Draft Performance Work Statement .docx

This draft PWS is provided as an example of a possible forthcoming project.

DRAFT PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

DIGITIZATION OF HISTORIC MATERIAL

OFFICE OF HISTORY

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS

MAY 2024

1.0 Overview

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Office of History (CEHO) maintains a rich collection of documents and photographs that chronicles the history of the Corps of Engineers. The documents and photographs are housed in CEHO’s Research Collection, which is the most comprehensive archive of Army Engineer material in the United States. These research materials are used by CEHO historians and curators, USACE personnel, and external researchers to document the history of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and understand its role in support of the Army and the evolution of the United States. CEHO requires the services of an archival support contractor to digitize a variety of its archival collections.

2.0 Scope of Work

The contractor will digitize a substantial amount of archival material. All the collections consist predominately of paper records, print images, negatives, and slides in various formats. All of the collections are housed at CEHO’s facility at the Humphreys Engineer Center, 7701 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, Virginia.

3.0 Digitization

Digitization will adhere to the following technical requirements:

a) All scans shall be processed as “master files” unless specifically noted otherwise. Master files are scanned at high resolution, saved in lossless, LZW compressed formats, and are not manipulated in any way from the original acquisition. Master files are the first generation from the analog and represent the original condition at digitization.

b) Visual Imagery shall be scanned as LZW compressed TIFF files at a minimum resolution of 600 pixels per inch (ppi) with a minimum of 3000 pixels (5 inches) across the shortest dimension, and a minimum of 4200 pixels (7 inches) along the longest side. Images that are larger than 3000 x 4200 pixels at 600 pixels per inch shall be scanned as LZW compressed TIFF files at a minimum resolution of 600 ppi at their original size. Therefore, if a map is 20 x 12 inches, it should be scanned at 600 ppi with an output size of 20 x 12 inches.

c) In cases where there are multiple photographs pasted to one document, a scan of the entire document will be made in addition to scans of each individual photograph.

d) Contractors are required to determine metadata from analog items and input that metadata for each scanned item. Metadata will be determined using the following list of required fields.

Required metadata fields for Visual Images:

Creator

Photographer or donor, if known

Caption

Caption as found on original image (further embellished as needed) or devised based on what the image depicts

Keywords

Topics shown but not mentioned in Caption

Date

Date of photograph; estimated if unknown

Description Writer

Person or Organization doing the scanning and data entry

Intellectual Genre

Type of visual material (e.g., 5x7 prints affixed to black paper in an album; 35mm color slides in small boxes, etc.)

Instructions

Anything special about the particular items worth noting

Credit Line

Whom to credit for use of the photograph

Source

Location or collection name whence the imagery came

4.0 Periods of Performance

All work set shall be completed within 12 months of contract award.

5.0 Deliverables

At the conclusion of the period of performance, the Contractor will deliver:

1. Digital will be provided to the government on solid state external drive(s) provided by the contractor.

6.0 Place of Performance, Equipment, Software, and Supplies

All work will be completed at a contractor’s facility that must be located within 75 miles of the Office of History which is located at the Humphrey’s Engineer Center (HEC), 7701 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, Virginia, 22315, to facilitate progress reviews and on-site inspections.

The contractor must demonstrate that it has the necessary inventory and management controls to administer the government’s archival material throughout the conservation, arrangement, and description process. The contractor must also be able to demonstrate that its archival facility meets local building codes; has an appropriate and operational fire detection and suppression system; has appropriate and functional intrusion and detection systems; and that the contractor has an adequate emergency management plan for that facility. Further, to safeguard the government’s archival materials the contractor must limit and control access to keys, the archival collection, and archival processing facility.