RFP+-+Q+&+A

=**RFP Questions and Answers**=
 * (General RFP information may be found here: RFP - Request for Proposals)**

We want to get the best information in the RFP's that we can so we are going to be answering some of the questions being asked about the current system and setup. All of questions asked and the answers will be listed on this page so that they may be accessed by everyone.

1. Am I correct in understanding that you want just one printed copy of the response? Can you please let us know if you would like copies, and possibly an electronic copy?

We do need to have a sealed bid. For that reason we need to have paper copies on November 8, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. This is as a protection for us and you so that we are not influenced by price before all of the proposals have been filed. We are requesting an original and 5 paper copies. This is so that we don't have to immediately make copies after the proposals are opened and can quickly begin the evaluation. To be honest, it would also be great to have an electronic version of the proposal but we really can't accept those until after the proposals have been opened on November 8.

2. If I am reading the table correctly, the total number of items is 324,010. The total number of titles (MARC records) is 301,430 and the total annual circulation is 621,477. Is that correct?

Correct, the total number of items, when including the Newport and Driftwood libraries, is 324,010. The total number of items for Driftwood and Newport is 151,052. The total number of items for the other libraries is 157,338. All of the libraries include the Library2Go items 15,620. These are the electronic items from Overdrive.

Correct, the total number of titles (MARC records), when including the Newport and Driftwood libraries, is 301,430. The total number of titles for Driftwood and Newport is 138,583. The total number of titles for the other libraries is 147,227. Again, the Library2Go items are for all of the libraries, 15,620. These are the electronic items from Overdrive.

Correct, the total annual circultion is 621,477, when including the Newport and Driftwood libraries. The total annual circulation for just Driftwood and Newport is 445,380. The total annual circulation for the other libraries is 157,863. The total circulation, not divided here, for the Library2Go items is 18,224. This number we usually divide based on the percentage of the circulation in each of the libraries.

3. Do any of the libraries have authority records? If so, how many?

As of October 10, 2011, there are 367,503 authority records in the CRSN database. Since it is a shared union catalog, the authority records are used by all the libraries.

4. The workstation count is 52. For pricing purposes, we are only interested in the number of workstations that will require full access (i.e. Staff-level) to the system. We don’t count PAC or public-use workstations. Does that change that number?

The number of workstations listed are only for staff computers. Driftwood has 17 and Newport has 14 = 31, The other 21 computers are in the other libraries listed. The total number of staff computers is 52.

5. Am I correct in understanding that within the existing CRSN consortium, you and your member libraries share a union catalog? That is, is there ia single bibliographic record for each title held in the consortium, and each owning library has a unique item record? If that is true, will that be the way the data will be extracted from your current system? That is, will we get data already structured for a union catalog, or will you extract each library's bib's, items, etc., into separate files, which the vendor will then use to build a union catalog? If it is the case that you are already in a union catalog, is it reasonable to assume that the separate bibliographic holdings that you list for each library includes at least partial, and possibly for some libraries total, duplication?

Or as restated:

Maybe another way to ask it, is, will you be sending us a single file of bib records, or will we get a file for each library? If we just get one file, then the assumption is the total bib count is the summary of all the individual libraries, but if the latter, we would build the union catalog, de-duplicating as we go.....

The response to this is a group effort.

Response #1: The current catalog may be found at [|www.beachbooks.org]. It is a union catalog. We have tried to not have too many records duplicated in the catalog so each library in the consortium owning an item does attach that item to the same record as similar items owned by the other libraries in the consortium. We can pull out the items each library owns. I think, if I am understanding your question correctly, that since the new system would be for some of the libraries in the consortium but not all of them, it may mean pulling out the records for each library and then rebuilding again into a union catalog and de-duplicating.

Response #2: As to question 5, we fit their definition of a union catalog, and, while we've been working hard at reducing and avoiding duplication of records, due to the variability of cataloging over the number of libraries and over the years, it is certainly reasonable to assume there is some duplication. I would be surprised to find total duplication of records at any one library.

As to how the data should be extracted, that's kind of a $64,000 question, the 'correctness' of which, it seems, relies on variables we have yet to know.

Response #3: CRSN has a union catalog with shared MARC authority records and shared MARC bibliographic (title) records, with each library attaching item records to the bibliographic records. Some records have items attached from all of the libraries and some have only holdings from only one or two libraries. One cannot assume a given degree of overlap.

When I ran the reports on how many item and title records, I could not come up with a search that would generate the amount of overlap.

6. The proposals asks that that pricing be submitted in a separate envelope, how many copies of the pricing should be included? One original and five copies as required for the proposal response?

We do want 1 original and 5 copies of the proposal but only one copy of the pricing, in a separate envelop, is just fine.

7. What is your street address?:

Lincoln County Library District 1247 NW Grove, #2 Newport, OR 97365

8. What is your mailing address? :

Lincoln County Library District P.O. Box 2027 Newport, OR 97365

9. Who sent proposals?

The proposals were opened on November 8, 2011 around 2 p.m. They are now being reviewed.

ByWater Solutions Equinox Software Innovative Interfaces (III) LibLime Polaris Tillamook County The Library Corporation (TLC) Visionary Technology in Library Solutions (VTLS)