AUTOMATION:RFP Wisdom Sought

[Kathleen Fencil <tkfencil@MCN.NET>]

Dear LM_Netters Who May Have Invented "the wheel,"
        If you have already automated and lived through the task of
creating an RFP (Request For Proposal) from automation vendors we could use
your help.  Would you be willing to share a copy of your RFP with us?
        We are getting very close to initiating an automation project for
28 schools in our city school district and are at the stage where a small
group of librarians need to design the RFP that will be sent to vendors.
Our systems will not be stand alone systems within each of the 28
libraries, but will be networked (we hope) throughout the district by means
of a district network server.  We are not sure this has been done on this
scale before, most vendors seem to be more directed to the stand alone
concept, we think.
        From your experience, what are the MUST HAVES we should not forget
to include in our proposal?  Money is very much a concern so we cannot
afford to overlook a major need at this crucial stage.  While we are very
excited to be at this stage, a lot rests on our shoulders to "get it right"
the first time.  Your wisdom or sharing of sample RFP's to serve as models
would be greatly appreciated as you can imagine.

Snail mail address is in my signature.  Our school phone and fax numbers are;

        Washington School       406-255-3885
        Washington School Fax   406-255-3629

Thank you for any assistance you can give.

Kathleen H. Fencil      Librarian, Washington Elementary School
tkfencil@mcn.net        washlib@mcn.net
2622 Normal Ave.        1044 Cook Ave.
Billings, MT 59102-1012 Billings, MT 59102