QuestionsandAnswers Library.doc

Questions & Answers HSFEEM-09-R-0027

1. Is there an incumbent contractor? If so, can you provide the following information: Contractor name; Contract number; Expiration date; Total value.

ANSWER: The incumbent Contractor is Scientific and Commercial Systems Corporation; the contract number is HSFEEM-05-F-0001, the contract expires 9/30/2009, and the total amount is $2,659,485.00 ($531,897 for Base and Four Option Periods).

2. Does the LRC have a role in a FEMA response to a natural disaster or emergency, and if so, what is that role?

ANSWER: No, the LRC does not have a formal FEMA role to play in a natural disaster or emergency.

3. What is the staffing level by position of professional and technician staff at this time?

ANSWER: This Request for Proposal (RFP) is a competed acquisition action and includes a Performance Work Statement (PWS). When the government issues a Performance Work Statement as part of an RFP, the government recognizes that the competing offerors are the experts in providing the required services and therefore should be in a position to determine what constitutes an acceptable staffing level. Additionally, in the event that the incumbent chose to make an offer on the RFP, then the release of the current staffing level could arguably be prejudicial to their competitive position. Therefore, the government will not provide the current staffing levels but rather, expects offerors to draw upon their expertise to propose a staffing level sufficient to accomplish the tasks outlined in the PWS.

4. Does the LRC host STAR?

ANSWER: The STAR Libraries ILS runs on LRC owned servers. The library staff makes updates via STAR client to our local STAR ILS, housed in a secure server room on campus. Once a week, data is transferred to our public facing server, which is at a remote, secure FEMA location. It is this box that serves up the website and OPAC that the general public sees at www.lrc.fema.gov

5. Who is responsible for STAR maintenance?

ANSWER: The COTR is responsible for all routine database maintenance and backups, while FEMA IT technicians are responsible for all hardware and operating system maintenance. Any changes for example to STAR Web or Star Client design, any new database changes are all handled by the COTR.

Generally speaking, the contractors’ interaction with STAR is entirely through the client software though there are a couple of relatively minor exceptions:

1) Senior contract librarians have the password access they need to get into the server to perform basic operations in the event the COTR is not present. Typically, this only involves being able to manually end a user session or a batch operation if one gets hung-up in the queue. This happens infrequently.

2) Batch operations for serials check-in or check-out (e.g., for bindery shipments) are best handled going in through the STAR Classic interface as opposed to STAR Client.

6. The Business Proposal Instructions on page L-7 has two instructions and they are numbered 1 and 3. Was a #2 omitted or should #3 be #2?

ANSWER: The paragraph was incorrectly numbered and should be number 2.

7. Does the LRC have a full level of OCLC authorization?

ANSWER: Yes.

8. What is the level of original bibliographic records the LRC contributes to OCLC?

ANSWER: Level I input standard for original records added to OCLC.

It is worth reiterating here that we do NOT use MARC for the inputting of records into the STAR ILS. We maintain our own Authority and Style manuals as you’ll be aware from reviewing the LRC SOP. The underlying principles of the authority and style manuals are naturally derived in large part from AACR2 but are not limited by it.

9. Does the LRC use OCLC Connexion Client or Connexion Web?

ANSWER: Connexion Web.

10. When a matching OCLC record is found, is the data for the Cuadra STAR record entered manually or is the OCLC record imported and edited?

ANSWER: Entered manually.

11. What revision of AACR2 is used as the standard for cataloging?

ANSWER: We currently have the 1988 Revision on hand, but the 2002 Revision with the 2005 update is on order.

12. Does the LRC subscribe to OCLC FirstSearch?

ANSWER: We have access to OCLC FirstSearch through a DHS enterprise subscription.

13. What security clearances are required for library personnel?

ANSWER: Contractor employees are required to satisfactorily undergo a FEMA background check which includes fingerprinting. (The library does not have any classified documents). Security clauses are in the RFP.

14. What electronic subscriptions does the library maintain?

ANSWER: All electronic subscriptions are currently paid for by DHS Libraries. They are intended for the use of DHS/FEMA employees and are not directly accessible by students. Databases include but are not limited to Proquest ABI Inform, Proquest Health Management, Ebsco Academic and Business Search Premier, Gale General OneFile and Academic OneFile, Newsbank, PubMed Central and others. These are accessible to LRC staff via the DHS libraries Intranet site. These resources must be utilized in the future to a degree they have hitherto not been in the past for the purpose of responding promptly via email to reference/research requests electronically whenever possible. Please see chapter 6 of the LRC SOP for a fuller explanation. This version of the SOP that you have, shall go into effect with the start of the new contract.

Finally, we are currently considering a pilot subscription to NetLibrary for selected EFO program students but these plans have not been approved or finalized.

15. What types of material are accessed through the Intranet?

ANSWER: The LRC Intranet affords student access to the library OPAC. The number of computer work stations in the LRC that are open to the Internet has until very recently been limited to just one. IT security has insisted on keeping the LRC work stations tightly controlled because of the fact that it is a government network and most of the student users do not have formal computer clearance to government networks. Hence the need for an Intranet in the LRC that at least allows students to search our OPAC.

16. What percentage of materials are available in digital form?

ANSWER: Approximately 8-9% of our 180,000 cataloged/indexed titles are available electronically. Obviously a high proportion of the items in digital format consist of reports and EFO papers along with a smaller number of articles.

17. Does the Library have any plans to digitize parts of their hard-copy collection?

ANSWER: FEMA is currently in negotiation with Google Books to have some 500 or so USFA-produced reports digitized and added to Google Books. Many of these of courses are older materials dating from the 70s and 80s that were not born digital.

18. Is the Intranet available nationwide? Or, just on the FEMA site?

ANSWER: The Intranet is only available on the NETC campus of course. Our Internet website on the other hand, which is much more robust in terms of content, is available 24/7 from anywhere you have access to the web. www.lrc.fema.gov.

9. Who manages the Intranet?

ANSWER: The COTR manages both the Intranet and Internet presence of the LRC if you’re referring to the web pages. The Intranet hardware infrastructure is naturally managed by NETC IT staff.

20. Will the contractor be required to provide IT support staff as well as library staff?

ANSWER: No.

21. Concerns were expressed about Appendix D – QASP as it lists thirty (30) disincentives that are high dollar financial penalties. These disincentives, totaling $21,800 per month, are extremely punitive and seemingly inappropriate for a firm-fixed-price contract because the Government would not actually incur a financial loss resulting from poor performance. It appears that the Government is anticipating poor performance and/or may actually have an overzealous COTR in place to minimize the monthly invoice amount. It was requested by the prospective offeror that disincentives be removed from the solicitation.

ANSWER: Thank you for bringing this matter to our immediate attention. The amounts quoted were incorrect. However, please permit us to address a few of the other statements you make. Poor performance is measured in much more than dollar loss to the government. The government is also concerned with the uninterrupted availability of the LRC to FEMA students, instructors, and other authorized users. Additionally, the government is concerned with the professionalism of the staff, the efficiency of the operation, and the efficacy of the LRC in its totality. The dollar loss to the government when the LRC falls short of our expectations could be measured in the lost productivity among authorized users; but, more importantly, it is the loss of confidence, wasted time, and frustration levels of the authorized users, resulting from less than satisfactory performance, which is of more concern to us. This is part of the reason why this RFP is a “best value” procurement rather than a “low bid, technically acceptable” one. You are correct, however that the QASP, as written, itemized high dollar financial penalties. The QASP has been considerably modified to reflect more realistic penalties and is attached to this Amendment. The government is concerned with ensuring that the successful offeror under this RFP provides good service on behalf of our LRC clientele at a fair and reasonable price.