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FBO DAILY - FEDBIZOPPS ISSUE OF APRIL 11, 2013 FBO #4156
SOLICITATION NOTICE

R -- Digital Talking Book - Attachments

Notice Date

4/9/2013
 

Notice Type

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
 

NAICS

624120 — Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities
 

Contracting Office

Library of Congress, Contracts Services, Contracts Section, 101 Independence Ave SE, LA-325, Washington, District of Columbia, 20540-9411
 

ZIP Code

20540-9411
 

Solicitation Number

LCNLS13R0021
 

Archive Date

5/24/2013
 

Point of Contact

Clint Unger, Phone: 2027078604, Vidya Vish, Phone: 2027079394
 

E-Mail Address

cunger@loc.gov, vvis@loc.gov
(cunger@loc.gov, vvis@loc.gov)
 

Small Business Set-Aside

N/A
 

Description

RFP# LCNLS13R0021 J.4 Past performance form J.2 Table B J.1 Table A NARRATION OF AUDIO MAGAZINES IN DIGITAL TALKING BOOK (DTB) FORMAT C.1 PREFACE TO DESCRIPTION, SPECIFICATIONS, AND WORK STATEMENT C.1.1 Background As mandated by Public Law 89-522 dated July 30, 1966, The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress (LOC), provides reading materials in recorded and braille formats to U.S. residents and U.S. citizens living abroad who are unable to use conventional print materials because of visual and physical limitations. Each year, more than 23 million books and magazines are circulated to these groups. Reading materials (books and magazines) are produced by contractors for NLS, and are distributed to a readership in excess of 500,000 through a network of over 124 regional and sub-regional libraries for blind and physically handicapped individuals. These organizations are operated by states, municipalities, or other agencies. In addition, books are distributed to schools, multi-state centers, and veterans' hospitals throughout the nation and U.S. territories. All services and products are funded by the U.S. Congress through NLS and are provided to patrons free of charge including mail to and from patrons, through the U.S. Postal Service. NLS has about 110,000 titles in its collection and adds 2,500 titles annually. Books are circulated to patrons primarily through the mail from their network libraries located in their jurisdictions. Additionally, several magazines are distributed on a weekly, monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly schedule, and catalogs, bibliographies, and newsletters are distributed on an annual, quarterly or bi-monthly schedule. C.1.2 User Materials Contractors who produce books, equipment, or other products shall be cognizant of the consumer-responsive nature of the program and that the specifications for these products have been developed to meet the needs of program users. Materials are produced with the readers' needs foremost in mind and improved through constant monitoring and consumer input. Contractors are expected to familiarize themselves with the equipment-handling practices of blind and physically handicapped clientele and ensure that the supplies and equipment produced shall stand up under such use. A high degree of quality workmanship and product reliability is mandated by the product specification. C.1.3 Policy NLS follows the mandate of Public Law 89-522 for the purchase of books and magazines, either in raised characters or in sound reproduction recordings, by giving preference to nonprofit institutions whose activities are primarily concerned with the blind and other physically handicapped persons where bids submitted by such institutions are determined to be fair and reasonable. To fulfill the intent of this mandate and in order to receive this preference, a contractor must perform a substantial portion of the work that is represented by the cost of producing the described items, or by making a significant contribution to the manufacture or production of the end item. In this solicitation, this is defined as follows: • A substantial portion of the work means a minimum of fifty percent (fifty percent or more) of narration and duplication, to be determined by one or more of the following: cost not including cost of materials, labor hours, or issues. • A significant contribution means pre-narration research and narration activities C.2 SCOPE OF WORK Record audio magazines and deliver a DTB version of the magazine to NLS in accordance with this solicitation document and the NLS Specifications #304, #410, #1204, #1205 and #1206 incorporated herein (Section J) and made a part hereof. C.2.1 Product Conformance Standards Samples of the products that precisely meet all requirements in the NLS specifications referenced above may be required at any time during the period of performance. Copies of the specifications are available at http://www.loc.gov/nls/specs. C.3 RECORDING/DUPLICATION OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES C.3.1 Time is of the Essence The contractor shall obtain each copy of a print or digital magazine at its earliest possible availability by the most expedient method, including directly from the magazine publisher or the Internet. See Section C.6.3.1 for details relating to the contractor's acquisition of the script for Talking Book Topics. Each magazine shall be narrated and delivered in DTB format to NLS according to specifications as expeditiously as possible. The DUE DATE for each magazine issue shall be according to Table A. C.3.1.1 Notification to NLS of Production Progress (Not Applicable to Talking Book Topics) The contractor shall notify NLS of production progress of each issue of each magazine via the NLS web screen at www.loc.gov/pics, or as instructed by NLS If the web screen is not available, the contractor may notify the NLS contract monitor via e-mail, facsimile (202-707-0711), or other means designated as acceptable by NLS, within one (1) working day of the DUE DATE. C.3.1.2 Notification to NLS of Production Progress (Applicable solely to Talking Book Topics) The contractor shall notify NLS attn: Publications and Media Section by telephone or fax, within one working day of the day the script is received. C.3.1.3 Reporting Delays Delays in production of five (5) days or more due to delays in receipt of the print magazine from the publisher or any other reason shall be reported to the NLS contract monitor via telephone, e-mail, facsimile (202-707-0711), or other means designated as acceptable by NLS. If telephone notification is used, a written notification shall follow within two (2) working days. C.4 AUTOTEST PROCEDURES Magazine files shall be uploaded to NLS according to NLS Specification #1206, and according to any special instructions provided by NLS. Any incomplete files or files not accepted by the NLS file validation procedures ("Autotest") must be immediately corrected and resubmitted by contractor. C.5 SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION FOR CERTAIN MAGAZINES C.5.1 Cricket and National Geographic Kids These two magazines shall be recorded together in one DTB according to procedures in Specifications #304 and/or #1204. C.5.2 Consumer Reports The year-end Buying Guide issue in December shall not be produced. C.5.3 Das Beste aus Readers Digest The master recordings for this magazine title are government-furnished material provided by: Westdeutsche Blindenhörbücherei e.v. Harkortstrasse 9 D-48163 Munster Germany http://www.wbh-online.de/ Contractors shall use the audio files as supplied ensuring that a technically acceptable DTB file can be made and that all announcements conform to Specifications #304 and/or #1204 except as noted below: A table of contents shall be added indicating the order in which the articles are read, but omitting the print page numbers since the articles are not read in the order that they appear in the print edition. The following substitutions for Specification #304 announcements shall be made: • Omit in announcement 3.2.1 (h) of Specification #304 the following: "This recorded edition contains the entire text of the print edition except for advertising." • Substitute in its place: "This recorded edition was prepared by the staff of Westdeutsche Blindenhörbücherei." • In the closing announcements, read 3.2.1.6 (b) of specification 304 as follows: "Read by _________________________ in the studios of Westdeutsche Blindenhörbücherei. Announcements added in the studio of (name of contractor/studio) for the Library of Congress (month and year)." C.5.4 Health & Nutrition News All newsletters for Health & Nutrition News shall be recorded as one DTB magazine.Appropriate narrator notes shall be included at the beginning of the narration. Each newsletter shall be recorded in the same alphabetical order each month. In the event a newsletter arrives after the normal production date for this publication, the issue in question shall be included with the production of the following month's issue. C.5.5 QST Follow the general table of contents steps except for the following: Regular deletions (which must be listed as deletions when they appear): • Club Corner • Contest Corral • Circuit Board Etching Patterns • DX Century Club Awards • Financial Statements • Hamfest Calendar • Honor Roll • Moved and Seconded • All "Rules" articles, announcing contests-including ARRL/QSO Party Rules and VHF Sweepstakes Results • Contest Results • Section News • Section Events • Standings at various wavelengths (e.g. 1-1/4 meter standings) • "When Are the Bands Open" Charts • VHF/UHF Century Club Awards Additionally: • "Strays" should be gathered together in one article where the first "Stray" appears. • "Feedback" and "Next Month in QST" are always separate articles when they are included on the magazine's table of contents. (When they are not included list them as "+'s" with the preceding article.) • The article "FM/RPT" is pronounced "FM Repeaters." C.5.6 Young Adult Magazine of the Month and Magazine of the Month NLS will assign twelve (12) different magazines to the contractor. Assignments for each magazine will be given to the contractor with sufficient time to obtain the print copy. C.6 TALKING BOOK TOPICS C.6.1 Purpose In an effort to provide readers with an easy-to-use, convenient format for learning about NLS books and magazines and to provide a method of ordering books, NLS makes Talking Book Topics available in DTB format. The bimonthly publication is an annotated listing of new books and magazines in the NLS recorded collection. This publication is time sensitive for library patrons, and time is of the essence in its production. C.6.2 Service The contractor shall produce Talking Book Topics magazine and, as space permits, News, in accordance with NLS specifications referenced in Section J and included herewith, and any special instructions included in this solicitation. Talking Book Topics is published six times a year: January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, and November/December. C.6.3 Operational Procedures C.6.3.1 Narration and DTB Navigation NLS will provide the contractor with a script every two months on or around the 10th of the month preceding the first month of the issue date. For example, the script for the July/August issue will be sent to the contractor on or around June 10. The contractor shall prepare and submit within 14 days of receipt a narration of the text as.WAV files, by upload or other means determined to be acceptable, to: NLS, Attention: Publications and Media Section, for narration approval. The DTB for Talking Book Topics is to be created per NLS Specification #1204. Navigation points for TBT should allow movement between sections and between book listings within sections. C.7 MISCELLANEOUS INSTRUCTIONS Magazines sometimes contain large, intricately detailed, and complex tables which add unacceptable costs and production delays and are difficult to convey orally. Historically, such tables are not produced. The contractor shall contact the COR or the project monitor for instruction when any issue contains difficult and lengthy tables. C.8 WEB-MAGAZINES All magazines are to be posted on the web in Digital Talking Book (DTB) format shall be prepared in accordance with Specification #1204, and submitted to NLS in accordance with Specification #1206 (file upload) or other means determined to be acceptable by NLS. The DUE DATE for each DTB magazine title is listed in J-1, Table A.
 

Web Link

FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/LOC/CS/CS1/LCNLS13R0021/listing.html)
 

Place of Performance

Address: 101 Independence Ave SE, Washington, District of Columbia, 20540, United States

Zip Code: 20540
 

Record

SN03032220-W 20130411/130409234648-55b35e72db4fe457676a0b1deb20188f (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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