W912HQ20Q0008 Questions and Answers.docx

W912HQ-20-Q-0008

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

No, that will determined by the Contractor, defined in their research plan, and must be approved by the government.

2. 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?

No. Electronic only will suffice. And it need not be print/publication ready. These chapters will be processed by GPO for publication to include layout and design.

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

No. That can be negotiated at the early draft outline stages.

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

Perhaps. CEHO may instead seek to extend the contract to allow additional time for completion.

5. 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. The contractor should include those costs in their bids. Up to an additional twenty days of additional archival research may be authorized under Options One and Two. The contractor should provide is required to 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.

6. Do interviews conducted in the course of the research for this effort have to be recorded and transcribed? Yes to the number of interviews required in the contract.

If so, are the transcripts of interviews conducted a contract deliverable? Yes.

7. 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.

8. 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 the contract.

9. 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.

10. In Table 1 shown in the PWS (Paragraph 5.0), costs for materials and travel are broken out separately from labor for the base and two options. Is the timeline for compensation of these costs handled separately from the payment schedule in Paragraph 13.0 (e.g., on request upon completion of travel)?

Will compensation be reimbursement only of documented costs (based on receipts, e.g.)?

If these options are exercised, they will be paid out on separate timeline. And yes, the Options will be paid on verified labor and travel costs.

11. In Paragraph 9.0, the PWS states, "The Corps will provide access to official files and documents in its possession." Does/can this include access to digital resources or tools, such as Proquest, data mining, online libraries, or shares?

No.

12. Will the government require or provide a contractor CAC and/or government computer if desired to access online Corps data? Can access to online systems or accounts be established or arranged through a local USACE office?

No.

13. The PWS (Paragraph 2.0) requires up to thirty days of research (in the Base and Options One and Two) at NARA or other record centers. Does the government expect the research period to be spent in the national capital region or split among multiple research centers outside of the national capital, requiring additional travel? For example, should the contractor expect to travel to USACE laboratories in Mississippi, New Hampshire, and Illinois?

The Contractor would determine the most promising sites for research and would then seek approval from CEHO before proceeding.

14. Will the government require the initial meeting described in Paragraph 6.a. of the PWS to be in person, or will a teleconference be acceptable? The PWS suggests teleconferencing but is unclear

Given the circumstances, teleconference or phone would be acceptable.

15. The Period of Performance on the Synopsis indicates that “All work is to be completed no later than 18 months after the date of contract award." However, the Performance Work Statement, Paragraph 6 (page 5, in Sections D and E) seem to outline a 14-month performance period. Can you please clarify…is it 18 months or 14 months?

Period of Performance is 18 months.

16. 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 we can to work with the contractors on scheduling issues to include approving any necessary extensions.

17. 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, such as in Vicksburg, St. Louis, Mobile, 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 covered in addition to the Firm Fixed Price to be submitted on August 25, pre-authorized and on a case by case basis. 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 have to anticipate these costs to the best of its ability.

18. Paragraph 5 in the Performance Work Statement (page 3) calls for the preparation of an Index. However, Section 7 (Format and Organization of Manuscript) on pages 5 and 6 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 an index.