Policy & Planning

FAQs about the RFT for Australian Library Access to Electronic Resources

FEBRUARY 2007: Evaluation of tender responses is proceeding.

A vendor information session with members of the National Licensing Proposal Reference Group was held at 2:30-3:30pm on 3 July 2006 in conjuction with the 3rd National Licensing Forum at the National Library of Australia in Canberra.

A list of answers to all questions raised by vendors is posted here:

For reasons of privacy, a list of the vendor representatives who attending the information session will not be posted.


 

QUESTION: Where can vendors find facts and figures about the various segments of the Australia library sector

ANSWER: Information about the state of the Australian population and the Australian library sector is freely available from a range of websites, including:

Alternatively, vendors may wish to contact the sectoral representatives on the National Licensing Proposal Reference Group directly, or the NLP secretariat.

 

QUESTION: Will the RFT evaluation panel be encouraging the various library sectors to participate?

ANSWER: Yes, as soon as there is a panel of products for libraries to consider. Promotion of the National Licensing Proposal is a responsibility of all participants of the National Licensing Forum, including the library sector representatives, members of the National Licensing Proposal Reference Group and of course vendors. Vendors can, as always send marketing information directly to Australian libraries and existing library consortia. The success of the initiative hinges on library up-take of the products on offer: the more Australian libraries onboard, the better off we all expect to be.  It is anticipated that Australian libraries will be able to opt-in or out of any offers.

A key event for communicating progress will be ALIA’s CLICK ’06 conference in Perth and a launch for end-users is anticipated in 2007.

 

QUESTION: Are e-books within scope?

ANSWER: Online products of all kinds are within the scope of the National Licensing Proposal’s RFT for Australian library access to electronic resources.

 

QUESTION: Should pricing for products be framed for specific library sectors?

ANSWER: Yes. The National Licensing Proposal’s RFT for Australian library access to electronic resources will include some guidelines as to how vendors might frame prices for products based on library sectors but we are also looking for innovative ideas in this area from vendors. The proposal has a national rather than State or Territory-based focus.

 

QUESTION: What will be the evaluation criteria?

ANSWER: The National Licensing Proposal’s RFT document for Australian library access to electronic resources will include the evaluation criteria. The evaluation panel will look at how bids address the technical and content requirements, what support and value-adds are offered and balance these against overall value for money.

 

QUESTION: Will there be an opportunity for vendor product presentations?

ANSWER: The RFT evaluation panel reserve the right to ask for vendor presentations but no decision has been made on this matter at this time.

 

QUESTION: Who will be on the RFT evaluation panel?

ANSWER: A sub-set of the National Licensing Proposal Reference Group will evaluate the tender responses.

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