U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E Street, SW, Room 413, Washington, DC 20436

R -- REVIEW OF COMMISSIONS METHODS USED TO COMPOSE PUBLICATIONS DUE 041398 POC Deborah Kearns, Contract Specialist, (202) 205-2736. The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) is hereby soliciting information for potential sources to review the Commission's methods used to compose publications. The objective of this review is to identify the most efficient and cost effective method(s) to compose Commission documents. The Contractor will be required to furnish all personnel, services, materials, equipment and facilities to meet the project objectives and to conduct the necessary reviews. The tasks will be completed in accordance with a schedule of delivery dates. The review should be scheduled to begin planning no later than May 1998. In reviewing the Commission's centralized publication process, the following tasks must be completed: A. WORK PLAN: The Contractor will be required to submit a draft work plan for reviewing the Commission's centralized publication process. The work plan will be submitted to the Commission's Inspector General (IG) by a specified date. The IG will review the draft work plan and recommend approval or make comments to the contractor within 10 days of receipt of the draft work plan. The comments received from the IG shall be incorporated into the final work plan which will be submitted to the IG within 10 days after receipt of the IG's comments. As a minimum, the following steps are to be included in the work plan: (1) Reviewing the Commission documents; (2) Gathering statistics on publications and other documents by type of report (e.g., Title VII or Section 332), where composition is performed, and software used (Interleaf or WordPerfect) for FYs 1997 and 1998; (3) Identifying agency and office policies applicable to report preparation and composition. Identifying agency and office practices for report preparation and composition; (4) Identifying the responsibilities of each office, particularly for editing and proofreading; (5) Interviewing OMS staff on report preparation and composition processes, including the use of multiple software packages, and coordination with program offices; (6) Interviewing the Office Directors of the Offices of Operations (OP), Industries (ID), and Economics (EC) and a sample of project leaders concerning their experience with report composition processes (i.e., software preference, editing, proofreading, coordination with OMS); (7) Interviewing staff in the Office of Information Services (OIS) concerning the role of the Statistical and Editorial Services Division (SESD) in report preparation and composition; (8) Interviewing office directors involved in the 1996 Pilot Project to use WorkPerfect for 332 Investigations to identify the successes and failures of that project; (9) Evaluating the effectiveness of coordination between OMS-PD, OIS-SESD, and the program offices; (10) Determining the relationship of the composition process and software used to posting reports on the Commission's Web site; (11) Interviewing several office directors, including the Director of Investigations (INV), to determine OMS-PD is not used for composition services and the possibility of using those services; (12) Selecting a sample of Commission publications and schedule the time allocated in the project planning stage for composition and the actual time allowed; (13) Identifying the occurrence rate of errors in final draft and published Commission reports and determine whether these errors were related to the composition process; (14) Identifying the process(es) used to transfer products after composition to the DocuTech, the Commission's computerized printing system. Evaluate whether the process(es) appropriately use the capabilities of the DocuTech; (15) Evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of using multiple software programs for the composition and publication of Commission reports; (16) Evaluating the readability of publications using different composition methods; (17) Identifying and recommending ways in which the Commission could streamline or otherwise improve the composition process. B. WORKING DRAFT AUDIT REPORT: The contractor will be required to prepare a preliminary working draft audit report that consolidates the findings and makes specific recommendations to the office director level. The Contractor shall submit the working draft audit report to the IG by the specified date. The report shall state that the review was conducted in accordance with Government Auditing Standards. A meeting with the Contractor, the IG, and ITC officials will be held to discuss the working draft audit report approximately one calendar week after it is received. The comments received shall be incorporated into the draft audit report. C. DRAFT AUDIT REPORT: The Contractor will submit a draft audit report to the IG by a specific date. The IG will review the draft audit report and provide comments to the contractor within 45 calendar days from the receipt thereof. The comments received from the IG shall be incorporated into the final audit report. D. FINAL AUDIT REPORT: The Contractor will be required to furnish to the IG five (5) unbound copies of the final audit report on the Review of Commission's Composition/Publication Process by the completion date. NOTICE: This is a "sources sought" synopsis. As such, there is solicitation package or requirement at this time. Vendors having the capabilities necessary to meet or exceed the stated requirements are invited to submit appropriate documentation, literature, borchures, and references. Your response must be received by April 13, 1998. Please FAX your response to Debi Kearns at (202) 205-2337. A hard copy must be mailed to the USITC, Office of Planning and Procurement at the address listed elsewhere in this synopsis. This request is not be construed as a commitment by the Government nor will the Government pay for information solicited. Respondents deemed fully qualified will be considered in any resultant solicitation for the requirement. See Note(s): 25. (0090)

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