SOURCES SOUGHT

This notice is issued to help determine the availability of qualified companies technically capable of meeting the Government requirement and to determine the method of acquisition. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to issue a solicitation or ultimately award a contract. Responses will not be considered as proposals or quotes. No award will be made as a result of this notice. The Government will NOT be responsible for any costs incurred by the respondents to this notice. This notice is strictly for research and information purposes only.

1. Background: The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Library Council, which serves all eight Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) technical directorates, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), requires unlimited, simultaneous access to peer-reviewed, academic literature in a wide array of scientific fields and engineering disciplines. Additionally, the Library Council requires the ability to download full-text content for offline use and access to the content from any AFRL location as well as compatibility with the EZproxy authentication service, employed by AFRL. AFRL locations include Arlington, VA; Edwards AFB; Eglin AFB, Fort Sam Houston; Kirtland AFB; Rome Research Site; and Wright-Patterson AFB.
2. Purpose and Objective: The Government envisions an annual subscription to required database(s), allowing for multi-site access and covering a broad range of content made available throughout the subscription period for a basic, one-year period, with the potential for additional, annual option years of those same subscriptions. Details concerning individual database requirements are listed in Section III, herein.
3. Project Requirements: For the purposes of this sources sought, the Government’s requirement is being divided into three primary categories/content areas. Responses to this sources sought shall facilitate the Government’s acquisition planning for whether a combined or separate approach to satisfying these requirements is appropriate; therefore, vendors unable to supply all three categories/content areas are still encourage to respond.

Applicable requirements for all:

1. All databases must be searchable from a single, unitary search interface accessible via user login.
2. Database(s) must provide access to abstracts, citations and provide link-out capabilities to full-text content held in other library subscribed publications.
3. Full-text online access (where applicable) to journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, and other research literature, in either downloadable PDF or HTML format (PDF is preferred).
4. All graphical figures and citations of the original full-text article must be available within the digital document (object) that stands for that article.
5. Database platform must support individual user login via the EZproxy authentication system.
6. Vendor must provide the following details for analysis:
   • Number of searchable records (citations) included in each database.
   • Number of peer-reviewed academic research resources included in each database.
   • The vendor’s system must provide librarian-accessible COUNTER-compliant usage data of searches and downloads for each database included.

Area 1 – Engineering Database:

1. The vendor must provide a specific database of engineering literature abstracts focused on chemistry and chemical engineering research and provide link out capabilities to full-text content held in other library subscribed publications.
2. The vendor must provide a specific database or databases of geoscience literature, focusing on earth sciences, ecology, environmental science, geology, human geography, and physical geography.
3. Product must include access to all records from the following databases:
   • Inspec (from The Institution of Engineering and Technology (The IET))
   • NTIS Bibliographic Database (from the Department of Commerce’s National Technical Information Service (NTIS))
   • United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) – USPTO Patent Full-Text and Image Database (PatFT)
   • European Union Patent Office (EPO) – Espacenet patent database
   • World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) - WO Patents
   • American Geosciences Institute (AGI) - GeoRef database
4. Desired capability provides linkage of indexed content records with associated grant, funding, or agency relationships to track funding entities and research organizations involved.
5. Provides machine-generated and editorially curated indexing of both full-text and numerical content.

Area 2 – Broad Scientific and Engineering Journals and Electronic Books Database:

1. The vendor must provide a large bibliographic and full-text database of scientific and medical publications with Research Information Management System (RIMS) or Current Research Information System (CRIS) capability for storing, managing, and exchanging research metadata
2. The vendor must provide a broad (i.e. 100,000+ books and 1 million+ journals/articles) database of peer-reviewed, academic content covering Life, Social, Physical, and Health Sciences
3. Product must include access to all records from the following journals, at a minimum:
   • “Journal of the European Ceramic Society;”
   • “Acta Materialia;”
   • “Combustion and Flame;”
   • “Journal of Alloys and Compounds;”
   • “Proceedings of the Combustion Institute;”
   • “Journal of Crystal Growth;”
   • “Optical Materials;”
   • “Materials Science and Engineering;”
   • “Additive Manufacturing;” and
   • “Ceramics International”

Area 3 – Research Benchmark and Collaboration Tools

1. The vendor must be able to provide tools that support researchers’ ability to review and analyze research trends amongst peers.
2. The analysis tools must facilitate the identification of possible research collaborations using data on research trends and analytics showing cooperation between peers.

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