Office of Acquisition and Contract Management (OACM) Request for Information (RFI) FBO Posting

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION DIGITAL LIBRARY SOFTWARE SERVICES FOR THE US PEACE CORPS

Posted on: Closes on: RFI No. :

June 10, 2013 June 21, 2013 PC-13-RFI-006

RFI NOTICE This is a Request for Information (RFI) issued solely for information and planning purposes to obtain software for a service (SaaS) solution that will support Peace Corps currently existing web-based digital library at http://collection.peacecorps.gov. This notice does not constitute a solicitation or a promise of a solicitation in the future. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. Respondents are advised that the Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI are solely at the responding parties' expense. Respondents are solely responsible for properly marking and clearly identifying any proprietary information or trade secrets contained within their response. The Government will not be liable for, or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly marked and clearly identified. Proprietary information received in response to this sources sought will be safeguarded and handled in accordance with applicable Government regulations. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or agreement. The US Peace Corps will not be obligated to pursue any particular acquisition alternative as a result of this RFI. Responses to the RFI will not be returned. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future solicitation, if one is issued. US Peace Corps President Kennedy formed the Peace Corps with an executive order on March 1, 1961 and in 1979, it was made a fully independent federal agency. Since its founding, more than 200,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps Volunteers in 139 developing countries that request assistance. The Peace Corps mission is to promote world peace and friendship through service to others. Peace Corps Volunteers live and work within the community they serve abroad, learning the local language, and contributing skills. This technical assistance is one of three goals of the Peace Corps. The other two revolve around cross-cultural understanding gained as the people of

Office of Acquisition and Contract Management (OACM) Request for Information (RFI) FBO Posting

other countries begin to understand an American as well as the cultural experience brought back and shared when the Volunteer returns home. The Peace Corps currently provides the Peace Corps Digital Library, http://collection.peacecorps.gov, a public collection of select agency documents and photos and stories contributed by staff and Peace Corps Volunteers from the field. The Peace Corps seeks to find a software solution and hosting that will make it possible to continue this public display of Peace Corps materials. Request for Information (RFI)

The US Peace Corps is performing market research. The office performing this market research is the Office of Communications (OC). The Office of Communications, which is located within the Office of the Director, has two primary objectives: To expand the public's awareness and understanding of the Peace Corps and the work of Volunteers overseas; and to support the efforts of the Office of Volunteer Recruitment and Selection and the regional recruiting offices in their efforts to recruit new Peace Corps Volunteers. The Office of Communications is composed of a small staff of professionals who work in a series of sub-units: press, marketing, the agency's public website (www.peacecorps.gov), video production, graphic design, publications, and printing. The Office is willing to offer advice and assistance to overseas posts on their communications needs. The Office also periodically seeks the assistance of overseas posts to acquire information about country programs and Volunteers to improve the content of its communications projects. The purpose of the RFI is to perform market research to obtain information about a possible software as a service (SaaS) solution and hosting. The SAS shall have the capacity to support Peace Corps currently existing, publically accessible, web-based digital library. The library is located online at http://collection.peacecorps.gov. The solution shall be capable of managing and presenting a variety of collections of digital assets including documents, images, and videos. The solution will support the use of international industry standards for digital libraries, including the Dublin Core metadata standard and XML encoding of metadata. The Peace Corps is looking for a SaaS solution along with integration services for the initial deployment and ongoing production support of the digital library. A complete migration and configuration of all existing assets in Peace Corps digital library collections must be performed and all associated metadata and file formats must be maintained (the table below shows the number of current collections, number of assets in each collection, and total storage space). During the asset migration and initial configuration of collections, the library may not be unavailable to the public for a period of more than two (2) weeks. Training to Peace Corps staff and ongoing user support must be provided. Note, the Peace Corps will want1000 GB of hosted storage space in order to expand the digital collections in the future.
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Office of Acquisition and Contract Management (OACM) Request for Information (RFI) FBO Posting

Collection Name Agency Photos Brochures Congressional and Legislative Materials Historical Papers and Articles Newsletters Posters and Graphics Press Briefings Speeches, Essays and Letters Staff Photos Staff Stories Technical and Training Materials Volunteer Photos Volunteer Stories Volunteer Videos TOTAL

Item Count 1896 45 64 4 279 143 17 27 107 2 1 4492 256 2 7,327

Storage Subtotal (in GB) 4.500 0.426 0.310 0.049 0.591 0.516 0.010 0.067 0.205 0.000 0.003 6.990 0.048 0.099 26.003GB

A digital library system appropriate to meet the needs of the Peace Corps Digital Library will include: 1. Demonstrated ease of usability for library staff as administrators. 2. Demonstrated ease of usability for searchers; clean interface with multiple options for search interface such as, but not limited to, basic, advanced, guided search and browse. 3. Robust, accurate, fast search functionality. 4. Option to search full-text of electronic documents in addition to standard metadata. 5. Option to create multiple collections/locations/ file formats. 6. Ability to search across collections and file formats. 7. Supports the ability for users to save results across multiple searches (can mark records/add to favorites).
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Office of Acquisition and Contract Management (OACM) Request for Information (RFI) FBO Posting

8. Integrated features/multiple options for exporting, saving and printing search results. 9. Ability for administrator to perform bulk upload of assets to the digital library. 10. Easy import of catalog records from tab delimited or xml format. 11. Search and replace function for global changes across pages and collections. 12. Tracking and reporting to include collection analysis, user activity, etc. 13. Use of an approval queue to allow multiple staff members to review and add submitted items, which are then transferred to the publically accessible digital collection upon approval of the administrator. 14. Support for FISMA-compliant encryption and authentication scheme in the remote administration of the core parameters of the librarys database. 15. Ability to support a wide variety of file formats in the digital collections, including but not limited to: a. Text documents (.txt, .rtf) b. Word documents (.doc, .docx) c. Adobe PDFs (.pdf) d. Images (.jpg, .tiff, .gif, .png) e. Video files (.mov, .mpeg4, .avi, .wmv) f. Audio files (.mp3, .wma, .wav, .aif) 16. Ability to support custom, web-based submission forms for collection of library materials from the public. 17. Ability to customize the look and feel of publicly facing components of the solution to match Peace Corps brand identity. 18. Ability to add custom pages and content to publicly facing components to promote specific assets and content. 19. Ability to customize metadata fields for each collection of assets. The major technical categories of a strong digital library software program include: demonstrated mature software as a service (SaaS) model; built on industry standards for library and information services; scalability/extensibility; reliability, and security/privacy. In addition, Peace Corps specific requirements include: 1. Demonstrated versatility-- cross-platform and multiple browser compatibility including but not limited to IE, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome. 2. Section 508 compliant. 3. Meets/exceeds Privacy Act standards. 4. 24/7 backup and recovery systems that meet Peace Corps retention and encryption requirements. 5. Systems components, front-end and back-end application interfaces must meet all the required OMB, NIST, and FISMA guidelines and mandates, including encryption. 6. Secure data processing, access, storage and handling must meet all Peace Corps security requirements.
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Office of Acquisition and Contract Management (OACM) Request for Information (RFI) FBO Posting

7. Proper audit features that readily allow monitoring of file/image access, usage, download and upload. Knowledge of the software and its capabilities in practice must be transferred to the Peace Corps staff. Provide a thorough overview of how to administer the SaaS solution and remote management of the digital library. Provide guidance on customizing features and interface to best meet Peace Corps needs. Include a detailed training guide and documentation for continued learning.

A description of training support that is available in the form of distance learning and/or selfpaced tutorials must be provided. Ongoing maintenance of the system functionality must be provided. The Peace Corps digital library site must represent the most recent (updated) system version and corresponding functionalities. Customer support must be provided, as well as a description of available support, including available hours of live telephone support, online support, and access to any customer support documents and/or knowledge-bases, etc., that Peace Corps staff could access on an ongoing basis. The Peace Corps is researching the following as deliverables: 1. Setup and migration of all collections with initial catalog configuration and customization. 2. Training materials for system administrator. 3. Deployment of hosted catalog and assistance with troubleshooting. 4. Monthly utilization/ activity report. 5. Provide Peace Corps with IT system security policies and procedures that address The Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-5,3 revision 2 (http://crsc/nist/gov/publications/nistpubs/800-53-Rev2/sp800-53-rev2-final.pdf). Peace Corps may provide a template of comparable, and attaching all relevant or referenced documentation for use. Completed plan to include complete documentation of security methodology in uploading of electronic images to the library. 6. Provide Peace Corps with Security Vulnerability Scan Results and Reports upon request. SUBMISSIONS The Peace Corps is seeking information from the current commercial digital software service providers as part of the market research. We are requesting responses, via email Windows compatible attachment to the following inquiries as part of market research.

Office of Acquisition and Contract Management (OACM) Request for Information (RFI) FBO Posting

The Peace Corps is requesting the vendor community to provide the information as listed in the above section entitled RFI and the following 11 questions. 1. What is your business name, address, phone number, email address, point of contact, web site address, and DUNs number? Does your company have a GSA schedule? If so, please include the GSA schedule number and applicable SIN number? 2. What is your business size classification (i.e. small, veteran owned)? 3. What are the possible NAICS code(s) associated with this requirement? 4. Does your business maintain any relevant accreditation related management of digital library services? If so, please provide additional information. 5. Would your business have examples of similar work to share? If possible, please include samples in your response to this RFI. 6. Is your company the sole provider of the management of digital library services, or do you sub contract/partner with other organizations? 7. Have you provided this service to other Government agencies or private sector organizations? If so, what type of contractual vehicle was utilized? 8. Please provide any additional feedback or comments to the Peace Corps regarding this notice. 9. Does your company have internal editors and technical specialists? If so, please describe in detail. 10. A written description of the capabilities and qualifications (including applicable certifications) your company possesses in order to perform these services. 11. How long has your company been providing this type of service? Has your company previously worked with Government agencies providing these services? And if so, for how long? Please provide a non-binding price quote when responding to this RFI. RFI responses are limited to 10 pages in total. Submission shall be made via Windows compatible email attachments to Amod Pathak, Contract Specialist at apathak@peacecorps.gov on or before June 21, 2013, 2:00 PM EST.