Sole Source contract with HathiTrust at University of Michigan

The Library of Congress (Library) intends to negotiate a sole source contract with the HathiTrust, managed by the University of Michigan, a non-profit educational organization located in Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109. To support its research community and collection development activities in the digital arena, the Library requires participation in a digital repository that aggregates the Library of Congress' digital collections with the digital content of the nation's other largest research libraries. The digital repository must use high quality metadata created and implemented according to accepted library preservation standards (for example, PREMIS), providing researchers the powerful, multifaceted discovery and analysis capabilities they need when accessing digital content. The Library also requires that the digital repository provide long-term storage and maintenance of the Library's digital materials as well as the digital collections of the nation's largest research libraries in perpetuity at the lowest possible cost and with the public good as the primary intent. A digital repository storing Library materials must have the capacity to maintain its collections over the long-term, conforming to established digital preservation and audit standards, guidelines, and best practices such as the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model, the Preservation Metadata Implementation Strategies (PREMIS), the Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment (DRAMBORA) framework, and the Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification (TRAC). HathiTrust is the only established service that conforms to these standards and provides the aforementioned access, discovery, and analysis capabilities. The Library seeks to join a cooperative public interest venture to support the American research library community in its effort to establish and develop a sustainable digital book preservation repository. As a member of the HathiTrust consortium, the Library will be positioned to encourage the growth and development of Hathi and successor entities as repositories of the nation's digital heritage. Through the participation with the HathiTrust consortium, the Library will contribute to the development of the project and can be represented in key governance bodies. The Library's involvement will support the mission of the Library and that of HathiTrust, which serves the Library as well as many of the nation's major educational institutions. Response to this notice must include technical capabilities, pricing, and other information that demonstrates ability to meet the Library of Congress requirements. Detailed capabilities must be submitted to the Contracting Officer as specified. This synopsis is NOT to be considered a request for quotations or proposals. No solicitation document is available. No contract will be awarded based on offers received in response to this notice. Responses will be used to determine if a comparable source is available and more advantageous to the government.