Literacy — Further Reading (Official Sources)

The official federal sources, consolidated. These are the places the facts in this curriculum come from — and the places you go when a fact matters. One-line notes on what each is for. Accuracy is the point of this layer (per the repo's own rule: if you are not certain of a fact, state it generally rather than inventing specifics).

A note on websites. Interfaces, URLs, and portal names change — that is the tools layer (doctrine/08). The institutions these sites represent endure: the registry, the bulletin boards, the rules, the published record. If a link moves, search the agency name — you will find the institution.

The bulletin boards and the registry

Source	What it is for	When you need it
SAM.gov — sam.gov	The System for Award Management: the master registry (UEI, CAGE, SAM registration) and the central bulletin board for federal contract opportunities and contract awards.	Registering your entity; finding contract RFPs; seeing who won and for how much.
Grants.gov — grants.gov	The central portal for federal grant opportunities — where NOFOs are published and (for most federal grants) where applications are submitted.	Finding a NOFO; reading a program's eligibility, review criteria, and deadlines; applying.
USAspending.gov — usaspending.gov	The public record of what the government actually spends — trace a dollar from appropriation to a specific award, to an agency, to a contractor.	The money-flow map (where-the-money-flows) made real; post-award research; market intelligence.

The rules

Source	What it is for	When you need it
acquisition.gov (FAR) — acquisition.gov	The Federal Acquisition Regulation — the rulebook for how the government buys things, plus agency supplements (DFARS for DoD, and others).	Checking the actual text behind an RFP's clauses; understanding why a requirement exists.
OMB / Grants.gov policy pages	The grants-policy framework — the rules for assistance dollars (2 CFR and OMB circulars) that sit behind every NOFO.	Understanding the other rulebook — the grants side of the transaction.

The small-business universe

Source	What it is for	When you need it
SBA (Small Business Administration) — sba.gov	The agency that runs the small-business programs: size standards, NAICS guidance, and the certifications (HUBZone, 8(a), WOSB/VOSB).	Confirming a size standard; understanding what a certification requires; applying for or maintaining a certification.
SBIR.gov / STTR — sbir.gov	The Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs: topics, solicitations, awards, and policies for the research set-aside programs.	Finding SBIR/STTR topics (like the one in the worked exemplar); seeing Phase I/II/III awards; reading the program rules.

Worth knowing, one level down

Source	What it is for
GSA eLibrary — gsa.gov/elibrary	The catalog of GSA Schedule / MAS contracts and the contractors on them — the vehicle landscape for repeated purchases.
FPDS (Federal Procurement Data System) — via USAspending.gov	The raw contract award data — the published record of who won what (USAspending is the friendly window on it).
Agency forecasts (DoD, GSA, and others)	Each large agency's forecast of planned purchases — the market before the solicitation drops.

How to use this list

1. For the course and the practice layer, these sources are where "real, published and closed" solicitations come from. Pick one from SAM.gov (an RFP) or Grants.gov (a NOFO) and work the practice bank on it.
2. For a fact you need to be sure of (a size standard, a certification rule, a deadline), go to the official source rather than a third-party summary. The literacy layer is accurate, but official sources are the ground truth.
3. For the weekly habit, USAspending.gov is the most underrated tool in this discipline: ten minutes a week reading published awards in your NAICS codes teaches you the competitive landscape faster than any newsletter.

The one-sentence summary

The institutions — the registry, the bulletin boards, the rules, the published record — endure even as the websites change. Learn the institutions; the websites are just the current address (doctrine/08).