Attachment_2_Scope_of_Work.pdf

Solicitation (Request for Quotes) No. 140P823Q0005

Attachment 2, Statement of Work (8/10/23)

Conservation Treatment to Museum Plate Glass Negatives, EBLA

Statement of Work (SOW)

EBLA: Conservation of Reuble Collection

PMIS 183352A (internal use only)

Table of Contents

1.0 Project Description/Summary

2.0 Project Objectives

3.0 Project Background

4.0 Project Work Tasks

5.0 Government Furnished Equipment / Materials / Other

6.0 Special Conditions / Requirements

7.0 Place of Performance

8.0 Performance Period / Schedule Requirements

Statement of Work

Project Title:

Conservation and Digitization of Reuble Collection

Park Name: Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve

Prepared By: Samantha Richert

Date: 5/24/2023

1.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION/SUMMARY:

This project will hire a professional Conservation firm to provide examination, documentation, stabilization and conservation treatment for glass plate negatives from the Reuble Collection, part of the Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (EBLA) museum collection.

The negatives identified as needing treatment may have one or all of the following conditions:

cleaving binder, loss of image, water damage, mold damage, or broken plates. Appendix A of this Scope of Work contains the overall condition assessment for the collection. Appendix B contains an itemized condition assessment for 125 negatives in need of treatment.

The Contractor will examine, assess, stabilize, conserve and digitize the historic photographs. An initial overall Treatment Proposal will be submitted to the EBLA curator for approval before conservation treatments of the objects begin. Conservation work will include preparation of

Treatment Reports, including "before” and “after" digital images to document the work. An initial selection of ten glass plate negatives will be treated and documented, with the treatment reports and digital photographs submitted to the National Park Service for approval. Upon approval of the initial treatment reports including treatment photographs, the Contractor will complete conservation treatment of the negatives. Once treatments are complete, the Contractor will proceed with digitization of the negatives. An initial batch of ten digital images created from the negatives will be submitted to the EBLA curator for approval. Upon approval, digitization for the remainder of the negatives will proceed. Files resulting from the digitization process will be delivered to the National Park Service on removable media (flash drive or removable hard drive).

The Contractor will be responsible for arranging transportation of the materials to and from their facility via a bonded fine art courier service using a dual-driver shuttle truck with climate control and air-ride. Materials will be crated for shipping by the National Park Service using three custom-made crates designed specifically for safely shipping the negatives with minimum impact to the materials. The National Park Service will deliver the crates to a transfer point designated by the Contractor within the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area and receive the crates back from the same transfer point when the project has been completed.

2.0 PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

1) Contractor shall treat items from the EBLA museum’s Reuble Collection identified as needing conservation treatment in Appendices A and B (see Attachments 4 and 5).

2) Contractor shall document materials including “before” and “after” digital images and provide the treatment documentation to EBLA.

3) Contractor shall digitize the treated glass plate negatives in order to provide collection access while reducing handling of the original materials. The digital access images shall be created at 600 dpi in TIFF format.

4) Contractor shall be responsible for payment of shipping 125 glass plate negatives in NPS-provided, custom-built crates to and from EBLA via a bonded fine art courier service.

Specifics of shipping logistics are addressed in section 4.4 below.

5) Contractor shall provide advice to the EBLA project manager regarding storage of the treated materials and recommendations for regularly scheduled condition assessments of the materials. Contractor will participate in meetings to report on progress of project as needed.

3.0 PROJECT BACKGROUND:

The Reuble Collection photographs date to 1909-1925 and were creating using the dry glass plate negative process. They were stored in a variety of environments, including a barn and a lighthouse, until their accession into the EBLA collection in 2009. Shortly afterward, the materials were transferred to the North Cascades NPS Complex curation facility in

Marblemount, Washington. The EBLA Collection is managed by the North Cascades NPS

Complex curator (also noted as EBLA Curator in this document). The negatives were rehoused into four-flap enclosures set within archival boxes with paper separations. In 2020, a

Conservation Survey and Assessment was completed for 337 negatives in the collection; 147 negatives were identified as needing conservation treatment. In Spring 2023, it was discovered that there were additional boxes in the collection that had not been surveyed and those negatives were surveyed by the same conservator to complete an itemized condition assessment for the entire collection. In total, 238 negatives have been identified as needing treatment. However, the original funding requested for this project was insufficient to meet the entire conservation need for the collection. This project addresses conservation treatment of 125 negatives in the collection. All negatives treated during this project need to be professionally digitized for the purpose of providing collection access while reducing direct handling of these fragile materials.

4.0 PROJECT TASKS:

Major Duties and Responsibilities of Contractor

4.1 Conservation Responsibilities:

• The Contractor is responsible for examining, documenting, stabilizing, and conserving

125 glass plate negatives (also referred to as materials in this document).

• The Contractor will examine the materials to determine the nature and cause of deterioration and will select appropriate conservation techniques for treatment. The

Contractor will develop treatments in consultation with the EBLA Curator and will provide a written treatment proposal for the collection with specific notes for each negative.

• Following approval by the objects’ custodian (EBLA Curator), the final treatment phase will be carried out with complete photographic documentation of the object before and after treatment, and during treatment, if warranted.

• The Contractor will draw from professional experience and practical research in selecting professionally established treatment techniques, and in developing new treatment methodologies, including selection of conservation solvents, reagents, compounds, materials and application techniques. Treatment procedures often involve extremely delicate techniques requiring highly developed hand skills and mature professional judgment in determining the appropriate extent of intervention and the desired final appearance of valuable and irreplaceable objects.

• The Contractor will communicate with the EBLA Curator for treatment scheduling and proposal review, and to make recommendations concerning collection care in the realm of both preventive and remedial conservation. Contacts with NPS and non-NPS conservators are usually for the purpose of information acquisition or exchange.

• The Contractor is expected to work with NPS staff in a professional, collegial manner at all times.

• See Appendices A and B for previous condition documentation of the Reuble Collection.

4.2 Digitization Responsibilities:

The Contractor will complete digitization of the treated materials at 600 dpi in TIFF format.

Each file will be named using the already established NPS Identifying Number to correspond with the original negative. The files will be provided to the NPS using removable media

(hard drive or flash drive).

4.3 Material Transportation Responsibilities:

The Contractor will be responsible for arranging transportation of the materials to and from their facility via a bonded fine art courier service using a dual-driver shuttle truck with climate control and air-ride. The transfer point for the materials must be within 150 miles of

Marblemount, Washington.

Major Duties and Responsibilities of NPS

4.4 Project Management Responsibilities

• EBLA Curator will pack the 125 glas plate negatives for treatment in custom-built crates designed for cross-country shipping of fragile materials.

• EBLA Curator will bring the negatives packed for shipment to a transfer point within 150 miles of Marblemount, Washington for receipt by the Contractor’s designated art courier service.

• EBLA Curator will respond within 48 hours to requests for information and consultation with the Contractor.

• EBLA Curator will approve collection treatment proposals, sample reports, and sample digital images within one week of transmission from the Contractor.

• EBLA Curator will arrive at a pre-arranged transfer point to receive the treated slides back from the Contractor’s designated art courier service.

5.0 GOVERNMENT FURNISHED EQUIPMENT/MATERIALS/OTHER:

EBLA Curator will provide the 125 plate glass negatives for treatment, ready for shipment to the

Contractor using three custom-built crates. These crates will be used for returning the treated materials to EBLA. The crates are lined with esterfoam and include foam-core inner boxes with ethafoam bumpers to hold the archival boxes normally used to store the negatives. The estimated dimensions for each crate are 30”L x 23”W x 20.5 H. Attachment 1, Terms Provisions

Clauses incorporates clause 52.245-1 Government Property by reference in Section 5.

NOTE: The slides and crates are considered to be government property. Contractor shall collaborate with EBLA Curator to document receipt of all government property in accordance with the clause, specifically section f(1)(iii)(A)(1) through (5).

6.0 SPECIAL CONDITIONS/REQUIREMENTS:

1) Contractor and EBLA Curator will meet regularly during the project to ensure treatments are completed in a timely and efficient manner.

2) Broken negatives should not be rehoused in sink-mats as this will interfere with their shipment back to EBLA within the custom-built shipping crates. Rehousing of broken negatives will be completed by the EBLA Curator upon their return.

7.0 PLACE OF PERFORMANCE:

Contractor’s fully equipped conservation facility.

8.0 PERFORMANCE PERIOD/SCHEDULE REQUIREMENTS:

8.1 Project Schedule

The contractor is responsible for completing the work within a 40-week period of performance.

Estimated start date is September 2023.

a) Project kick-off meeting via phone shall be conducted within one week of contract award.

b) NPS transfers materials to Contractor’s identified art courier service for shipment within four weeks of contract award.

c) Contractor completes initial treatment of ten negatives and provides sample treatment reports and documentation via email or FTP site within eight weeks of contract award.

d) NPS has one week to approve sample treatment reports and documentation (nine weeks from contract award).

e) Contractor completes treatment of all 125 negatives within 25 weeks of contract award.

f) Sample digitization of ten negatives due to NPS for approval within 29 weeks of contract award.

g) NPS has one week to approve sample digital images for collection access (30 weeks from contract award).

h) Contractor completes digitization of all 125 negatives within 35 weeks of contract award.

i) Contractor arranges return shipment via art courier service to the NPS at a pre-arranged transfer point within 40 weeks of contract award.

8.2 Invoicing

Invoicing shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with the IPP Clause incorporated by full text in Attachment no. 1 (Clause title: Electronic Invoicing and Payment Requirements). The following represents a basic milestone plan for submitting invoices. This may change after award and contractor shall collaborate with EBLA Curator to agree on when progress payment requests

(invoices) shall be submitted.

a) Invoice for art courier services at six weeks from contract award

b) Partial payment invoice at 20 weeks from contract award

c) Final invoice for completion of services at 40 weeks of contract award

Invoices will be verified by NPS COR prior to payment.

8.3 Standards and References

• All work performed will be within the standards of the American Institute for

Conservation (AIC) Code of Ethics and Guidelines.

• Digital access images will be created at 600 dpi in TIFF format.

• Final versions of treatment proposals and reports will be submitted in PDF format to allow for digital signatures. Treatment images may be recorded in JPEG or TIFF according to the contractor’s preference.

8.4 Copyright and Ownership

The National Park Service, EBLA, retains any copyright and other use rights to the plate glass slides. NPS shall be the sole owner of all planning documents, or finding aids developed. It shall be the sole owner of all digital surrogates and any copies thereof, produced by the Contractor from the collection. No part of the surrogate copies produced under this contract may be sold or given away by the Contractor.