In-House Conservation Technician

This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding: (1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses; 8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice. All responsible sources may submit a capability statement which will be considered by the National Library of Medicine. This Sources Sought Notice is not a Request for Quotations (RFQ), nor is an RFQ available. Interested firms responding to this Sources Sought Notice must provide a capability statement that displays the following: (a) Microsoft Word or PDF file in 12 point font; (b) DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, etc) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code); (c) Technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses; (d) Staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (e) Current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (f) Prior completed projects of similar nature; (g) Corporate experience and management capability; and (h) Examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information. The capability statement should contain enough sufficient detail for the Government to make an informed decision regarding your capabilities; however, the statement should not exceed 6 pages (excluding attachments.) This sources sought notice requires capability statements to be submitted via eCPS.: 1) Electronic copy via the NLM electronic Contract Proposal Submission (eCPS) website at https://ecps.nih.gov/NLM. For directions on using eCPS, go to https://ecps.nih.gov/NLM/home/howto NOTE: To submit your electronic capability statement using eCPS, all offerors must have a valid NIH External Directory Account, which provides authentication and serves as a vehicle for secure transmission of documents and communication with the NLM. The NIH External Directory Account registration process may take up to 24 hours to become active. Submission of proposals by facsimile or e-mail is not accepted. All capability statements must be submitted electronically no later than 10:00am eastern time on November 9th, 2015 via the method indicated above. Disclaimer and Important Notes: This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization's qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation. Confidentiality: No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s). -------------------------------------------- DRAFT STATEMENT OF WORK Title: In-House Conservation Technician Background: The National Library of Medicine (NLM), one of the three national libraries in the United States, is the world's largest research library in a single scientific and professional field. NLM's primary mission, as mandated by the Congress, is to serve the health professions. To support this mission, the Library comprehensively collects materials in biomedical subjects. Objectives: The focus of the procurement is to acquire a Conservation Technician working on-site at the National Library of Medicine for the History of Medicine Division. The technician will work on conservation of collections items prior to digital scanning. The collection items are rare or historic materials. Services to be Performed by Contractor: 1. General Requirements: The Conservation Technician will carry out repairs to bound collections and paper objects, and keep records of treatments. The bench work will be performed in NLM's Conservation Lab. 2. Specific Requirements: Normally work will be performed during at least two weeks of every month. The hours will be on a regular schedule, to be arranged by the project officer, with some room for flexibility. All work shall be performed out in accordance with acceptable principles of rare book conservation and in adherence to American Institute for Conservation (AIC) "Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice (available at http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/aic/pubs/ethics.html. Duties: Working under the supervision of the Conservation Librarian in History of Medicine Division, the Conservation Technician shall: Perform treatment and rehousing on the historic collection of bound and flat paper objects including: 1. Performing repairs to bound volumes and flat paper objects and fabricate protective enclosures in preparation for digital scanning. 2. Preparing treatment worksheets including keeping statistical records of repairs. Government Responsibilities: The government shall provide workspace, telephone, supplies, NIH ID card and parking permit. NLM shall also provide a detailed orientation. Reporting Requirements and Deliverables: Within five working days after the end of each month, the contractor will submit an electronic monthly report to the project officer including the number of hours worked, type of work performed, and statistics on the number of volumes and/or leaves on which work was performed. The vendor will supply an electronic monthly statistics, report, and invoice specifying billable hours, and estimating the amount of time left in the purchase order. The vendor will meet face-to-face with the project officer to provide status reports. All completed repaired items and constructed rehousings will be reviewed by the Conservation Librarian. If any repairs or rehousings are not done correctly, the Conservation Librarian will make suggestions for correcting the mistake on the contractor's own time. Qualifications of Contactor: The work shall be performed by a single Conservation Technician working at NLM. Proposers shall submit detailed information regarding their training, academic background, experience, and availability. Documentation shall include a detailed resume, describing the proposer's education, training, experience, achievements, and personal references including one reference from a conservator. Evidence of some apprenticeship training from a qualified conservator is required. A site visit will be planned to review a portfolio of the proposer's current work. The portfolio should include examples of repairs to bound books and manuscripts. The number of hours that the offeror can supply will be indicated.