R -- PUBMED CENTRAL DTD CONVERTERS

Notice Date

April 3, 2001

Contracting Office

National Library of Medicine, Office of Acquisitions Management, Building 38A, Room B1N17, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20894

ZIP Code

20894

Solicitation Number

NLM RFQ 01-107/kdr

Response Due

April 19, 2001

Point of Contact

Karen D. Riggs, Contracting Officer 301-496-6546

E-Mail Address

NLM RFQ 01-107/kdr (karen_riggs@nlm.nih.gov)

Description

It is the intent of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to procure professional services on a sole source basis utilizing FAR part 13.5, with Mulberry Technologies, Inc., Rockville, MD 20850. This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial supplies prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; proposals are being required and a written solicitation will not be issued. The provisions and clauses in the solicitation are those in effect through FAC-97-21. This is 100% set-aside for small business. Mulberry Technology will provide support for the implementation of the PubMed Central (PMC) Document Type Definitions (DTD) including an independent assessment and documentation of the DTD and the development of converters, using Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT), for specified incoming DTDs. The NLM manages and operates a web-based archive of journal literature known as PMC. PMC is a central repository of full-text literature from diverse sources, all of which is stored in a common PMC Extensible Markup Language (XML), DTDs format. In addition to accepting articles which conform to the PMC XML DTD, PMC receives full text of articles in SGML or XML format that conform to many established DTDs for journal articles, including the Blackwell, BioMed Central (BMC), Keton, Oxford University Press (OUP), and Ovid DTDs. This procurement engages Mulberry Technologies, Inc. to create XSLT stylesheet transformations that will convert documents tagged according to OUP and Ovidbase DTDs to documents tagged according to NLM's PMC DTD. Mulberry Technologies, Inc. (MTI) will develop a mapping from each structure (element and attribute) in the source DTD to the analogous structure in NLM's PMC DTD, and document the mapping from data valid by source DTD to data valid by the target DTD, describing design decisions, assumptions, and any instances of potential data loss. MTI will create test files including as much variety of valid source data as possible to test the transformations. The stylesheets will be built and tested using up to 10 sample files provided by NLM as well as the test files created by MTI and will include internal documentation about how they are designed and built. MTI will update the mapping document to reflect any changes/observations made during creation of the stylesheet. The National Library of Medicine has identified Mulberry Technologies, Inc. as the only organization qualified to provide the requirements of this project. MTI has extensive experience in the development and maintenance of SGML applications and specializes in SGML training and design. MTI was involved in the development of the XML recommendation through the W3C XML SIG and is active with the technical committee of OASIS (formerly SGML Open) and in supporting the XSL effort. Mulberry staff members have developed XML and SGML Document Type Definitions (DTDs) for application in industry, law, libraries, archives, medicine, chemistry, manufacturing, aerospace, commercial publishing, insurance, and electronics. In particular, it is MTI's extensive experience with libraries, archives, medicine, and commercial publishing which make it uniquely qualified to write and evaluate journal DTDs and create expert XSLT stylesheets to convert documents tagged according to the two "source" DTDs to documents tagged according to NLM's PMC DTD in the shortest possible time frame and at the least cost for NLM's PMC project. The period of performance will be for one year with options to extend the term for two successive one year periods. This notice of intent is not a Request for Quotations (RFQ), nor is an RFQ available, however, all responsible sources may submit a proposal, which will be considered by the NIH. Firms interested in responding to this notice must be able to provide professional services as stated above. Responses should sufficiently demonstrate the firm's ability to meet the government's requirements. Responses are required within fifteen (15) calendar days from the publication date of this notice.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010405/RSOL004.HTM (W-093 SN50I0I3)