W912HQ20Q0007 Questions and Answers.docx

W912HQ-20-Q-0007

1. How is travel authorized on this task?

If authorized separately, please confirm whether a proposed travel cost is required or not.

The primary contract requires ten days of primary source research at the National Archives (NARA) and/or other appropriate Records Centers, private collections, etc. Offerors should include those costs in their offers. Up to an additional twenty days of additional archival research may be authorized under Options One and Two. Offerors should provide prices for travel authorized under Options One and Two.

Travel for interviews will be authorized separately. You need not include those costs in your estimates.

2. Do all interviews have to be recorded and transcribed or only these specific interviews with USACE designated Recreation Managers, Park Rangers, etc.

The PWS states that the Contractor shall conduct 8-12 two-hour interviews using high quality digital recording equipment and transcribed at the Contractor’s expense. Interviews conducted in addition to those need not necessarily be transcribed.

3. Are the transcripts of interviews conducted a contract deliverable?

Yes, they are a required deliverable.

4. Can the Contractor be authorized access to ProQuest to access congressional documents that may be necessary to research some topics?

The Government will not provide access to ProQuest.

5. Please confirm whether a security clearance is required or not.

No security clearance is required, but some security training is required under the terms of this contract.

6. The PWS requires all copies of documents, including illustrations, collected during the research to be turned over to the Office of History upon completion.

Please provide guidance as to how the cost for this (e.g., shipping & handling cost) should be proposed as the volume is unknown until completion.

Offerors need to estimate those numbers. In the past for similar contracts, CEHO has received 6-8 record center boxes.

7. Where do the 10 days of additional archival research happen? Do we need any specific permissions or clearances to obtain entry to these locations?

The assumption is that these 10 days of additional archival research would happen at NARA or other government facilities, or other repositories.

8. Are there any other interviews that must be conducted in person that are not specified in the RFP documentation?

No.

9. Aside from the COR and the Office of History, will anyone else help coordinate/setup the interviews? Will 10 additional days be enough?

The ten days referenced in the contract are for research. There is no amount of time designated for conducing and processing oral histories.

10. What types of photos should be included? Are the photos available in digital format? Are we providing the photos? Do the photos have/require captions?

See the appropriate section from the PWS below. CEHO is requesting images related to the topic that might be used to illustrate the final product.

A minimum of 60 images to illustrate the text. Color images are preferred. The images will be provided in separate digital files complete with a table listing the appropriate captions and credits. Hard copy images will be scanned as 600 dpi TIFF files and provided to the government electronically. The contractor will provide digital images at a minimum resolution of 300 pixels per inch (ppi) at 5x7 inches, resulting in a minimum file size of approximately 1.6 megabytes. The contractor will also write the appropriate captions and credits for all of the images and identify the placement of an appropriate number of these 60 images (20 to 30 or so) in the manuscript. The Contractor will also secure releases, where necessary, for all of the images.

11. Will there be an ISBN for this history? If so, are we, the Contractor, paying for the ISBN?

Yes, there will be an ISBN but CEHO will manage the process and pay for it.

12. The Period of Performance on the Synopsis indicates that “All work is to be completed no later than 24 months after the date of contract award." However, the Performance Work Statement, Paragraph 6 (page 5, in Sections D and E) seems to outline a 20-month performance period. Can you please clarify…is it 24 months or 20 months?

Period of Performance is 24 months.

13. The ‘Research’ section outlined in Paragraph 4 on page 3 of the Performance Work Statement indicates that much of the textual research will need to take place at federal repositories such as NARA, the Library of Congress, and the USACE HQ Library, among other DC-based collections. Considering that nearly all of these places are still closed to researchers, or at least have imposed sharply limited access restrictions due to COVID-19, have any provisions been considered or made for the potential delays in the project schedule due to researcher access limitations since it is currently unknown as to when the federal repositories will fully reopen to the public? If the federal repository shutdowns continue into the fall and winter, well after the contract is awarded, then the schedule could be significantly and negatively impacted, causing delays in research and the required deliverables. Will the contract awardee be held accountable for research delays related to COVID-19 that are outside his or her control and potentially penalized for delayed deliverables which may inevitably occur?

CEHO and our contracting offices are prepared to request extensions where necessary. These are generally no-fault extensions. CEHO is well aware of the circumstances and will certainly do all it can to work with the contractors on scheduling issues to include approving any necessary extensions.

14. Does USACE HQ Office of History expect that additional textual, photographic, and cartographic research will be required onsite at other USACE offices and repositories outside the Washington, DC area and Atlanta and Mobile (PWS page 4), such as in Vicksburg, St. Louis, Atlanta, Fort Worth, etc., or on the West Coast? If so, what other repositories will need to be visited, and will provision be made for travel costs to be reimbursed in addition to the Firm Fixed Price to be submitted on August 25, pre-authorized and on a case by case basis, as with the oral histories? Contract bidders need to know where we are expected to go because it is nearly impossible to accurately calculate a FFP at this early juncture without knowing how many additional research trips to other USACE repositories and offices will need to be made and to where, specifically. And would any further potential research trips be accounted for in the project schedule (perhaps under additional CLIN #s), since each would typically last 3 to 5 days, sometimes less, depending on the volume of material to be reviewed?

Offerors will have to anticipate these costs to the best of its ability.

15. Paragraph 5 in the Performance Work Statement (page 4) calls for the preparation of an Index. However, Paragraph 7 (Format and Organization of Manuscript) on pages 6 and 7 mentions no Index in the list of required deliverables. Is an Index required for this project?

Yes, please plan to provide a list of index terms. CEHO will later use these to generate a final index.

16. Does the USACE have a detailed list of archival collections they wish to be consulted during the research effort?

No.

17. It is understood the final manuscript is to be submitted electronically and as a printed hard copy. Does the printed manuscript need to be print/publication-ready?

Digital submissions are acceptable, particularly given the circumstances. CEHO will pay for layout and design through GPO so no need for print/publication ready. The Contractor will submit a final Word Document with placement of the images and captions locations called out in the text.

18. Does the USACE have a preference for how the Chapters will be arranged?

No. Not at this stage.

19. If repositories cannot be visited due to COVID-19 restrictions, will the requirements of the contract be altered?

The government is prepared to modify the terms of the contract should that become necessary in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

20. Due to COVID-19, can the oral history interviews inside the USACE Headquarters’ area be conducted remotely (e.g. telephone, video chat, etc.)?

Yes given the current pandemic.

21. Will the USACE require only audio recordings of interviews or will video be required in addition to audio?

Audio only.