U.S. Department of Education, Contracts and Purchasing Operations, CPO, Support Services Group, 7th & D Streets SW, Room 3616, Washington, D.C. 20202-4443

R -- ERIC PROCESSING AND REFERENCE FACILITY POC Sang Park, Contract Specialist, (202) 708-8222 This sources sought announcement is for planning purposes only. The United States Department of Education(ED) plans to issue a solicitation for the operation of the Educational Resources Information Center(ERIC) Processing and Reference Facility. ERIC is a national education information network designed to provide users with ready access to the education literature. Established in 1966 to make government-sponsored educational research available from a single source, the ERIC system has expanded to include 16 Clearinghouses, approximately a dozen Adjunct Clearinghouses and several system support components. These support components include the ERIC Processing and Reference Facility, ACCESS ERIC, the ERIC Document Reproduction Service(EDRS), and public and private publishers. The ERIC Processing and Reference Facility-the technical hub of the system-serves all components of the ERIC system through its editing and technical support functions. The Facility Scope of Work covers the following six tasks: Database Development;Lexicography and Thesaurus Development; System Support, Development and Training; Reports and Products; Technical Computer Support; and ERIC Facility Management. Its major responsibilities that fall under the six tasks are to: update, expand, and maintain the ERIC database; acquire documents for the system from the Federal area (outside of the Department of Education); coordinate ERIC's document processing activities; maintain technical quality control of the database, the authority lists and ERIC Thesaurus terms; send copies of the database and related publications to database vendors and publishers; distribute the NISC CD-ROM version of the database; provide technical assistance on database functions; and answer public inquiries and reference requests about the ERIC system and database. The solicitation will be issued under Standard Industrial Classification(SIC)Code 8741. ED is seeking expressions of interest from small businesses to determine if an adequate number of small businesses exist which are capable of performing this service and are likely to submit a proposal. Qualified firms, classified as a small business, are encouraged to submit a capability statement no later than May 20, 1999. The capability statement must describe your organization's qualifications and experience for performing similar services as the six tasks. Responses may be mailed, faxed[fax number(202) 708-9817] or electronically mailed to Sang_park@ed.gov. This is not a Request for Proposals(RFP) and should not be construed as a commitment of any king by ED to issue a solicitation or award a contract. Posted 05/05/99 (I-SN328003). (0125)

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