Qs As-Rev2.pdf

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

DIMOC Digitization & Storage

Rev2

Question #1: The SOO provides the estimated volume of media holdings and identifies the source of these estimates as a ‘2010 inventory study.’ As a small, DC-area business assessing whether to invest in developing a proposal to respond to the solicitation, we request that a copy of the study be provided as soon as possible and as much in advance of the bidders’ conference as possible. Will the DMA provide a copy of the study to potential bidders?

Answer: Yes, we will provide the study with redacted proprietary information (we provided the study this same way for industry day).

Question #2: The SOO provides the estimated volume of media holdings. It also indicates that the documentary period of the holdings dates from the 1940s forward. Please provide a table showing the volumes by year and media type. The more granular the information, the more responsive we can be in a proposal.

Answer: We do not have a proper inventory to provide such information about our VI holdings.

Please see attached DMA Physical Media 2010 for an inventory. The SOO provides a time-frame for the vendor to conduct an inventory.

Question #3: The SOO provides the estimated volume of media holdings. DMA.mil and its subordinate web sites characterize the Agency’s ‘products’ by source, subject matters, etc, that is, characterizes them by everyday terms that suggest or define the topics of the content. For example, one of the topic areas supported by DMA, via a web site hosting, is The Historical Office of the OSD, with publications, documents and images. Another is DIFOS DEO training and instructional content, for public affairs personnel. A third example is HometownLink and its print, radio, video and photo content of news releases. Can you please provide an iteration of the inventory by content or subject matter types?

This information is most important to determine if and how a commercial vendor can monetize the collection. Because the bidders conference is in California we need some additional information that will justify the expense to travel to this event. The more granular the information, the higher the probability that we will investigate this opportunity further.

Answer: We do not have a proper inventory to provide such information about our VI holdings.

Please see attached DMA Physical Media 2010 for an inventory. The SOO provides a time-frame for the vendor to conduct an inventory.

Question #4: Reference DMA March 5th Bidders Conference - Will potential bidders be given the opportunity to review how the material is physically organized in DMA’s archives?

Answer: Yes. A tour of the DIMOC Imagery Management facility will be provided during the pre-proposal conference

Question #5: Reference DMA March 5th Bidders Conference - Will potential bidders be given the opportunity to screen, review and analyze film, video, audio and print content described in the SOO?

Answer: No. Only the contract awardee will have this opportunity. The SOO provides a time-frame for the vendor to conduct an inventory.

I noticed it was listed in III.TASKS of STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES that "the govt. is willing to exclude the motion film assets from the contract"...our company is interested in discussing the possibility of just performing the scanning of the "physical (motion) film assets" since this is such an enormous large task in itself. 11,000+ hrs. is over 60 Million Feet of film! We will still consider bidding the whole project if this is not separated out...but regardless - there really is some KEY INFORMATION MISSING FOR SCANNING SPECS. See below:

Question #6: What are the film formats of the film assets (35mm, 16mm, 8mm) and how much of each?

Answer: We do not have a proper inventory to provide such information about our VI holdings.

Please see attached DMA Physical Media 2010 for an inventory. The SOO provides a time-frame for the vendor to conduct an inventory.

Question #7: What are the scanning resolution requirements of the film? Did not see this listed anywhere in the docs and it is VERY important. This is usually answered in DPI or MegaPixels. A typical HD scan these days is scanned at 2000 dpi on the film or 3.1 MegaPixels (2048x1536) while UHD would be scanned at 4000 dpi on the film or 12.6 MegaPixels (4096x3072) for each frame. Scan resolution affects so much...scanning time...storage space, costs, etc. and must be specified. All that was listed in the Statement of Objectives doc. was the output file types (still images as JPEG Q12 and motion video as H.264/MPEG4). These details do not specify what RESOLUTION the film is to be scanned at -but only how the files are packaged for distribution.

Answer: Please see the attached Technical Aspects for Digitization.

Question #8: How will the performance and dollar amount requested be evaluated?

Answer: The GOV will evaluate how much digital content can be provided within the limitations of up to $1m per year in the first four years and $995k in the last year of contract.

Question #9: Can additional information be provided about the subject matter (content) of the DMA collections/holdings?

Answer: The subject matter of the physical motion media holdings can be, to a certain extent, discovered via www.defenseimagery.mil. Conducting a search on DefenseImagery.mil for "tank" permitting all holdings to be searched (e.g. Still, motion, A/V, IMI, and Site Content) will return 1,248 motion media results. Within these results is metadata describing the subject matter (e.g. Caption, date shot, format, etc.) of some of our physical motion media holdings, and some more extensive than others.

Often the title assigned is not following a specific standard or process but at the time and over the course of DIMOC being the VI records center, different organizational methods and structures produced inconsistent metadata. The subject matter for the physical still imagery is unknown electronically (e.g. We may know subject matter from a caption sheet filed with the still imagery).

Question #10: There are two main drivers for archive management, one is the long term preservation of content, and the other improved accessibility of content. Access being defined as ability to search, manage video and metadata, and retrieve digital assets from an online system. While our company recognizes that both are important, what is the criticality of access through the preservation effort?

Answer: We are looking for a solution which digitizes, stores and makes the imagery easily retrievable to our customers.

Question #11: There is a requirement for federated search off the DIMOC website but how will DIMOC users wish to gain access to the masters (physical/digital)?

Answer: Master physical material will be returned to the Riverside location upon completion of digitization. It will be available in a physical form to government customers who want access to it.

Question #12: Considering access is important, is there a measure that you can provide that will indicate to us now much of our solution services we should provide in a measure of deal metrics on digitization versus access?

Answer: Need further clarification on this question. However, we would like performance metrics on all aspects of the digitization and retrieval operations.

Question #13: What tools and workflow do the existing DIMOC editors use to provide key wording services to the assets coming into the system?

Answer: Editors currently access the digital assets and review/edit caption data and add keywords in the Artesia based asset management system prior to publishing. All still imagery work is currently accomplished within existing DAMS system. Physical motion caption editing is accomplished via a .xml form which is then ingested as caption only data into the database. Additional workflow and keywording information can be provided upon reward.

Question #14: In terms of digitization, it was stated that there were systems that could enable digitization on-site that could be used. Is there a list that can be provided of equipment that would be available for this effort?

Answer: We will provide space and utilities. We may also be able to offer limited assistance with some legacy motion playback capabilities.

Question #15: Our assumption is that DIMOC will cover all shipping and coordination with remote government agencies for physical assets to be delivered to Riverside of the digitization project. Is this correct?

Answer: Subject to budget constraints, yes

Question #16: Is it possible to leverage existing shipping service agreements and rates that DIMOC uses?

Answer: DIMOC should be able to cover costs for shipping media

Question #17: Will assets that come to Riverside, once digitized, will they remain in Riverside?

Answer: Master physical material not digitized onsite must be returned to the Riverside location upon completion of digitization.

Question #18: It’s assumed that through the digitization project DIMOC may need to have access to digital master content. What is the timeframe for delivery of this content back to DIMOC?

Answer: Subject to negotiation, however it is expected to have incremental return over. It is our expectation is that DIMOC and military customers will have access to digital content via the DI.mil website link to the contractor.

Question #19: Should the delivery back in five years should be priced into the deal?

Answer: It is expected that a mutually agreeable method of transferring copies of the digital content back to the government will be completed.

Question #20: In the meeting on March 5th, it was stated that DIMOC would provide agency access to content by creating an interface with the winning bidder's solution. This solution would work via a federated search and content retrieval process. The assumption is that if we can provide an API that DIMOC staff can enable the federated search, correct?

Answer: Yes, this assumption is correct.

Question #21: Can you tell us how much digital content you are storing today and forecasted broken out into categories: Graphics, Video and Audio (number of assets, storage size), (Existing, future forecast or previous annual metrics) Answer: This will be provided in the metadata dump ASAP.

Question #22: What critical background experience as perceived by DIMOC that the Program Manager should possess? Are there travel expectations associated with the position that would require project support outside of Riverside?

Answer: Response to this question is posted (Addendum to FAR Part 12-Rev2) along with the solicitation.

Question #23: During the pre-proposal conference, it was mentioned that there are 100 million minutes of content, which is about 1.67 million hours of content. We have a few questions related to this figure: We have never given this number to my knowledge and I don't recall hearing it at the conference.

Is this an accurate estimate?

Answer: About two years ago, when this project was first introduced, the amount was closer to 455,000 hours of video, 12,000 hours of film and 39,000 hours of audio. We’re curious what the actual amount of content is. The numbers provided in the SOO which are from the Study are estimates and were acquired in 2010. These are the most accurate count of our media quantities at this time. The contractor is permitted a 60 day inventory at the start of the contract that could be used to more accurately define the count(s).

Question #24: Could you provide a breakdown of the amount of video, audio and film in the current collection (Hours or Minutes of each format)?

Answer: Unfortunately, all we have for a breakdown is from the 2010 Study.

Question #25: Will all of the content be coming from Crystal City? Or will content also be coming from other locations?

Answer: In the original RFP (again, from 2 years ago), other locations were mentioned, such as Alexandria, Anacosta, San Antonio, etc. All of the content is located in our Riverside, CA location. We had previously moved it from this disparate locations in 2011.

Question #26: Do you believe an extension will be offered for responses? During the pre-bid conference, it was mentioned that a 30-day extension was likely.

Answer: An amendment will be posted on FedBizOps extending the solicitation response date.

Question #27: Is it possible to review the assets before the RFP period ends? In order to provide the best costing to the Government and reduce risk to our team, we would seek to review the assets and assess the monetization of the assets.

Answer: Please see Amend 006 regarding Vendor Visits for Media Assessment-Rev1.

Question #28: Is there an option of extending the exclusive rights to the assets if ROI has not been recovered within the 10 years?

Answer: We would consider extending the period of exclusivity depending on the proposal and subject to conditions (i.e., you would not get exclusivity to current imagery as that is already in digits).

The exclusivity period would only apply to the physical material that you digitize and return to the Government.

Question #29: There are three sources for information pertaining to amount of content…the original inventory (conducted in 2010, I believe), the DMA Overall document posted within the last few weeks, and the database information we received last week. There are discrepancies in total quantities when comparing these different sources. For example, the original inventory showed a very small amount of ¼” open reel audiotapes. The DMA Overall document shoes 341 ¼” open reel audio elements. However, conducting a search in the spreadsheet (DIMOC IM DATA DUMP) AS_RS Physical Media, shows 1,114 ¼” audio assets. The same holds true for other formats, such as ¾” U-Matic. DMA Overall shows 2,123 U-Matic tapes, but a count in AS-RS Physical Media shows 4,803 tapes. We’ve not looked closely at other formats, but the differences in these two are significant enough to cause us to question which numbers should be used. And how does this relate to total running time of all of the content?

Answer: See SOO-Rev3

Question #30: I have a quick question. I was wondering if there was any penalty or issue associated with submitting our response prior to the deadline? I don't want to cause any issues with the process or provide any reason for anyone to contest the outcome if another change on the DIMOC SOO requires I update my response. Basically, can I submit my response and if there is another change between my submission and the deadline be allowed to revise my response accordingly.

Answer: No, there is no penalty with submitting your response prior to the deadline date, and Yes, you are allowed to revise your proposal if there is a change between the original date of your submission and the deadline as long as the revised proposal is received by the deadline date and time.

Question #31: Is your digitization and storage contract for small business bidders only?

Answer: No, it is open for all business sizes (large or small businesses).

Question #32: What are the rules, guidelines, procedures that restrict the ‘release’ of items identified in the Data Dump in any way?

Answer: Over time DIMOC has collected Visual Information that should have been reviewed for release and non-release to the public based on a variety of considerations and public affairs guidance at the time of creation/submission. To address the issue of physical content both in a not reviewed and not released designation, which is only estimated at 33%, the Government is requesting from higher leadership the release authority responsibility for this content. Without viewing the content, the Government cannot provide specific rules, guidance and/or procedures to release content. However, while minimal, should any restrictions exist within this physical content it is likely to be based upon security and/or current operations—this imagery will not be processed until cleared

Question #33: Please provide information about the sales history of DMA items from 2010 to-date, including by year, by type, and by customer or customer type. Please provide the information is XLS format.

Answer: Commercial vendor orders:

FY10 - 128 orders - $15,600.25 FY11 -114 orders - $5,865.07 FY12-100 orders - $9,227.68, FY13 (1 Oct - 14 May 13) 29 - orders - $4,951.05

Additional information would require that we obtain each of the commercial customers’ permission to release their company name, etc. Please note that our media is not marketed nor is the motion media footage viewable online. The customer must make a judgment solely based on the metadata.

Question #34: With regard to FOIA requests made in 2012 related to items in the DIMOC holdings, what were the most common reasons for fulfillment of the requests and for denial of the requests?

Answer: Fulfillment versus non-fulfillment is related to whether or not we have content pertaining to the request. The response to a FOIA is a matter of conducting a search in our database(s) for the subject matter in question. FOIA will remain the responsibility of the Government. .

Question #35: Is there biographical information available at DMA/DIMOC about the men and women who took the photos, films, etc., that are identified in the Data Dump or elsewhere within

DIMOC?

Answer: Where available with the physical media, the only information we would have related to photo/videographer is their Name, Rank and Service predominantly. This basic metadata may or may not have been included with the content upon submission to the DIMOC. For motion content, a slate (opening frame containing caption/title, Name & Rank and date shot) begins many motion assets. For physical still imagery, this information is less likely to be present due to the still imagery workflow at the time of editing/production and, that which accompanied the physical still imagery when submitted to DIMOC.

Ultimately, most workflow centered around making “selects” or choosing the one or two images that captured the request for imagery or event, whatever the subject matter. Those one or two selects out of a sequence, would have metadata information. Our archival staff and research services will be available to assist in researching and locating missing metadata information..

Question #36: Will DMA please provide general information regarding the sources of the items identified in the Data Dump? For example, were items initially created for public affairs purposes or for use in internal reports and briefings?

Answer: DIMOC’s mission is to receive, coordinate and synchronize imagery requirements with the OSD, Joint Staff, Combatant Commands, Joint Task Forces, Services, other U.S. government departments and agencies, and imagery-producing personnel around the globe. As such the content in our possession is largely from the Combat Camera units of all Military Services and should have been reviewed for release and non-release to the public based on a variety of considerations including operational and public affairs guidance at the time of creation/submission. Visual information is defined as information in the form of visual or pictorial representation of person(s), place(s), or thing(s), either with or without sound. Generally visual information includes still and motion photography, audio/video recording, graphic arts, multimedia, posters, magazines, visual aids, models, displays, visual presentations and will include future visual media as developed. Why content was created may or may not become apparent upon viewing the digitized visual information materials.

Question #37: Is there any other text-based information associated with the data? For example, were stills taken and/or used in connection with a journalistic story, or research, or a briefing document? Are there transcripts of audio? Are the story documents and transcripts available from DIMOC? If not, are they available from any another source?

Answer: The provenance of physical media is/was maintained when provided upon submission. To the Government’s knowledge we do not have transcripts of the audio recordings. As stated above, DIMOC’s archival staff and research services will assist in researching digitized content and assisting with acquiring accurate metadata information missing from the content.

Question #38: What percentage of the items depict combat situations? Can Archivists identify these in a search of the Data Dump? If so how?

Answer: We do not know until viewing.

Question #39: What are the privacy considerations with respect to Personally Identifiable Information (PII), including actual faces in the still and media images themselves, as well as PII in captions? Are releases available for persons who appear in the stills or media, including civilians? Is there biographical information available at DMA/DIMOC about these persons?

Answer: Personal Identifiable Information (PII) will be part of the release authority decision-making process, described in answer to question 1. All released content, 67% of the physical holdings are released for public dissemination and use.

Question #40: Will DMA provide a copy of the 'Handbook', ‘SOP’ or 'Guidelines' used by the Archivists in developing, reviewing, correcting metadata associated with the items?

Answer: Archival staff and researchers regularly perform historical research to complete metadata associated with content. This staff will assist in researching digitized content and providing accurate metadata information missing from the content.

Question #41: In the information provided following the Bidders’ Conference, it was stated that the Government currently employs 11 staff performing this effort, and that the Government would provide a count of the FTEs that can be dedicated to this effort, if this was requested. Will DMA please provide this FTE count? Are these staff professional librarians or archivists, or were they trained on the job?

Answer: Depending on the awardee and the associated requirements, the Government will determined how many FTE 's will be required/assigned. In addition, appropriations for supporting task will ultimately influence the number of FTE's assigned. The Government has qualified staff on hand to perform historical research and archival functions; should additional personnel be necessary the Government will seek out similarly qualified visual information personnel.

Question #42: Will DMA please provide a list of all searches prompted by outside requests that were conducted by Archivists between Jan 1, 2013 and May 1, 2013, as well as the highlights of their results?

Answer: The archival research requests vary depending upon customer. Most requests for imagery are related to motion media, which is not available for streaming online whereas digital still imagery may immediately downloaded from our site.

Jan 1 through May 14, 2013:

-100 requests from DoD customers -4 other Federal Government customers -28 public customers -23 commercial customers -1 foreign customers Additional information would require that we obtain each of the customers’ permission to release their company name, etc. Please note that our media is not marketed nor is the motion media footage viewable online, the customer must make a judgment solely based on the metadata.

Question #43: What DMA/DIMOC resources/ assets will be made available to the vendor immediately upon award for use during the 60-day inspection period of the contract, including where and how?

Answer: The DIMOC Records Center Archivist, as well as, Media Managers will be available to assist the vendor with research and provide intimate knowledge of the holdings, media identification assistance, etc. The holdings are located at the DIMOC Records Center in Riverside, Ca. It is anticipated that the inspection process would occur there.

Question #44: File names include terms such as Not Released, Non-Released, Released, SBU Assets;

and several acronyms and abbreviations. Will DMA please define and describe these terms and acronyms?

Answer: Not reviewed: information has not been reviewed for public dissemination. Not released and non-released are interchangeable terms for “not to be distributed to the public.” Not/Non-released encapsulate SBU or Sensitive but Unclassified and FOUO or For Official Use Only –these are not security classification. The SBU & FOUO designations denote that the imagery is maintained for internal use only. Release status means information released for public dissemination.

Question #45: The metadata associated with film “Type P” is very limited. For the canister in the Figure, we located the following metadata.

Media ID : FTBEL0015 Title : LASER GUIDED LITTLE JOHN Barcode : 209216 Code : OCN Type : P Format : 6 Reel : 1 Country/Area : DIMOC

Access Level Code : 0 Document ID : 1116180 Identifier : \DIMOC\202333_7.txt File Source : AS_RS_Physical_media.xlsx

Since the historical film is one of the assets with the biggest potential for monetization, please advise if the majority of the Type P records are like this record, with little or no information. Also, is there a way to determine the “date shot” of Type P records? Finally, it appears that the Media ID has nothing to do with the canister marking “D.A. SBF-71-10”. Is this nomenclature used elsewhere for a possible cross-reference for more information?

Answer: The particular canister of film was received in a large shipment from Fort Belvoir, VA in 2011. It has not yet gone through our accessioning process, therefore there is very limited metadata associated with this media. The “Type P” identifier is film print, no sound. The film appears to have been shot by the Army in 1971 and is more than likely B-roll outtakes from a production highlighting the Little John artillery piece. The bar code on the canister is nothing more than a way for us to identify and track the inventory within our system. Bar codes are associated with media ID’s in our system, but do not serve as media IDs for the DoD. DA is Department of the Army and we believe SBF stands for Special Bulletin Film. A search of inventory shows that we also hold A and C rolls as well as the original soundtrack.

Question #45: Will the Government please provide an additional extension of 30 days from the release of answers to these questions?

Answer: Due to time constraints and awarding a contract prior to the end of the current fiscal year, we are not able to further extend the solicitation.

"Deadline for submission of questions has now passed. The Government will no longer be obligated to response to any questions submitted after this date."

Answer: No. Only the contract awardee will have this opportunity. The SOO provides a time-frame for the vendor to conduct an inventory.