Museum_Specialist_PWS_4-4-2018.pdf

Museum Specialist Services Performance Work Statement

Museum Specialist Services Performance Work Statement April 4 2018

General Information

1. General

The purpose of this Performance Work Statement is to obtain professional support that is knowledgeable, skillful, and able to provide Museum Specialist services to the ongoing research and production of exhibition content and to monitor and to deliver traveling exhibition resources to national and international customers.

These services provide the foundation for the Exhibition Program of the National Library of Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, to achieve its goals and objectives of enhancing awareness of and appreciation for the collections of the Library.

2. Description of Services/Introduction

This Performance Work Statement describes the requirements, services, and expected outcomes for the successful completion of tasks for Museum Specialist Vendors. These objectives enable the Exhibition Program to produce a minimum of one (1) and as many as eight

(8) projects per year. Projects may be defined as a legacy website refresh; adding (or enhancing) a Digital Gallery to an existing online exhibition; producing a traveling banner and online exhibition about a single topic; or a special display, traveling banner, and online exhibition on a single topic, etc. Consistently, the Exhibition Program has between one (1) and seven (7) projects that are active and in various phases of development.

Documentation and reports prepared by the Offeror in performance of the terms of this agreement will conform to Section 508 accessibility requirements for Documentat ion and Support Services (36 CFR 1194, Appendix C, 602.1 and 602.3). Common application checklists are available at the Section508.gov web site. Look for “Harmonized guidance from the AED Community of Practice (COP)”

3. Background

The Exhibition Program at the National Library of Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, produces narratives about the social and cultural history of science, medicine, and technology for audiences that include subject matter experts, professionals, and the general public around the world. Exhibition Program staff transform these narratives into content (text and assets) for presentation on multiple formats.

3.1 Exhibition Program staff manage traveling exhibition services, which provides traveling banner exhibitions to a worldwide network of academic libraries, public libraries, professional organizations, and cultural institutions. The audiences for traveling banner exhibitions include staff, patrons, and visitors to those host organizations.

https://section508.gov/best-practices

3.2 Exhibition Program staff, in cooperation with other National Library of Medicine offices, adapt exhibition content (text and assets) to the online environment. For these online exhibitions, Exhibition Program staff create education resources to support online exhibitions;

and they initiate the digitization of National Library of Medicine co llections relevant to exhibition topics and include those digitized materials in online exhibitions.

To find more information about the Exhibition Program and its portfolio of exhibition projects and services please go to the website www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibitionprogram

4. Objectives

The Exhibition Program produces projects—physical exhibitions, online exhibitions, education resources—and delivers traveling exhibitions to worldwide customers—that encourage diverse audiences to explore the social and cultural history of medicine. The Exhibition Program strives to stimulate people’s enthusiasm for history and the National Library of Medicine collections, and to nurture young professionals in history, education, museum studies, and the health professions.

The staff of the Exhibition Program research and produce content (text and assets), manage the distribution of traveling exhibitions, and oversee the work of creative a nd production Vendors.

Quality research and content creation, and exceptional customer service enable accurate and meaningful content to reach millions of viewers each year.

5. Scope

The service areas addressed with this Performance Work Statement incl ude: 1) track and manage content (text and assets) for online and physical exhibitions; 2) conduct scholarly research into the collections of the National Library of Medicine and write and edit audience focused scripts; 3) write and edit education resources that connect with exhibition topics; 4) manage an international traveling exhibition service; and 5) perform registrarial activities.

These five service areas enable the Exhibition Program of the National Library of Medicine to successfully interpret the collections of the institution. The 5 areas of service are:

1. Museum Specialist: Exhibition coordination services

2. Museum Specialist: Exhibition guest curator services

3. Museum Specialist: Exhibition educator services

4. Museum Specialist: Traveling exhibition services

5. Museum Specialist: Registrarial support

Individual exhibition projects require some or all of these services. While each exhibition project is unique in nature, the underling services described in this Performance Work Statement are consistent in nature and rely on the same Exhibition Program standards, protocols, archival processes, and policies.

Museum Specialists provide services as part of project teams that include Exhibition Program staff, National Library of Medicine staff, and other Vendors. Museum Specialists work https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/about/exhibition/index.html independently, collaboratively, and their work is critical to the success of the larger project teams.

6. Period and Place of Performance

The government anticipates multiple Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity awards, with a Firm-fixed price for each awarded task with a base year and up to four (4) option years.

Delivery periods vary from task to task and project to project. Museum Specialists may be awarded tasks that run for the duration of a project life cycle (1–3 years) or tasks may be more specific and of limited duration (eg: 1–12 months).

Museum Specialist services will take place at the office of the Exhibition Program at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda Maryland. Occasionally, and from time to time, the government may find it convenient or there may be a strong and compelling business argument to be made for work to be performed at alternative locations (eg: research at another institution or an alternative work site). The Contracting Officer Representative has the sole authority to make decisions about alternative work locations and approve offsite work .

7. Quality Control / Quality Assurance

The Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) details Quality Control measure s related to this Performance Work Statement and is numbered to correspond with the five (5) service areas described in section 12.

The QASP provides a means for evaluating whether the Vendor is meeting the performance standards/quality levels identified in the Performance Work Statement and to ensure that the government pays only for the level of services received.

This QASP defines the roles and responsibilities of all members of the Integrated Project Team, identifies the performance objectives, defines the methodologies used to monitor and evaluate the Vendor’s performance, describes quality assurance documentation requirements, an d describes the analysis of quality assurance monitoring results.

The Vendor has its own Quality Control Plan focused on work output and not workers. The Vendor’s Quality Control Plan will set forth the staffing and procedures for self -inspecting the quality, timeliness, responsiveness, customer satisfaction, and other performance requirements in the Performance Work Statement, in addition to burn rates for each assigned task. The Vendor will develop and implement a performance management system with proce sses to assess and report its performance to the designated government representative. The Vendor will submit these performance reports on a monthly basis for the duration of each task.

8. Special Qualifications

The Vendor is responsible for ensuring all employees or subcontractors are eligible for security clearance at the National Institutes and will successfully obtain contractor badges to work onsite.

The Vendor is responsible for ensuring all employees or subcontractors are in compliance with all required training to access government IT systems.

The Vendor is responsible for safeguarding all government equipment, information and property provided for Vendor use. At the close of each work period, government facilities, equipment, and materials shall be secured.

The Vendor shall prohibit the use of government issued keys/key cards by any persons other than the Vendor’s employees or subcontractors. The Vendor shall prohibit the opening of locked areas by Vendor employees or subcontractors to permit entrance of persons other than Vendor employees or subcontractors engaged in the performance of assigned work in those areas, or personnel authorized entrance by the Contracting Offic er or the Contracting Officer Representative.

9. Key Personnel

Key Personnel align with the five (5) areas of service. Those five (5) areas are:

1. Museum Specialist: Exhibition coordinator

2. Museum Specialist: Exhibition guest curator

3. Museum Specialist: Exhibition educator

4. Museum Specialist: Traveling exhibition coordinator

5. Museum Specialist: Registrar

10. Data Rights

NLM(RC) Rights in Data Special works (11-30-88) applies to all activities associated with this award.

11. Government property, equipment, and services provided

11.1 Vendors working onsite will be given access to a designated work station that includes a desk, chair, computer, monitor, printers, telephone, and some storage for paper files. Vendors are able to use a scanner in the Exhibition Program office and a photocopier in a different office within the division.

11.2 The government will provide typical office consumables including paper, pens and pencils, paper and binder clips, note pads. Any special material requests will be reviewed and approved by the Contracting Officer Representative.

11.3 The Contracting Officer Representative will evaluate on a case by case basis Vendor requests to use government provided property or equipment for offsite work (eg : laptop for research at another institution).

12. Tasks

Documentation and reports prepared by the Offeror in performance of the terms of this agreement will conform to Section 508 accessibility requirements for Documentation and Support Services (36 CFR 1194, Appendix C, 602.1 and 602.3). Common application checklists are available at the Section508.gov web site. Look for “Harmonized guidance from the AED Community of Practice (COP)”

12.1 Museum Specialist: Exhibition coordination services

Museum Specialists who provide exhibition coordinating services perform a variety of tasks in support of the conception, research and development, digitization, design and production, programming, promotion, and archiving of museum-quality exhibitions, audiovisual and multimedia programs, education resources, and online projects. Museum Specialists may research, create, digitize, organize, review and verify, maintain, and archive project-related information of all kinds especially related to content, assets, specifications, quality assurance, and audiences. Exhibition coordinators prepare and present relevant information to project team members for subsequent development and production. Exhibition coordinators manage schedules, correspondence files, and other project files. Exhibition coordinators collaborate with and support the Exhibition Program team.

12.2 Museum Specialist: Exhibition guest curator services

Museum Specialists who provide curatorial services perform a variety of tasks related to the conception, research, documentation, development, and archiving of museum-quality exhibitions, audiovisual and multimedia programs, education resources, and online projects.

Museum Specialists identify meaningful assets and write scripts that interpret, organize, and simplify complex scholarly concepts and highlight collections from the National Library of Medicine, other organizations and institutions, and private lenders about assigned themes and topics for diverse audiences and that align with Exhibition Program standards and museum best practices. Guest curators prepare and present relevant information to project team members for subsequent development. Guest curators collaborate with and support the Exhibition Program team.

12.3 Museum Specialist: Exhibition educator services

Museum Specialists create education resources that promote the awareness and use of exhibition concepts and materials among educators and student audiences. Museum Specialists develop and promote exhibition-based educational resources that reflect national or discipline -specific educational standards and student-centered instructional strategies. Museum Specialists identify target educational level(s) and discipline(s) for the resources, such as lesson plans, university modules, or other formats, for educators to use in part or whole to help students achieve their academic goals and outcomes. Educators inform and engage with various formal and informal learning communities about exhibition education resources. Educators collaborate with and support the Exhibition Program team.

https://section508.gov/best-practices

12.4 Museum Specialist: Traveling exhibition services

Museum Specialists who provide traveling exhibition coordinating services perform a variety of tasks in support of the management and customer service related activities that maintain and expand a traveling exhibition service with a portfolio of more than three dozen exhibitions, a growing customer base of over 700 institutions, and itineraries extending up to five (5) years or more into the future.

Museum Specialists may create, organize, review and verify, document, record, and maintain information of all kinds especially related to traveling exhibition specifications, logistics, quality assurance, customer management, and outreach. Traveling exhibition services coordinators prepare and present relevant information to project team members for subsequent programmatic development and potential expansion.

12.5 Museum Specialist: Registrarial support

Museum Specialists who provide registrarial support services perform a variety of tasks related to handling, care, and the legal use and disposition of assets included in exhibition projects.

Museum Specialists may create, organize, review and verify, document, record, and maintain information of all kinds especially related to exhibition assets including preparation and presentation of relevant information to project team members for subsequent programmatic development and use.

13. Operating constraints

Museum Specialists perform tasks that are integrated into a project workflow , with other team members providing critical content and/or feedback. All work must be coordinated with members of the team and deliverable schedules met.

While some of the work performed by Museum Specialists fit predictable patterns, often new products especially in the web arena (eg: responsive web design, adapting legacy websites) require the Exhibition Program to develop new workflows, and new protocols and procedures.

Thus, there is an element of unpredictability in a seemingly predictable process.

Often, “Go or no go” decisions related to new funding are delayed or otherwise effect the workflow of a project.

New federal requirements, especially in the IT world, can affect work in progress .

Technical Exhibit 1 List of Museum Specialist references

General references

1. Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach Beverly Serrell Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1st or 2nd editions

2. Planning for People in Museums Kathleen McLean Association of Science and Technology Centers, 1993

3. The Chicago Manual of Style The University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff University of Chicago Press, 14th or more recent editions

4. Museum Registration Methods Rebecca Buck and Jean A Gilmore, editors American Alliance of Museums, 5th edition

5. “Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct (updated 2018)” American Historical Association https://www.historians.org/jobs-and-professional-development/statements-standards-and-guidelines-of-the-discipline/statement-on-standards-of-professional-conduct

6. “Section 508” Health and Human Services https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/index.html

Exhibition Program specific resources

1. Reference A. Lesson Plan style guide (pdf)

2. Reference B. University module style guide (pdf)

3. Reference C. Traveling Banner script template (pdf)

4. Reference D. V5 Traveling Exhibition Services Standard Operating Procedures Feb 2018 (pdf)

5. Reference E. Digital Filing System March 13 2015 (pdf)

6. Reference F. Style Guide for Template A and B (pdf)

7. Reference G. Style Guide for “Orange” Site Template (pdf)

8. Reference H. LO Policy for Fair Use of Copyrighted Materials (pdf) https://www.historians.org/jobs-and-professional-development/statements-standards-and-guidelines-of-the-discipline/statement-on-standards-of-professional-conduct https://www.historians.org/jobs-and-professional-development/statements-standards-and-guidelines-of-the-discipline/statement-on-standards-of-professional-conduct https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/index.html