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

R -- ERIC PROCESSING AND REFERENCE FACILITY SOL RFP-99-R-0039 DUE 092499 POC Sang Park, (202) 708-8222, Contract Specialist 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; SystemSupport, 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. RFP ED-99-R-0039 will be issued on or about 08/25/99. The closing date is 09/24/99. Requests for copies of the RFP may be made by telephone, facsimile, mail, E-mail, telegram or in person. All requests shall reference RFP ED-99-R-0039 and the title of the RFP. The Request for Proposals can also be found on the Internet on or about the RFP issue date at http://ocfo.ed.gov/Coninfo/currrfp.htm. Telephone requests may ONLY be placed by calling 202/708-6498. Faxes can be received at 202/708-9817. E-mail requests shall be sent to Yolanda_Abney@ed.gov. Mail or telegram requests shall be sent to the above address. Copies may be picked up in person on the issue date at the same address. All proposals submitted by responsible sources will be considered. Posted 08/09/99 (I-SN365100). (0221)

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