Specifications include, but are not limited to: Through this Request for Proposal (RFP) the Office of Purchasing & Contracting (hereinafter the “State”) is seeking to establish contracts with one or more companies that can provide freezing, drying, and recovery services for public records, publications, and documents as well as audio/visual and electronic media according to accepted preservation standards and practices. 2.1 Respond to an emergency/disaster scene within 24 hours of being contacted by a state agency, cultural heritage institution, or municipal records-holding entity to pack out, and if necessary, freeze, if appropriate, and dry the affected materials (24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year). 2.2 Have the facilities, knowledge, experience, qualifications, and expertise to provide professional advice to state or municipal records custodians, archivists, librarians, or collections curators, once on site, as to the most practical and efficient options for salvage, recovery, and rehabilitation of their collections, whether this means packing, freezing, and vacuum freeze-drying; packing, freezing, and drying the materials and building in place; or other options. 2.3 Provide salvage, recovery, and rehabilitation solutions for many formats, including, but not limited to, public records, papers, documents, manuscripts, photographs, videos, CDs, DVDs, audio/visual materials, and electronic media held by Vermont state agencies, cultural heritage repositories, and municipal records–holding entities affected by an individual emergency/disaster or by a statewide or widespread (catastrophic) disaster. 2.4 Have the capacity, experience, qualifications, and expertise to handle and respond to the needs of multiple state agencies, cultural heritage institutions, and/or or municipal entities simultaneously or in a reasonable amount of time following a statewide or widespread (catastrophic) disaster. 2.5 Provide freezer trucks, packing supplies, and other equipment as needed and personnel to assist Vermont’s state agencies, cultural heritage repositories, and municipal records–holding entities that have been affected by an emergency or disaster that is beyond their capability of handling. Provide for freezer truck rental, if needed, including a driver for delivery and pick-up. 2.6 Have systematic procedures and policies in place for the removal of public records and cultural heritage collections from a disaster site to ensure that all the materials have been identified, inventoried, and kept in order, including having appropriate procedures and systems to secure sensitive records and maintain records confidentiality, when necessary.
