Educopia Institute, partnering with six members of the Digital Preservation Services Collaborative (APTrust, CLOCKSS, Chronopolis, Lyrasis, MetaArchive, Texas Digital Library), is leading an IMLS-funded planning project [LG-252340-OLS-22] around values-driven, community-supported distributed digital preservation service options (read full proposal). We seek a Consultant or consultancy agency to support our team in proposing a service model for collaboration that ensures the authority, sustainability, and viability of these options. 

Scope of Work

Project Overview & Background

Led by Hannah Wang (Project Director), in partnership with six values-aligned digital preservation service providers, this planning project is focusing on exploratory activities that will study the needs for and feasibility of a collaborative community-supported digital preservation service. The project seeks a Consultant who can bring an understanding of the current digital preservation landscape, including a variety of needs across the cultural heritage spectrum (public libraries, academic libraries, archives, special collections, etc). Combined with the input of the stakeholders, the Consultant should be able bring this knowledge to bear in the proposal of a broader and more sustainable collaborative and multi-tiered service model for distributed digital preservation.

Project Key Goals

• Recruit a diverse set of stakeholders, including advisors, service users, and funders, to provide input and feedback during planning and implementation

• Design a collaborative and multi-tiered service model for distributed digital preservation

Project Workstreams and Consultant Responsibilities

• Workstream I: Recruitment (October 2022 - January 2023). This phase of the project will focus on identifying two major stakeholder groups for the project and later implementation phases: the Advisory Board and the Service User Group. The Advisory Board will serve as a critical feedback mechanism for the project, checking partner assumptions and data underlying decision-making and prioritization. The Service User Group will consist of practitioners and decision-makers from organizations that currently use partner services, organizations that are currently using for-profit vendor services, and organizations for whom digital preservation may currently be out of reach, including small- to mid-sized cultural heritage organizations and community-based archives. During this workstream, the Consultant will assist the partners with identifying potential invitees that will best advance the goals of the project. 

• Workstream II: Requirements Gathering (October 2022 - August 2023). In this phase of work, the project team will conduct research to gather requirements for the planned service model through surveys and analyses of stakeholders and partner service offerings. The Consultant will engage our Service User Group in gathering requirements for a distributed digital preservation service model, in partnership with the Project Director.

• Workstream III: Service Model Planning (June 2023 - January 2024). During this phase of work, the project team will develop a design for a future collaborative digital preservation service model. The Consultant will draw on their expertise, knowledge of the cultural heritage field, familiarity with business and service models, as well as requirements and feedback gathered throughout the project to assist the partners in creating a service model design. At the conclusion of the project, the Consultant will also complete a summative evaluation measuring effectiveness, efficiency, quality, and timeliness of the project’s activities and results.

Timeline and Desired Schedule

The project team wishes to begin the 16-month consultancy no later than October 17, 2022, with completion by the end of January 2024.

Proposal Requirements

All proposals must adhere to the following outline and provide the information requested for each section. 

• Organization/Consultant Background and Experience  

• Provide information around your consultancy and its suitability for this project. In particular, please explain and detail your consultancy’s experience with organizational development, service model design, conducting qualitative research, and facilitating groups through complex decision-making processes.

• Provide the lead consultant’s name, briefly describe their background and experience, and a full CV/resume. 

• Work Plan and Deliverables 

• Provide a detailed work plan that follows the above phases and timeline, providing more detail on how you will complete each step. Include specific deliverables for each phase and total estimated hours for each phase. 

• Budget and Costs

• Provide a detailed project budget that clearly specifies each phase cost. Specify your rates, your billing process, and if any up front payments or retainers are required. 

• The maximum budget for all work needed is $30,000.

Submission Schedule and Process

• RFP Distributed: August 24, 2022

• RFP Deadline: September 19, 2022

• Submit one (1) PDF of a written proposal clearly addressed with “DPSC Consultant RFP” in the subject of the email no later than September 23, 2022 to [log in to unmask] 

• Please submit any questions regarding this proposal via email to [log in to unmask] by September 9, 2022.

• The project partners may conduct interviews in order to help determine the selection of the consultant.

• A final decision is expected on October 7, 2022.