cannot
    supply the ordered material, the Contractor shall not ship without
    obtaining prior approval of NLM.

f)  The vendor should attempt to adjust all subscriptions to a common
    expiration date of December 31, regardless of when during the
    calendar year the order was placed.

g)  If the Contractor determines that the title is available free of
    charge, the Contractor shall return the order to NLM, noting that
    the title is available free of charge.

h)  If the Contractor determines that the title is not sold on
    subscription, the Contractor shall return the order to NLM, noting
    that the title is not sold on subscription.

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2.  [Renewal Orders]{.underline}

    a.  The Contractor shall renew each NLM subscription annually unless
        and until the order is canceled by NLM.

        c.  The Contractor shall automatically supply all annual or
            other indexes, special issues, unnumbered supplements and
            other material included in the basic subscription price.

        d.  The Contractor shall enter renewals for a one-year period.

            3.  [Cancellations and Refunds]{.underline}

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    a.  The Contractor shall notify the publisher within five (5)
        working days of receipt from NLM of a request to cancel a
        subscription or reduce the number of copies of a title. NLM
        shall indicate the effective date/volume of the change.

    b.  Upon cancellation of an order, the Contractor shall immediately
        request a refund for any unused portion of the subscription and
        any refunded amount must be credited to NLM on the next monthly
        invoice. If no refund is obtained, the Contractor shall provide
        written evidence of attempts to obtain the refund for the
        Government.

    c.  The Contractor agrees to make a refund in full to NLM of all
        amounts refunded by the publishers when a title for which a
        subscription placed under this contract has ceased.

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4.  [Title Changes]{.underline}

    a.  NLM will provide information about changes of title if NLM has
        information that is not listed in the Contractor's database.
        Within five (5) working days of the receipt of such information,
        the Contractor shall update NLM's order information in its files
        for each title noted by NLM as having changed.

    b.  If the change of title also involves a change of publisher to
        outside the geographic scope of the contract, the Contractor
        shall cancel the order and advise NLM of the new publisher and
        the address of same.

    c.  If the Contractor holds orders for two or more subscriptions and
        the titles merge, only one order shall be renewed. The
        Contractor shall request verification from NLM which previous
        order number remains active.

5.  [Format Changes]{.underline}

    a.  If a title ceases in print and continues as an online-only
        publication, the Contractor shall notify NLM within five (5)
        working days of the receipt of such information.

    b.  Information about access to the online version shall be provided
        to NLM including price and whether or not a license is required.

    c.  If a title converts from print to online-only format during the
        subscrciption period then any unsued portion of the consolidated
        shipping service fee shall be refunded to NLM.

6.  [Bibliographic Verification]{.underline}

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a)  The Contractor shall make every effort to procure the correct
    publication described by NLM\'s order. Care must be exercised to
    examine not only the title but also the imprint, the ISSN and other
    bibliographic descriptors, so that publications with common titles
    are not ordered in error.

b)  If the Contractor does not have sufficient data to place the order,
    given the information NLM supplies, the Contractor shall search
    standard bibliographies and Internet resources to determine the
    appropriate source. NLM may, at its discretion, assist the
    Contractor by photocopying current order and subscription
    information from issues in its collection, but the Contractor is
    expected to make every effort to obtain these data without resorting
    to the bibliographic expertise of NLM staff. The Contractor is
    expected to search NLM's online public access catalog, LocatorPlus®,
    ([http://locatorplus.gov](http://locatorplus.gov/)) for additional
    bibliographic and publisher address data prior to requesting
    assistance from NLM.

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7.  [Account Service]{.underline}

> The Contractor shall designate a specific representative/account
> executive to be the primary contact person for NLM personnel for
> servicing the Library\'s account, responding to problems with orders,
> delivery claims, invoices, credits, and management reports. All
> queries from NLM shall be directed to that individual or his/her
> designated backup. Oral queries must be responded to within one (1)
> working day; e-mail or fax queries within three (3) working days.

8.  [Sample Issue Orders]{.underline}

> In response to NLM order requests, the Contractor shall promptly
> procure for the NLM one (1) issue, preferably the most recently
> published, for review by NLM selection staff. Tables of contents may
> be substituted for issues. No sample issue sent should exceed \$25 in
> cost. If a title is online-only the Contractor shall assist with
> establishing a trial subscription or securing temporary access for the
> purposes of reviewing the online site.

9.  [Alert Service]{.underline} (Optional)

> The Contractor shall supply sample copies of new subscription serials
> which fall within the subjects collected by the NLM. The Contractor
> shall ship only those publications which are not yet supplied and
> which are within the subject areas collected by the Library. If a
> title is online-only the Contractor shall assist with establishing a
> trial subscription or securing temporary access for the purposes of
> reviewing the online site. The subjects collected by NLM are described
> in the *Collection Development Manual of the National Library of
> Medicine,* which is available at
> <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/acquisitions/cdm/>. All must bear an
> imprint of a country covered by the contract.

C.  [Consolidation and Claiming Services for Print
    Subscriptions]{.underline}

    1.  [Consolidation Service]{.underline}

> The Contractor shall collect all issues of the publications at a
> central location, record issues onto a packing list in alphabetical
> order, pack and ship the same via airfreight in accordance with
> approved schedule. The Contractor shall propose a shipment schedule
> whereby shipments are received at NLM at least three times per week
> and all issues are shipped within 5 working days of receipt at
> consolidation site. The weight limit for each shipment box is 50 lbs.
> The Contractor shall ship all issues to the address provided with the
> initiating order and continue such shipment until notified to cancel
> or change the shipping address.

2.  [Titles Outside of Consolidation]{.underline}

> A limited number of titles (approximately three hundred (300) titles),
> published primarily in the United States, may be excluded from the
> consolidated shipment and be mailed directly from the publisher to the
> address given on the initiating order until notified to cancel or
> change the shipping address. This may be due to NLM request or
> publisher requirement.

3.  [Shipment Details]{.underline}

> The Contractor shall make available to NLM details of shipment by
> providing access to an online system giving information as to issues
> received, processed and shipped. The shipments must be numbered or
> otherwise inventoried for tracking purposes.

4.  [Claims for Titles in Consolidation Service]{.underline}

> The Contractor shall make every reasonable effort to assure that the
> publishers supply the material for which payment has been rendered.
> The Contractor is required to make at least one follow-up request when
> the publisher fails to respond to a claim. If after three (3) claims
> have been made to the publisher, or if after 6 months from the date
> the issue was published, the material has still not been supplied, the
> Contractor shall declare the claim unfulfilled and shall notify NLM in
> writing that the issue cannot be supplied. The Contractor shall also
> notify NLM when any issue due under the Contract will not be supplied
> because the publisher has declared it to be out of print. The
> Contractor may attempt to supply these claimed and out of print issues
> from the Contractor's own in-house supply of back issues. However, any
> additional charges for these issues must be approved in advance by
> NLM.

5.  [Claims for Titles Outside Consolidation Service]{.underline}

> The Contractor shall provide a mechanism through its online database
> whereby NLM can submit claims for issues not received of titles that
> are excluded from the consolidation service and are mailed directly
> from the publisher.

6.  [Rush Requests]{.underline}

> The Contractor may be required to make telephone, fax or e-mail
> contact with publishers for urgently needed materials.

7.  [Lost or Damaged Issues]{.underline}

> The Contractor shall make every reasonable effort to provide
> replacement copies of material found to be defective, mutilated or
> determined to have been lost in transit provided the loss is reported
> within ninety (90) calendar days. If the Contractor is unable to
> supply the material, the Contractor will notify NLM in writing.

D.  [Licensing and Online Access Management Services]{.underline}
    (Optional)

> NLM may request all or some of these services during the period of
> performance of the contract.

1.  Contractor shall retrieve current licenses from publisher and supply
    to NLM. NLM will in these cases be responsible for negotiating the
    license with the publisher.

2.  Contractor shall contact the publisher and initiate license
    negotiations on behalf of NLM based on an explicit set of criteria
    supplied by NLM to the Contractor.

3.  When a new subscription is placed by NLM and that title is with a
    publisher that NLM has licensed, the Contractor will contact the
    publisher, add the title to the license, insure that access is
    activated and notify NLM.

4.  Contractor shall act as administrative contact for a license and
    will relay to NLM any publisher supplied information concerning
    changes in hosting of online journals, changes in URLs, new content,
    etc.

5.  Contractor shall act as a technical contact for claiming lost access
    to online resources for which NLM holds a subscription.

6.  Contractor shall maintain an up-to-date IP address file for NLM.

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E.  [Invoicing]{.underline}

    1.  Invoices shall be submitted concurrently as follows:

        a.  The original summary invoice (as detailed below) and two
            copies of the summary invoice to the following designated
            payment office:

> Karen D. Riggs
>
> Contracting Officer's Representative
>
> Office of Acquisitions Management
>
> National Library of Medicine
>
> Building 38A, Room B1N17, MSC 3839
>
> 8600 Rockville Pike
>
> BETHESDA, MARYLAND 20894

b)  One copy of the summary invoice and one copy of the detailed invoice
    to:

> Beth Weston
>
> Project Officer
>
> Serial Records Section
>
> National Library of Medicine
>
> Building 38, Room B1W10, MSC 3803
>
> 8600 Rockville Pike
>
> BETHESDA, MARYLAND 20894

c)  One copy of the EDI file representing the data on the detailed paper
    invoice to:

Beth Weston

Project Officer

westonb@mail.nlm.nih.gov

> The Contractor will send the EDI file as an e-mail attachment.
> Alternately, the Contractor may send an e-mail containing instructions
> on how to ftp the EDI file.

2.  Summary invoice

> This invoice must summarize the charges by category for each month
> invoicing is submitted. Each category must be a separate line item:

a)  Subscription charges and a numeric count of the subscriptions
    billed;

b)  Credits against subscription charges previously billed;

c)  Handling charges;

d)  Consolidation service charges;

e)  Sample issue charges;

f)  Shipping charges;

g)  Licensing services charges;

h)  Total amount due from the above seven (7) lines.

> Each invoice shall bear a unique invoice number that may be referenced
> in payment records and order queries. The invoice shall bear the
> address to which remittance is to be made. It shall bear the
> Contractor(s)\'s EIN as well as the NLM Contract number. See Appendix
> B for a sample summary invoice.

3.  Detailed invoice:

> a\. The Contractor(s) shall bill each subscription payment as a single
> line item. Each line must state the NLM order number, the proper title
> as established by NLM, the number of copies, the subscription period
> or the issue numbers covered by the charge, the amount paid by the
> Contractor(s) in dollars, and any other relevant details. ISSN should
> be listed, if available. Note that the line item charge must be the
> amount advertised by the publisher or negotiated by NLM as the
> subscription price, substantiated in catalogs, rate sheets, or other
> price listings. Consolidation service charges, handling fees, sample
> issue charges, shipping and any other costs must be rendered as
> separate line items on the invoice.
>
> b\. Each detailed paper invoice must be accompanied by an EDI file
> containing the machine-readable equivalent of the paper invoice data.
> The Contractor's EDI invoice message format must be certified by Ex
> Libris Group for use in the Voyager Integrated Library System.

4.  Payment to the publisher must be made when the invoice is rendered
    or as soon as payment of the invoice is received.

5.  All invoicing must be in US dollars.

6.  Upon request the Contractor(s) shall supply supporting documentation
    on the prices charged on any invoice.

    F.  [Period of Performance]{.underline}

> The base term of the contract will be thirteen (13) months beginning
> September 1, 2007 with options to extend the term for four (4)
> successive one year periods beginning October 1, 2008.

G.  [Reporting and Delivery Requirements]{.underline}

+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| Deliverable                                     | Frequency          |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| a)  Print serial issues as specified in NLM     | As published       |
|     purchase orders. The Contractor must        |                    |
|     provide all material published within the   |                    |
|     paid subscription period. Issues not        |                    |
|     received must be claimed by the contractor  |                    |
|     and subsequent reports given as to the      |                    |
|     disposition of said issues.                 |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| b)  Schedule for consolidated shipment          | Within 30 days of  |
|     deliveries including all Contractor sites   | contract award     |
|     from which issues will be shipped.          |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| c)  Claims report containing a listing of all   | Monthly            |
|     issues that cannot be supplied due to       |                    |
|     unfulfilled claim or out of print status -  |                    |
|     one (1) copy                                |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| d)  Claims report containing a listing of claim | Weekly             |
|     responses received from publishers for      |                    |
|     titles mailed directly to NLM -- one (1)    |                    |
|     copy                                        |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| e)  EDI file containing machine-readable        | Monthly            |
|     equivalent of paper invoice along with      |                    |
|     one (1) copy of paper invoice (summary and  |                    |
|     detailed) to Serial Records; Original       |                    |
|     summary invoice and two (2) copies of       |                    |
|     summary invoice to OAM                      |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| f)  Subscription status reports detailing       | Weekly             |
|     cessations, title or frequency changes,     |                    |
|     format changes, mergers, delays in          |                    |
|     publication, or other bibliographic         |                    |
|     irregularities - one (1) copy               |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| g)  Electronic list of all orders to be         | Upon request       |
|     verified for renewal                        |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| h)  Expenditure reports containing expenditures | On demand, but not |
|     reported from beginning of contract period, | more than two (2)  |
|     by subscription year -- one (1) copy        | times a year       |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| i)  Projection of future subscription charges   | On demand, but not |
|     for a stated period                         | more than two (2)  |
|                                                 | times a year       |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| j)  Reports identifying titles associated with  | Optional service;  |
|     a given license and the negotiated price    | To be Determined   |
|     for said license -- one (1) copy            |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| k)  Projection of future charges for online     | Optional service;  |
|     resource management services for a stated   | To be Determined   |
|     period -- one (1) copy                      |                    |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| l)  Confirmation report of new titles added to  | Optional service;  |
|     an existing license -- one (1) copy         | To be Determined   |
+-------------------------------------------------+--------------------+

Appendix A

Amounts shown are the cost of subscriptions only based on 2006
subscription year prices. They do not include handling charges,
consolidation service fees or shipping charges which offerors must
detail separately in their cost proposals.

Offerors may download an Excel spreadsheet (or request a printed
version) containing a list of serials that NLM currently subscribes to
from the countries listed below.

  ----------------------------- ----------------- ------------------------
  Country                       Number of Active  FY 2006 Subscription
                                Orders            Cost

  Andorra                       0                 \$0

  Australia                     197               \$43,666

  Austria                       65                \$24,388

  Belgium                       61                \$7,910

  Canada                        205               \$30,786

  Denmark                       89                \$42,795

  England                       1615              \$1,405,413

  Finland                       28                \$2,531

  France                        417               \$92,157

  Germany                       679               \$407,445

  Greece                        44                \$11,528

  Greenland                     0                 \$0

  Iceland                       3                 \$164

  Ireland                       53                \$95,745

  Israel                        22                \$2,756

  Italy                         388               \$50,709

  Liechtenstein                 0                 \$0

  Luxembourg                    0                 \$0

  Malta                         2                 \$65

  Netherlands                   467               \$638,728

  New Zealand                   71                \$24,562

  Northern Ireland              2                 \$298

  Norway                        50                \$9,443

  Portugal                      39                \$2,345

  Scotland                      45                \$27,336

  South Africa                  42                \$4,450

  Spain                         221               \$42,994

  Sweden                        46                \$8,901

  Switzerland                   191               \$150,754

  United States                 4262              \$2,170,907

  Wales                         3                 \$215

  Total                         9307              \$5,298,992
  ----------------------------- ----------------- ------------------------

Appendix B

CONTRACTOR NAME

CONTRACTOR

ADDRESS

CITY, STATE, ZIP

SUMMARY INVOICE

BILLING ADDRESS

CITY, STATE, ZIP

CONTRACT NUMBER

INVOICE NUMBER NLM001

INVOICE DATE

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