PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE ANNOUNCEMENT TO ASCERTAIN WEBSITE ADDRESS TO DOWNLOAD PROJECT DOCUMENTS AND PROJECT DETAILS BEFORE CALLING FOR INFORMATION. Paper copies of the solicitation will not be issued but the solicitation will be available on the National Business Center website (http://ideasec.nbc.gov) without further notice on or about Friday, July 14, 2006. This project consists of a two phase ethnographic overview and assessment for Lowell National Historical Park, Lowell, MA. This research study will develop an analytical framework that situates Lowell's contemporary ethnic diversity and historical and post-industrial immigration patterns within a global political, economic, and cultural context. It will provide a thorough overview of the ethnohistory of Lowell that traces human settlement and occupation in the region from Native American occupation to the present. It will provide a specific discussion of the historical settlement and inter-ethnic dynamics of Lowell's South End (including the Back Central, Chapel Hill and Flats) and Highlands (including the Lower Highlands, Upper Highlands and Middlesex Village). These areas of the city will serve as the study area for the research project. It will provide, based on archival (ethnohistorical) research and interviews with community members, a thorough profile of the immigrant groups that settled in the study area. This discussion should be presented chronologically, with uniform documentation of each group. It will provide, based on interviews and archival research, documentation of the traditions and cultural practices of more recent immigrant communities, with specific discussion of ethnic identities in Lowell and the persistence and/or transformation of cultural traditions. It will provide the park with a set of informed recommendations about how they may establish and strengthen collaborative relationships with Lowell's more recent immigrant communities. NAICS code 541720, $6 million. This solicitation is set-aside for small business concerns. All responsible small business sources may submit a proposal which shall be considered by the agency. This solicitation is a Request for Proposals and offerors shall be evaluated on their responses to the following criteria: Technical Approach: Adequacy of methodologies proposed for data collection and analysis; Project Schedule, including allocation of time among different research tasks and project activities; Staffing Plan: Appropriateness of professional experience and academic specialty of Principal Investigator and other personnel and adequacy of mix of staff expertise, if any; Demonstrated experience completing technical reports and professional publications in a timely manner (past performance); and Experience applying techniques of ethnographic data collection and analysis related to management of cultural or natural resources; and Detailed Cost Proposal: Adequacy of cost elements to achieve stated study objectives (Phase 1); and Adequacy of cost elements to achieve stated study objectives (Phase 2). Prospective contractors must be registered in the Central Contractor registration (www.ccr.gov) database prior to award of a Government contract. Offerors are further advised that failure to register in the CCR database will render your firm ineligible for award. Registration requires applicants to have a DUNS number.

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