W912HQ20Q0009 Questions and Answers.docx

W912HQ-20-Q-0009

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 bids. Up to an additional twenty days of additional archival research may be authorized under Options One and Two. Offerors should provide estimated costs 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. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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 anticipate those numbers. In the past for similar contracts, CEHO has received 6-8 record center boxes.

5. 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 15-month performance period. Can you please clarify…is it 18 months or 15 months?

Period of Performance is 18 months.

6. 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 Contractor on scheduling issues to include approving any necessary extensions.

7. Section 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.

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

Generally, no. CEHO expects Offerors to identify the most promising depositories.

9. 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 will suffice. And it need not be print/publication ready. These chapters will be processed by GPO for publication to include layout and design.

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

No. That can be negotiated while developing the draft outlines.

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

Yes. It is likely that the contract would be extended (no fault) if the COVID-19 restrictions continue.