Nov 16, 2007

RFP

http://canadabusiness.ic.gc.ca/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=CBSC_PE/display&cid=1081944198152&c=Services&lang=en

Summary
Suppliers are usually expected to submit detailed technical, managerial and cost proposals.

How RFPs are generated

* The requirement for the good or service is identified within a federal government department or agency.
* A RFP is prepared by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) in consultation with the department or agency. This document describes the requirements, objectives and/or problems to be solved.
* A Notice of Proposed Procurement (NPP) is posted on MERXTM (see the document MERX- Electronic Tendering Service ).
* On payment of a fee, interested suppliers are sent a copy of the RFP and the necessary bidding documents. If excluded from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization Agreement on Government Procurement (WTO-AGP) or the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), the RFP is normally open for bidding for 15 to 20 working days, or longer in the case of particularly complex requirements.

Evaluation Methods
Proposals are normally evaluated on relevant technical merit and overall best value, in accordance with the selection method specified in the RFP. The price proposal is not considered to be part of the technical evaluation, except for that portion containing information about the level of effort estimated by the bidder.

The department or agency for which the good or service is required is responsible for evaluating the technical proposal in accordance with evaluation criteria outlined in the RFP. Three methods of evaluation may be used:

* evaluation on the basis of mandatory minimum requirements only;
* evaluation on the basis of a point rating system only;
* evaluation using a combination of mandatory minimum requirements and point rating.

In the point-rating system, proposals must qualify for a minimum number of points, overall, to be considered responsive. Frequently, they are required to achieve a minimum number of points relative to specific criteria.

Selection Methods
The method used to select a supplier will vary according to the requirement. The options include:

* Selection on the basis of the lowest valid proposal
Only those proposals that meet the evaluation criteria are deemed to be valid (i.e., qualify for further consideration). Within this category of valid proposals, price is the determining factor in selection.

* Selection on the basis of best overall value
The requirements usually include mandatory and point-rated criteria. In this method, supplier's selection will be based on the bidder offering the lowest responsive cost-per-point proposal, determined by dividing the bid price by the total points achieved in the technical evaluation of the bidder's proposal. The firm with the lowest cost per point is selected.

* Selection on the basis of the highest technical proposal within a stipulated budget
This method is commonly used for scientific service requirements where the final choice of the supplier will depend on the price. A supplier is invited to propose a solution to a problem, or a method of achieving an objective. Selection is based on the effectiveness of the proposal and not exclusively on price.

All bidders are notified of the outcome of their proposals. Debriefings are provided to unsuccessful bidders on request.

For more information on bid methods, contact Business Access Canada or your local PWGSC office.

Prince Edward Island Contact(s):
New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island Division
Ms. Nathalie Sears
Client/Supplier Relations
Public Works and Government Services Canada
Unit 108, Lobby C, 1st Floor
1045 Main Street
Moncton, New Brunswick E1C 1H1
Telephone: 506-851-3467
Fax: 506-851-6759
E-mail: nathalie.sears@pwgsc.gc.ca
Web site: http://www.pwgsc.gc.ca/text/index-e.html

Nov 9, 2007

Benchmarking

Benchmarking

Most companies have web presence - from corporate site, to client facing, investors, vendors, employees and top management. However, the big issue is the uncertainty attached to the quality of these sites, even if they are truly innovative.

To ensure that organizations work towards a clear road map and to provide measurable parameters of the quality of web sites, Content consulting provides Benchmarking services to its clients. These are as follows:

1. Site audit:
Comprehensive site audit on the following parameters:
* Legal and copyright protection
* Design standards
* Content quality and styling
* Technology usage
* Coding quality
* User visit analysis
2. Road map development:
A milestone based plan for content management, multi-site development, aligning site focus with business and growth.
3. Competitive benchmark:
Client's competition site comparison, monitoring of competition sites, analysis and reporting.
4. Content benchmark:
It brings business focus to content, analysis of depth and nature of content, styling, grammar, etc.

Nov 7, 2007

M.O.D.E.: PEIRailway Collection and CN Pensioners Association.

M.O.D.E.: PEIRailway Collection and CN Pensioners Association.

http://cnpensioners.org/en/PDF/2007_Newsletter_English_Spring.pdf

M.O.D.E.: PEIRailway Collection and CN Pensioners Association.

M.O.D.E.: PEIRailway Collection and CN Pensioners Association.

http://cnpensioners.org/en/PDF/2007_Newsletter_English_Spring.pdf

M.O.D.E.: Project Managment Services.

M.O.D.E.: Project Managment Services.

http://mode.pnn.com/1985-the-front-page

PEIRailway Collection and CN Pensioners Association.

This year Robert Trainor presented a motion to create a Atlantic Canada Future Generation project. Atlantic Regional Council CN Pensioners Association.

The project will need a cultural strategic plan of action.

Here is Tip Sheet.

LSTA Digitization Grants
Tip Sheet

Use of this tip sheet will assist applicants in sufficiently addressing all the components necessary to write a competitive LSTA digital grant proposal. A competitive LSTA digitization grant project must address the following areas in the proposal: Audience, Technical Plan, Metadata Plan, and Training. There are additional issues that should be addressed in collaborative projects. Specific items to be covered in these four areas are:
1. General Description (Needs, Audience)

As in all LSTA projects, the evaluation component is critical – a good evaluation will indicate in what way this project will make a difference to end–users. It is strongly recommended that projects conduct user evaluations. Creating a small sample of the eventual project is an excellent way to work through issues and discover problems. Organizations are encouraged to do a small sample of the entire project and report any findings in their progress reports. Questions to be answered include:

* Who is the current audience for the material?
* Who is the projected future audience for the materials?
* What is the need for this project?
o Why should the material be digitized?
o Why is greater access to this material needed?
o What selection criteria will be employed?

2. Technical Plan

This portion of the grant should include substantial information on scanning and quality control standards. The agency(ies) should also document their understanding that digitization is an access tool and not necessarily a preservation strategy. Nonetheless, since digitization does have a preservation component, that component should be addressed. The application should also include a preservation plan for the materials being digitized and some sense of how the electronic files will be preserved into the future.

Specific information to be included in this section of the proposal (most likely the technical plan):

* Will this material be shared online (rather than only available in–house)? If not, why not?
* What scanning standards will be used, including elements such as gray scale or bi–tonal and image resolution?
* What image format will be used, including a rationale for the use of proprietary formats?
* What hardware and software will be used?
* A discussion of the backup and storage strategy
* A discussion of the migration strategy for long term preservation of digital resources
* A plan for the preservation of the original material being digitized
* Digital rights issues including copyright
* Describe any difficulties that might arise in scanning the materials
o Are the items bound or oversize?
o Are the materials fragile – i.e. will it be inappropriate to use sheet feed scanners?
* Will the digitization be done in house or will it be sub–contracted?
o If sub–contracted, how will the contractor be selected?
* If the digitization is done in–house include some documentation of the technical infrastructure necessary to support digital projects – i.e. networks, staff expertise, so forth.
* There are many issues that will need to be addressed during the course of the project, which may not be known at the outset. The proposals should include an awareness of the following issues:
o How will users search for selected images?
o How will the images be searched (what software)?
o How will the search results be displayed and/or sorted?
o How will images be linked and displayed?

3. Metadata Plan:

This portion of the project plan should include a sense of what information will be captured:

* What metadata standards will be used and why?
o What information will be captured about the original documents?
* How will descriptive metadata be used in searching for images?
* How will the metadata index terms be selected and why?
* How will metadata be consistently applied throughout the project – i.e. authority files?
* How is metadata application incorporated in the plan of work?
* What administrative metadata will be captured in the project, i.e. resolution, file size, capture device, etc.?

4. Management Plan (Training):

This section is often the weakest point of LSTA digitization grant proposals. LSTA grants can fund training necessary for project personnel. Competitive proposals will illustrate that staff associated with the project have the knowledge and capabilities to complete the project. Specifically, what expertise is already on staff and/or what training is available or must be developed for project participants or staff in the following areas:

* Project management
* Metadata
* Scanning software and equipment
* Website development

Collaborative projects should also address:

* Project vision and relationship to the various partner organizations
* Communication methods to be used among partners
* Decision making structure among the organizations
* Interoperability for the inclusion of various meta data

For more detailed information on what to include in a digitization proposal please see the following websites:

* Ohio Memory Project – http://www.ohiomemory.org/
* Institute of Museum and Library Services, A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections – http://www.imls.gov/pubs/forumframework.htm

Project Managment Services.

Building Public Access will use existing provincial collections to develop PEIRailway Education Resource Program. Utilizing interactive computer technology and distance learning through museum's and cultural locations Web site, to create an interactive catalogue of the PEIRailway collection, a hands-on, multi-media exhibit, and an online art curriculum that addresses existing content standards and is designed for primary school teachers. grade 5-6 social studies.

What would MODE strategic content plan look like?

The Service would provide a resource of existing sources of specific content..

It would locate content.

It would copy content.

It would provide a digital archive.

It would catalog the content.

It would be mobilized and customised.

http://www.imls.gov/news/2006/092606_list.shtm#CA

http://www.imls.gov/news/2006/092606_list.shtm#CA

Projects for digitalization

Customized Digital Photography Services

Customized Digital Photography Services M.O.D.E.

Digital Photography


Advantages | The Digital Darkroom

Digital photography offers two distinct advantages over traditional photography; captured images can be evaluated immediately and re-shot if necessary, and once captured, the quality of the image can be maximized through digital post processing.

Digital photography is also at the foundation of many new two and three dimensional documentary techniques. Digital photography not only provides the digital equivalent of traditional film based photographic images, but also captures the information used to create Panorama's, Object movies, polynomial texture maps (PTM's), and true geometric 3D Imaging. A solid understanding of digital photographic techniques is the pre-requisite for many advanced documentary methods.

Mobile Cultural Content Services.

http://c-h-i.org/examples/examples.html

Content Consulting

I am working on a list of services that a content consulting business would provide .

MODE will specialize in content and project management services.

Beginning with the identification of cultural tourism technology opportunities for communities.

Best suited for Atlantic Canada.

Our MODE team would be specifically targeted to collect and devitalize artifacts .

Creating a digital archive and collection for Future needs.

Nov 6, 2007

http://trainstories.blogs.experienceproject.com

http://trainstories.blogs.experienceproject.com

Live and learn

Found out about how a cultural content creator looks at life in the grown up world of business affairs. It fine and dandy to think manna will fall from heaven but i can't tell you how relieved I am at finding out the facts of life and cultural content collection and projection business.

"You can't throw the ball and catch it too"

What dose this mean in the real world.
In my example of how mode works it is as follows.
The lense i see my service is linked to my relationship to my client.

I am a creator of new media modes.
These modes are connected to the legacy and the preservation of content.
That why I am here in the first place to develop the ideas for the client.

here is where the throwing of the ball come in. We are pitching a product.

One cannot pitch a product and catch the contract it;s not ethical.
therefore a process of calling for tenders is created.

MODE can bid for services and submit a proposal of services.

In this case content collection and digitalization.

So i can not throw the ball but i can catch it .

get it .