QA REVISED 7-14-2025.pdf

Q&A Please refer to the revised Statement of Work

1. Will there be an option to Mail the boxes to contractor's location? No

2. If mailing is not an option, can we pick up all the 250 boxes at the same time? No

3. Is the pickup location: NASA GRC Lewis Field (NASA Glenn Research Center), 21000

Brookpark Rd, Cleveland, OH 44135? Yes

4. As we see the documents are from 1963 onwards, are the documents in good condition or very delicate? Condition varies, but for the most part are in good condition.

5. Does NASA anticipate or encourage the use of advanced tools such as natural language processing (NLP) or artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) to support classification, tagging, or extraction of information from the digitized materials? No

6. Are there specific metadata standards or taxonomies that the digitized outputs must conform to for archival, searchability, or system integration purposes? No

7. Beyond basic digitization (scanning to PDF), would NASA find value in approaches that support enhanced discoverability, such as keyword indexing, structured data extraction, or historical trend identification? No

8. Is NASA open to receiving, in addition to raw scanned files, any derived datasets or summaries that may improve internal knowledge reuse, authoritative system integration, or public accessibility? No

9. Are there existing NASA systems or repositories where structured information derived from the digitized documents could support internal reference, archival enhancement, or future reuse? If so, what data formats would be most beneficial? No

10. Will there be any integration with existing NASA document repositories or systems (e.g., NTRS or TechPort), and should output formats be designed with that compatibility in mind?

No

11. Can NASA provide any additional detail on the age range or condition of the handwritten records within the 250 boxes, particularly any that may require special handling due to fragility or legibility challenges? Most records are in decent shape and are typed. Records range in age from the early 1960s-1990s

12. Section 1 of the RFQ specifies pickup in batches of up to 50 boxes at a time. Would NASA consider authorizing a single bulk pickup of all 250 boxes to streamline mobilization? No

13. Is NASA amenable to having a high-speed, production-grade scanner operated onsite at the

GRC facility, rather than transporting boxes offsite for digitization? I don’t see us having space for that or time for all of the additional necessary security considerations.

14. Can NASA confirm whether all documents fall within standard letter and legal dimensions, or should respondents anticipate any larger-format materials (e.g., tabloid, blueprints, or folded diagrams) requiring special handling? Most are standard size, but there are some oversized materials.

15. Are there any facility access requirements, background checks, or personnel vetting procedures required for contractor staff involved in the transport or handling of the records?

Non-disclosure agreements will need to be signed.

16. Can NASA clarify the expected period of performance or target completion date for digitizing the 250 boxes, including whether any milestones or phased deadlines apply? The work needs to be completed by Sept. 30

17. NASA wants the contractor to pickup and return the materials from the NASA GRC location in Ohio in batches of 50 boxes per shipment, with a total of 250 boxes that would mean a total of 5 roundtrips (Ohio to PTFS and then PTFS to Ohio). Are the materials already packed and boxed ready for transport? Or does NASA assume the contractor will performing the boxing of the reports for transport onsite at GRC? The materials are already in boxes. Again, we cannot ship these all at once because we do not have the space to bring back all of the material for the pre-work. We need to do it in batches.

18. If the materials are boxed and prepared by NASA, can a third party transport be used for shipment to and from GRC? No

19. If one folder equals one PDF document, what is the average number of pages per folder? Not everything is in a folder. It can vary from 2-3 pages to hundreds.

20. The paper records will be disassembled for digitizing but do they need to be reassembled post scanning for return to GRC? No, but each document needs to remain distinct through either foldering or clipping.

21. How many boxes do we need to pick up? Do we need to return the documents or securely destroy them? Approximately 250. They need to be returned.

22. Can we pick up all the documents in a single trip? No.

23. Is this a new requirement? If not, can you please provide the name of the vendor, the current contract value and eligibility criteria to re-compete? Yes.

24. Are you using any Document Management Software? No.

25. What is the volume of pages to be scanned into the indexing system? Unknown.

26. What is the size of the pages to be scanned? Most are standard letter size, but there is a volume of oversized material.

27. What is the ratio of the pages – single sided/double sided Unknown

28. What is the level of preparation required? (Removal of fasteners, staples, post it’s, etc.) Will vary. Some are in folders, others are stapled, some are soft bound or in 3-ring binders.

29. What level of reassembly is required? (Do we need to apply to fasteners, post it’s and rearrange the documents in the same order after scanning?) Documents need to be back in their original order. While we do not require reassembly, materials do need to be kept distinct – either putting back in their original folder, or materials that were removed from bindings placed in a new folder or separated with a slip sheet.

30. How will the documents be provided? In loose paper, boxed, binder, stapled or spiral bound? All materials are in record center boxes and are in folders, bound, or in 3-ring binders

31. Will each output file be a separate tiff or each document be a separate tiff? Documents need to be .pdfs not tiffs. Each document is a separate pdf.

32. What is the ratio of the pages – single sided/double sided? See above.

33. What level of reassembly is required? (Do we need to apply fasteners, post its and rearrange the documents in the same order after scanning?) See above.

34. Is there a price sheet the NASA would like the proposers to submit the pricing for the proposal or is the proposer to create one? Each vendor providing a quote will need to include all pricing information however they choose; there is no NASA-provided pricing sheet

35. How many pages are there approximately in each personnel folder? We are not scanning personnel folders.

36. Are there any staples or post notes on the personnel folders which we need to scan? We are not scanning personnel folders.

37. Do we need to reassembly the files after they have been scanned? See above.

38. Do we need to provide the digitized documents in specific folder structure? No

39. Do we need to apply any naming convention to files? Please refer to the Statement of Work.

40. What information should vendor need to index from the documents? Only the name of the document

41. Do documents need to be re-stapled before returning them? No, but each document needs to be easily identifiable and remain distinct.

42. "Are indexes/metadata available on the first page of each document? No. Does it require any special technical knowledge to identify the indexes/metadata?" No.

43. If the documents are scanned in as is format, what is the ratio of Color & B/W documents and single- & double-sided documents? Unknown.

44. To reduce cost, could the records be picked up all at once instead of five trips? We don’t have space to bring them all back here at once for pick up. Batches also allow us to do the necessary pre-work before sending them. (Again, we don’t have space to do this all at once)

45. The records are old and that usually means a lot of onion skin pages. What percentage of the documents would be fragile like onion skin that would need special handling? Total is unknown.

46. Once the documents have been digitized, what level of reassembly is required?

a. Boxed for archives- files are digitized by and separated by a barcoded slip sheet with folders in the back: acceptable

b. Light Reassembly- files are returned to their folders but not restapled: acceptable

c. Full Reassembly- Returned to original condition: unnecessary

47. Do these files need to be 508 Compliant? No