Newspaper QA_Answers.pdf

RFQ: FA500426Q0020

Questions Answers 1 Can you confirm if the newspapers are in bound volumes?

• Nearly all the newspapers were previously bound in volumes with aluminum binding screws.

• Nearly all pages have three (or more) holes where those screws held the volumes together.

• The screws have been removed from almost all the volumes except for one screw that that has been stripped on the 1970 volume.

• That one rod/screw will need to be clipped off by the vendor.

• Perhaps six volumes were bound by thick binding staples.

• The staples have been removed, but the holes are now mostly small tears from when the pages were folded over the staples as a joint.

2 Can the bindings be manipulated up to and including disbanding to ensure the best images possible?

• With the exception of one screw on the 1970 collection, all volumes have been disbanded.

3 Could you send a few sample pictures so we can see the condition? The best pictures would be of the volumes open.

Attached are a dozen sample page scans from the collection.

• Please note the holes where the aluminum binding screws previously bound the volumes.

• Deep creases, tears, and extreme fragility due to age, should also be accounted for.

• The small tears from staple holes are not obvious in these scans but are uneven tears that can easily catch on equipment and must be accounted for when handling.

• Also note the curling and water stains on the newspaper sample from 1958. All of the collection from 1958 has similar warping and water damage. Most of that year’s collection is in much poorer condition than the sample shown.

4 A Can an estimated box count. A 29 boxes.

• Boxes are Gaylord Archival Metal-edged board newspaper boxes.

B approximate shipment dimensions. B • Twenty-eight boxes measure 18”x 13” x3” each.

• One box, which houses the 1958 volume, measures 25” x 19” x 2.5”.

• Cumulatively, the collection is 26 height, 28 wide, 38 tall (from floor height).

• They will be consolidated and packaged on a palette for shipment.

• All volumes must remain in Gaylord Archival boxes for shipment and be returned in the same boxes they are shipped in.

C and/or total shipment weight of the archival newspaper collection being provided to the contractor be provided?

C • The project manager does not have access to a scale and is unable to estimate the shipment weight.

5 By what method is government looking to ship these to the awardee please?

• Either via UPS or Fed Ex.

• Once awarded the project manager will work with our shipping department (354 LRS) to determine shipping method.

• The entire shipment must be wrapped in water tight protective packaging.

6 Can the awarded contractor use qualified commercial scanning/digitization support or internal personnel to complete the scanning, OCR/searchable PDF creation, quality control, and hard drive deliverables, while the prime contractor remains responsible for project management, secure handling, reporting, shipment tracking, and final delivery.

NO THIS COLLECTION MAY NOT BE SCANNED WITH COMMERCIAL SCANNING

EQUIPMENT. PER ESTABLISED BEST-PRACTICE GUIDELINES OF THE AIR FORCE

HISTORICAL RESEARCH AGENC.

• All scanning must be conducted by trained personnel using overhead, touchless scanning equipment, with each item placed on the equipment by hand. The papers are too delicate to be commercially scanned.

7 Definition of "surface”: Does the 9,640 figure count page sides (front and back as two), full pages (front and back as one), or full broadsheets.

• Newspapers pages are generally printed on front and back and numbered with each side of text representing one page or surface.

• Surfaces are one side of printed pages. Page/surface count corresponds to printed pages as it would be in a book.

8 Page formats and dimensions — what mix of broadsheet, tabloid, or other formats does the collection contain, and what are the largest and smallest page sizes?

• The format of the newspaper fluxuated over its run.

• It mostly was printed in a tabloid format ranging between 4 to 16 pages.

• Tabloid dimensions were 17” x 12”.

• For part of its run, in 1958, it was a broadsheet. Exact dimensions for the 1958 volume are difficult to be precise because moisture exposure and poor preservation warped much of that volume, but it is approximately 15” x 23.”

9 Image capture — required minimum resolution

(dpi), bit depth, color mode, and FADGI star rating?

• The proposal specifies archival scanning with standard image processing and quality assurance.

• Deliverable images are full color at 300 dpi for both master TIFF files and access JPEG files.

10 Deliverable file formats — what is required for preservation masters (e.g., uncompressed TIFF, JP2) and for access derivatives (e.g., PDF/A, JPEG)?

• Preservation master files: full-color 300 dpi TIFF format with LZW lossless compression.

• Access derivatives: full-color 300 dpi JPEG format and one multi-page, searchable PDF/A file per newspaper issue.

• Proposal also includes a finding aid with imaging notes and hard-drive file delivery.

11 OCR — is OCR required? If so, what is the accuracy threshold, output format (searchable PDF, hOCR, ALTO XML), and is article-level zoning required?

• OCR and searchable PDF have been a requirement of the project from the beginning. Article-level zoning is not required?

12 Metadata and file structure — what metadata schema is required (Dublin Core, MODS, METS, custom), and what file-naming convention and folder structure? How will the Government provide issue-level metadata?

Proposal states that the Award Winner will

• create and send a delivery record;

• generate a spreadsheet describing items;

• document conditions that may hinder scanning; and

• deliver a finding aid with imaging notes.

13 Any carrier, insurance, packaging, or chain-of-custody requirements for round-trip shipping from Eielson AFB? All scanning can be done off site and no contractor presence is needed at

AFB?

• When in transit, the shipment should be able to be tracked.

• Delivery should require a signature.

• No contractor is expected to be at Eielson.

14 "Equipment delivery from government to the contractor shall be government responsibility, and from contractor returning to government the contractors responsibility. “ - Is this in reference to the actual scanning equipment or only the 9,640 surfaces will be shipped to contractor?

• Eielson personnel will ship no scanning equipment.

• In addition to the documents themselves, proper archival artifact boxes, suitable for holding fragile volumes will be shipped with the documents.

• It is expected that the documents will remain in the archival boxes at all times except when volumes are being scanned.

• Volumes will be returned in these same boxes.

15 Timing — Is there an expected timeline or no later than date the government requires from awarded contractor?

• The physical collection should be returned to the Historian’s Office, or a representative of the office.

• Expected return per the PoP end date.

• Ideally, this will not be in transit over the winter months.

16 Please provide a complete and legible copy of the applicable Wage Determination that includes all job classifications and corresponding wage rates?

(Service Contract Act (SCA) Wage Determination for the State of Alaska.)

• A new copy has been provided in case of upload errors to the original solicitation.

17 Are all the newspapers the same size • No.

• Most of the collection is 17” x 12” one portion is 23” x 15.”

• There is also additional variations due to fraying, torn edges, large sections of missing pages, and warping from moisture exposure.

18 Can tape be used if needed to prevent additional tearing when scanning?

• Touchless archival scanning, as required by this office, will not result in additional tearing in the scanning process.

• Some extremely poor volumes are at risk of breaking just from handling or are already torn badly in their current state.

• For pages such as these, acid-free archival translucent repair tape may be used sparingly.

• ANY REPAIRS CAN ONLY BE DONE BY TRANINED ARCHIVAL STAFF

• Lineco Archival Document Repair Tape has been used for portions of this collection in past by the Historian and is the preferred method of this repair, if necessary.

• All repairs must be documented.

19 Please provide any document naming requirements; do you have an example of how these should be named?

• Date of issues in civilian format

• Matching the style of the newspapers themselves would be sufficient.

20 Can you please confirm the # of pages in one newspaper?

• The newspaper fluxuated dramatically over its run between 4 and 16 pages.

• Additionally, there are some volumes that are missing entirely.

21 Are we expected to name / index per each newspaper? If so can you please confirm the fields that we need to type in for the indexing I.e.

date, name etc.

• Yes.

• The year and date of the issues is sufficient.

22 Will you ship the boxes through FEDEX or should we send the Paid FEDEX label for the shipment?

• Initial shipping will be Government responsibility.

23 Can we request to extend the due date for two or three days?

Due date has been extended to June 05 2026

24 A Could you please confirm the physical condition and format of the newspapers (e.g., bound volumes, loose sheets, fragile condition, etc.)?

A • The volumes were previously bound.

• They have mostly been removed from their binding but the crude method they were held together has resulted in holes and tears in every page of this collection.

• Creasing along the binding has weakened or frayed the edges further.

• This is acidic newsprint that is between 50 and 70 years old.

• The inks is faded throughout. It was poorly stored for nearly its entire life.

• It is fragile and can only be handled by trained archival staff with extensive experience with such records.

B Does the collection include photographs, color pages, microfilm, or any other special media formats?

B • There were a few select issues, usually around the Christmas and New Years Holidays, when the paper was published in alternative colors of green, red, and sometimes with white.

• A few sample pages have been attached.

• There were no true color issues, just novelty issues that has splashes of alternative colors.

• All photos are monochrome.

C The RFQ mentions 9,640 surfaces, could you please confirm whether this represents a final count or an estimate?

C • This is an estimate.

• The collection is incomplete.

• Certain issues have already been lost or destroyed.

• Some individual pages are missing or been ripped out.

• This number is the best estimate based on the known or suspected deficiencies in the collection.

D Additionally, how will any overages beyond this quantity be handled?

D • The number of 9640 is on optimistic estimate.

• It would be difficult seeing this collection being greater than 10000 pages, but overages should account for perhaps 500 additional pages.

E For clarification, does the term “surface” refer to one side of a page (i.e., a single image)?

E • One side of page.

F Are the materials primarily double-sided, or is there a mix of single-sided and double-sided pages?

F • Newsprint is two-sided.

G Will the materials be delivered to our facility, or required pickup? Kindly confirm the logistics.

G • Project Manager working with 354 LRS will carefully package the Collection and any supporting documentation and ship, deliver the Collection to the Award Winner.

• At wrap-up, the Award Winner will package and ship the project deliverables back to the Historian’s Office and coordinate return of materials with the Project Manager.

H Are there any specific metadata requirements, file naming conventions, or quality control (QC) standards that we should follow?

H • Each issue should be uniquely named.

• Example: April 2, 1952.

• Since the publication did not use military style dating (day/month/year), it is not required to use that format.

I Could you please provide the expected project timeline and turnaround requirements?

I • No later than the Pop end date.

• Five external hard drives with the collection and the physical collection should be returned to the historian’s office within four months.

25 Is it the Government’s intent that the reference to “fragile paper format” requires all imaging to be performed using flatbed (glass platen) scanning methods?

NO - NONE OF THIS COLLETION SHOULD BE SCANNED WITH A FLATBED GLASS

PLATEN SCANNER.

• The entire collation was published on cheap and acidic newsprint from fifty to seventy years ago and was often subjected to extreme temperatures upon its publication.

• Exposure to the bright light of a flatbed scanner will further degrade the paper and bleach out delicate ink that is already faded throughout much the collection.

• Any vendor suggesting flatbed scanning for a project such as this cannot be trusted with the collection.

• THIS ENTIRE COLLETION MUST BE SCANNED WITH TOUCHLESS OVERHEAD

SCANNNING EQUIPMENT BY TRAINED ARCHIVAL STAFF.

• These are standard best practice guidelines for such a delicate historical collection.

• This should have been plainly laid out to any vendor as it was part of the original proposal put forward by the historian’s office.

26 Are any of the newspaper materials known to require repair, stabilization, or conservation treatment prior to imaging?

• Every page in this collection has been damaged by holes and age.

• Much of it has significantly more damage.

• Most of them do not require repair, per se, but it does require careful handling from professionally trained and experienced archival staff, using specialized equipment made to specifically for such fragile documents.

27 Is there any incumbent/recompete or this is a brand-new project? If yes, could you please provide us with their award number or even if the customer bought similar services in the past.

• This is a one-time service not the result of a re-compete or prior award.

RFQ: FA500426Q0020