The following is rather lengthy but seems like a good job opportunity for someone who might be on these lists. So, I beg your indulgence for posting it here. SUMMARY: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking a Unix Systems Analyst/Administrator for a position that starts at $54,000. P. They're actually hoping to place a blind person via National Industries for the Blind (NIB). If this sounds like you, contact them right away. Turn around time is very short here. -----Original Message----- From: Steve Pavelsky [mailto:spavelsky at nib.org] Sent: Monday, November 06, 2000 10:57 AM System Analyst III position. This position is a long-term JWOD contract with EPA in Cincinnati. The candidate would actually be employed by our associated agency - Clovernook Center for the Blind. POC at Clovernook is Jennifer Alvis. Resumes may be sent to: JCA @ Clovernook.org or Ms. Alvis can be reached at: 937-223-2059. Deadline for resume submittal is COB this Wed., Nov. 8th. Salary is approx. $54K/yr. REVISED STATEMENT OF WORK Period of Performance 10/01/00 to 07/31/00 (end of POP for original SOW) (Revised Draft a/o 9/12/00) 1. REQUIRING AGENCY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Administration and Resources Management 26 W. Martin Luther King Dr. Cincinnati, Ohio 45268 EPA Project Officer and Point of Contact (POC): Shannon McFarland Information Resources Management Division US Environmental Protection Agency 26 W. Martin Luther King Dr Cincinnati, OHIO 45268 Alternate Project Officer and Point of Contact (Alternate POC): Lee Steczynski Information Resources Management Division US Environmental Protection Agency 26 W. Martin Luther King Dr Cincinnati, OHIO 45268 New Task ( ) Renewal ( ) Revision (X ) PROJECT TITLE: OARM/IRMD Imaging Processing Systems Support and Scanning Services. Work Request ( ) Fixed Price (X ) Time and Materials ( ) On Site ( x ) Location (s) Same as above Off Site ( ) 2. SCOPE OF WORK. ADP Environment: Hardware: LAN Pentium-type PCs, Compaq/Digital UNIX Alpha Servers, and Imaging System Document Scanner(s). Software/Languages: Compaq/Digital UNIX OS commands, PERL Scripts, C, C++, CGI-BIN, HTML Programming, Clarit System Imaging Software, MS Windows and Netscape software packages. Functional Applications: Not applicable. Description: The Information Resources Management Division in the Office of Management and Administration, AWBERC Cincinnati, is in need of programming and maintenance support for Clarit Software System Administration, Compaq/Digital Unix System Administration, and all associated tasks involving the daily ongoing support of the Imaging Processing Systems scanning services utilizing the Clarit Software Package. The objective of this task is to provide ongoing systems analysis, design, programming and implementation expertise, and system administration for the following systems: Clarit Imaging Systems Software, Compaq/Digital Unix software, and scanning services support for converting EPA Publications from hard copy to electronic format and storing in identified file formats in one or more databases on one or more PCs and Digital Unix File Servers. The primary software packages are Compaq/Digital Unix and the Clarit Software System located in the IRMD Computer Room and at the National Technology Services Division (NTSD) at RTP, NC. The milestones are as follows. MILESTONE 1. Imaging Processing Systems (IPS) Scanning Support. The contractor shall provide scanning services support during prime time business hours, normally 8:00AM-5:00PM, Monday through Friday, with the exception of Federal holidays. The detailed procedures for providing this support are outlined in the IRMD Image Processing Systems (IPS) Procedures (Attachment 1). The contractor shall monitor for possible vendor repair the various hardware components of all assigned equipment involved in the IPS operation. The contractor shall notify the designated POC and/or contact the appropriate vendor for repairs. The contractor shall be provided with a list of appropriate vendors to notify and the vendors will be informed by the EPA POC that contacts will be made by the contractor. The contractor shall control and monitor the operator consoles for all Imaging Processing System servers (Pentium PC-types and Digital Alpha Servers included) on a continuous basis throughout the staffed hours of operation noted above. The contractor shall assist EPA technical personnel in troubleshooting problems with the Digital Computers/Imaging Processing System Server configurations as directed by the EPA POC. The contractor shall maintain a clean and orderly environment within the IPS Operations area. The contractor shall conform to all EPA policies and procedures regarding information security, installation and use of software packages, and disaster recovery. In addition, the contractor shall conform specifically to the OARM Cincinnati Computer Software Policy (Attachment 2). The POC will inform the contractor when software upgrades, if applicable to specific IPS Operations, are required. Notification will occur through the use of the agency EMAIL system, the IRMD Remedy Work Request System, or a combination of these. The contractor shall operate Imaging Processing System configured equipment and organize, transfer and manage associated Clarit software image database files/directories between in-house Internet Servers and PCs. The primary purpose of the hardware operation is to use the equipment to scan and convert paper documents to electronic format , and store on hard drives in the designated directories on one or more Internet servers and PC hard drives. This shall include proper document preparation before scanning and all phases of the conversion process, adhering to conversion standards, quality control, converting TIF file pages to Optical Character Recognition (OCR) file pages, and disposition of the original documents. The contractor shall prepare and submit to the P.O., the Weekly Deliverables Statistics Report as outlined in the detailed IRMD Image Processing Systems Procedures (Attachment 1). MILESTONE 2. Systems Analysis. The contractor shall provide systems analysis, design, programming and implementation support for the Compaq (Digital) UNIX OS and Clarit Imaging System . The contractor shall provide end user orientation and documentation support to the user community for above systems. MILESTONE 3. Unix Internet Server Support. The contractor shall provide Unix Internet Server support on a ongoing weekly basis during normal business hours of 8:00am to 5:00pm. Other than normal business hours of 8:00am to 5:00pm times may be required, such as weekends and non-office hours, in support of equipment installation/deinstallation and/or operational support. The EPA POC will inform the contractor when other than normal business hours are required. The contractor shall perform tape backups of ; 1) all Imaging Processing System Servers and Digital Alpha Servers on an as required basis such as nightly/weekly/monthly intervals. Tapes shall be stored in the AWBERC vault in Room G-14, or another authorized designated area. The contractor shall maintain a clean and orderly work environment where the computer equipment and Imaging Systems Servers are located. MILESTONE 4. System Administration. The contractor shall perform all technical or system administrator activities for the various types of hardware, programming languages, software systems and application systems listed above. These currently include the following hardware systems: one or more Imaging Processing System servers, Digital UNIX Alpha Servers and Imaging System configured PC's. The contractor shall perform the necessary software installations when new releases for the above systems are received from the vendor for Compaq/Digital Unix and the Clarit Software system. The POC shall inform the contractor when software installation is required through the use of the agency EMAIL system, the IRMD Remedy Work Request System, or a combination of these. The contractor shall organize, transfer and manage associated Clarit software image database files/directories between in-house Internet Servers and the Public Access Internet Servers at the National Technology Services Division (NTSD). Expertise: Personnel with a broad range of skills including systems administration and maintenance experience with Compaq/Digital Unix and Claritech's Clarit software system. Experience with Microsoft Windows, manual dexterity, knowledge of imaging systems concepts and data base management. Personal Computer maintenance and operations experience and ADP documentation skills are required. Deliverables: All deliverables must meet normal professional standards and the requirements set forth in the contractual documentation. 1) The acceptance of deliverables as prescribed by this Statement of Work (SOW) will be determined by the EPA P.O. The criteria for acceptance will be based on, but not limited to, completeness, clarity, technical correctness, relevancy to subject matter, cosmetic in appearance, and adherence to government regulations and standards. Deficiencies of a major nature technical nature will be evaluated by the EPA Project Officer to determine their significance, and forwarded to the Contracting Officer for corrective actions. Period of Performance: The period of performance for this SOW shall commence after award of the contract but not before an orientation meeting between the contractor and the EPA POC, and not later than 30 days after contract award. Overtime: ( X ) not required ( ) required Travel and Per Diem: ( x ) not required ( ) required OTHER. Security/ Privacy : The contractor shall conform to all agency and IRMD security policies. The Privacy Act of 1974 will be applicable to this SOW. Government Furnished Resources: The contractor shall retain and utilize all materials, information, equipment and licensed software furnished by the government. Office space, furniture, and imaging computer equipment shall be provided for the performance of this task. The contractor shall provide their own Personal Computer equipment for email and access to the OARM IRMD LAN. Standards and References: GSA Regulations FPMR 101-35.203.9 AND 101-36.13 make FIPS PUBs mandatory for all government agencies. The FIPS PUBs which apply to this task are: Software Summary for Describing Computer Programs and Automatic Data Systems - FIPS 30. Guideline for Documentation of Computer Programs and Automatic Data Systems - FIPS 38. Computer Security Guidelines for Implementing the Privacy Act of 1974 - FIPS 41. OARM Cincinnati Computer Software Policy, dated December 1999. EPA OARM Information Security Manual, 1999 Edition. Attachment 1 IRMD IMAGE PROCESSING SYSTEMS PROCEDURES (Scanning Files Preparation and Creation) Subsequent to new publications entering the National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) warehouse system, one printed paper copy of each new EPA Publication is also delivered to the IRMD Project Officer for the IRMD Image Processing Team to scan and post to the EPA National Environmental Publications Internet Site (NEPIS). The documents from NSCEP are received in boxes or envelopes on an irregular basis during the week(s). There are weeks when there are no deliveries of new publications from NSCEP. The Project Officer receives the package via internal mail from NSCEP. He records the date of receipt and forwards the package to the computer center for input to the Clarit Image Processing System. The ultimate objective of the scanning procedures is to make EPA publications available to the public via the Internet . The computer center technician (contractor) receives the package from the Project Officer. In the scanning room, the contractor opens the package and checks the materials against the included packing list to verify the contents match the items shipped. Any variances or notes concerning contents must be resolved with NSCEP. The technician must prepare the documents for scanning. The first step is to check the publication number that is printed for each item on the packing list against existing publications in the Clarit data base index file to ensure that the publication will not duplicate a document presently existing in the system. If there is a duplication, there are several decisions that must be made BEFORE the process can proceed any further. If there is a duplication of publications, the publication with the most current printing date should be chosen to remain in the database. If this turns out to be the newly received publication, the older publication will be deleted from the database, and replaced with the current document by scanning the newer document into the slot where the older one was located. Titles must be physically observed in the database. While each publication number is supposed to be unique, there has been more than one occurrence where the same publication number has been found to be assigned to two completely different publications. When this situation occurs, the titles must be reported to NSCEP to determine how the two different publications should be listed. This must be coordinated with NSCEP in order to maintain the integrity of the database. The computer equipment to perform this verification check is located in another area, the IRMD locked and secured main computer room, (Room 308). This area houses the Unix file servers containing the publications records posted to the Internet. The file servers are locked in a secure computer cabinet located in a designated area of the computer room. When the technician completes this check, he has verified, one by one, that the packing list of EPA Publication Numbers and the EPA Publication titles do not match any of the existing Clarit database file of EPA Publication Numbers or Titles. If there is any uncertainty, or if the publication is already in Clarit (apparent duplicate), further research and contact with NSCEP, or the technical support contractor specialist, will be required to resolve the issue before proceeding to scan any publication in question. Returning to the image processing scanning room the technician performs the next phase of the pre-scanning operation. The contractor must note the size of the document; undersized documents less than the 8.5 in. X 11 in. size must be enlarged to 8.5 X 11 so that no large black borders are observed on the final Internet posted image. This requires the contractor to manually take the documents to a central duplicating office room and photocopy them individually. Oversized documents or page foldouts/inserts/maps/tables/graphics greater than 8.5 in. X 11 in. must be manually adjusted or trimmed appropriately to scan at the size of 8.5 X 11 without cutting off or omitting any detail of the page. Bound documents must be properly prepared for loading into the image scanner to prevent jamming, misfeeding or misalignment of pages as they are scanned into the computer. This requires that the bound edge of the document be removed using one or more manually operated cutting devices, paper trimmers, or stapler removers. The technician must check the paper cutter's highly sharpened blades frequently to ensure that perfectly straight, square and evenly trimmed paper edges are always maintained prior to loading the trimmed documents into the automated document feeder scanner hopper. When the one of the blades does become dull, the technician must change the blade in the cutter. Significant caution must be observed at this point. These blades are extremely sharp. Even though one or more blades can be too dull to cut through documents, the blades are still sharp enough to cause finger dismemberment, and/or other very serious injury if they are not properly handled. The technician must visually determine how much of the document's edge can be safely trimmed or removed, preferably without the loss of any meaningful text or graphical data. If meaningful text, data or graphics is to be lost due to trimming the technician must minimize the amount of desirable data that is eliminated. The technician must make this decision as the process is being performed. Acute visual detection is used to determine the varying width of printer glue that the printing vendor used to bind the publication, or the indented location of one or more vendor-inserted metal/plastic staplers or spiral connectors binding the document together. The documents are now ready to be scanned. Because each separate publication number and title must be manually keyed into the system database, only one publication is scanned at a time. Multiple documents cannot be loaded into the hopper, because the scanner does not have the ability to recognize where one publication ends and the new one begins. The scanner is a duplex page scanner, therefore, the front and back of each page must be prepared properly to avoid loss of data. The technician must set up and prepare the PC Image Processing personal computer system to create a unique computer image database publication file to identify the name, directory location and scanned document name for each official EPA Publication number and Title. The technician must confirm that sufficient Clarit System database and directory hard disk space is available to accept the new scanned document prior to starting the scanning process. Each scanned file will serve as the unique identifying characteristic for the EPA Publication item numbers that will be transferred and posted on the official EPA Public Access Internet Site. If the physical size of a publication is larger than the ability of the scanner feeder to handle at once, the publication should be placed into the hopper in sections. The contractor must maintain the direction of the print and the order of the page numbers from one portion of the publication to the other to insure the integrity of the document. The documents are scanned into, read and stored in the IRMD customized and configured image processing equipment cluster from paper document pages and converted to file images using an industry standard file format referred to as Tagged Image File Format. These files have a .TIFF file extension names. One computer .TIFF file will be created on disk for each physical page scanned, one for the front and one for the back even if one or both sides of one or more pages are blank. The scanning technician shall maintain a computer generated list of all EPA Publications scanned, and produce a Weekly Deliverable Statistics Report in electronic format via E- mail to the Project Officer. The report shall contain the following data at a minimum: EPA Publication Number and Title. Number of pages scanned. Date and Time scanned. Clarit .TIFF database name scanned into. Clarit .TIFF directory scanned into. Clarit OCR database file name generated for each .TIFF file. Clarit disk file space used to store each publication's total pages. Projected amount of free Clarit disk space available for future scanning to aid in planning for purchasing additional disk drives. Total number of EPA Publications and total pages scanned into Clarit System since system was begun in 1995, and total Fiscal Year-To-Date numbers for Publications scanned and total pages scanned. Cumulative initial values will be given at contract award time. Number of weekly hours worked. As the process is underway the technician must observe images created by the scanner to ensure that one page at a time is being scanned and stay alert to the quality of the images so that the process can be interrupted if the scanned page images appear unclear, grey, fuzzy or contain black streaks, etc. One or more of these faults will indicate the internal scanner rollers/bulbs/glass pieces need replacement or cleaning. Proper operating conditions of all configured image processing scanning equipment, i.e, scanner, computer monitors, Personal Computers, Unix servers, telecommunication connecting lines are the responsibility of the contractor technician. EPA has available annual maintenance contracts with appropriate hardware vendors in the event maintenance or repair of a covered maintenance item is required. The technician should inform the Project Officer when contract maintenance service is required. Each EPA scanned publication must be manually run through an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) conversion program during each scanning production work day. The contractor technician will run a special customized Clarit configured computer OCR equipment program located on the attached image cluster equipment. It is the responsibility of the contractor technician to set up, run and monitor each OCR production job to successful completion using the customized computer video monitors attached to the Clarit System equipment configuration. It has been found that other brands of computer video monitors or software will not work in conjunction with this equipment as it will make the process inoperable and compromise the integrity of the customized hardware and software configuration. The unique Clarit System OCR program will convert the .TIFF files into a Clarit System English text file format that will be legible and searchable based on a historical 92%- plus successful text conversion rate from scanned page images. The OCR text files are internally converted, maintained and directly associated (connected) to each corresponding scanned .TIFF page within the Clarit System and proprietary Claritech Corporation Clarit Search Engine and data base index system. The scanned .TIFF page files, OCR text page files, Clarit data bases and directories are stored on two IRMD Clarit configured Unix Alpha 1000 computer system servers located in the IRMD Computer Room 308. New publication files are grouped and saved until they can be scheduled for addition to the existing cumulative Clarit System Databases. The contractor shall schedule in-house Clarit System Index Build batch jobs to run on an as needed basis, usually weekly, however this can vary. This process requires that at least one eight hour (8) day of the week will be dedicated to running the Clarit System Index Build. During this period of time the Image Processing System scanning operation and data base number/title verification steps noted earlier are unavailable. The contractor shall maintain, manipulate and re-organize the cumulative Clarit System Database files on the IRMD Clarit Compaq/DigitalUnix Alpha 1000 Intranet Servers before copying and integrating the local IRMD updated files to the EPA Public Access Internet Server(s) at the National Technology Services Division (NTSD) located at RTP, NC. These updated files and databases containing over 8,000 EPA publications are made available to the public at the EPA National Environmental Publications Internet Site (NEPIS) via the Internet's World Wide Web. Attachment 2 OARM Cincinnati Computer Software Policy December 1999 1. Purpose: This policy covers the use of software products on OARM-Cincinnati desktop and laptop computers. It defines: (a) user responsibilities regarding the proper use of software (b) informs users that there are criminal and civil penalties relating to the improper use of software; and (c) explains the consequences of non- compliance. 2. Applicability and Scope: This policy applies to all users of OARM-Cincinnati PC's and laptops; ie, federal employees , grantees and contractors. 3. Authority for Policy: Public Law 94-553, copyright act of 1976 (amended 1994) Public Law 100-235, Computer Security act of 1987. EPA Information Security Manual EPA Policy Manual (Directive 2100) EPA Standards of Behavior for Security of Information Resources EPA CIO Memorandum, Personal Use of Agency Equipment (6-98) 4. Policy: 1. Only authorized software shall be installed or used on OARM- Cincinnati computers. Authorized software is defined as software for which EPA has acquired a licensed copy; and which is used strictly in accordance with the terms of that license. 2. Authorized software may only be used for official EPA business. 3. Entertainment software; screen savers; personally owned software (licensed or free-ware) of any kind shall not be installed on OARM-Cincinnati computers. 4. Software shall not be downloaded from the Internet even if free-ware, onto any OARM-Cincinnati computer. 5. Software may only be installed on OARM-Cincinnati computers by authorized representatives of IRMD. No other OARM- Cincinnati Federal employee, grantee or contractor shall install software of any kind on any OARM computer. 6. IRMD shall maintain a standard desktop configuration on all OARM- Cincinnati computers, consistent with current EPA desktop standards. 5. Exceptions: If any OARM-Cincinnati computer user has a business need for any software that differs from the current standard desktop configuration, the following procedures shall apply. 7. Forward a written statement through your Division Director to the Director, IRMD stating: 1. Why the standard configuration will not meet your business need. 2. What software you would recommend and why it meets your specialized need. 3. Contractors and Grantees shall forward this information to their project manager who will forward it through the cognizant Division Director. IRMD will evaluate the request, purchase any software required and install the software on the LAN or the individual desktop as warranted. 5. Enforcement: It is the responsibility of each OARM computer user to comply with the provisions of this policy. The OARM Information Security Office in conjunction with the OARM LAN Administrator shall deploy systems software to identify unauthorized software installed on any OARM computer. All incidents shall be reported to the Director, IRMD. Willful violations of this policy will be reported to the cognizant Division Director by the Director of IRMD. IRMD reserves the right to remove all unauthorized software from OARM computers. Use of "illegal" software on OARM computers may result in disciplinary action as prescribed by current Agency policy. Effective Date: This policy is in effect immediately upon issuance and will remain in effect until modified in writing by the Director, IRMD. William J. Bailey, Director, IRMD -- Janina Sajka, Director Technology Research and Development Governmental Relations Group American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) janina at afb.net (202) 408-8175 http://www.afb.org/gov.html The invention of the printing press has been named the crowning achievment of the past millenium. Yet, electronic publishing will soon eclipse it. Read our White Paper: "Surpassing Gutenberg" available at: http://www.afb.org/ebook.html Are you developing software? Make it accessible to blind computer users. Read http://www.afb.org/technology/accessapp.html to learn how.
