ISIS BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
The ISIS Board met 30 October. Here is a brief outline of the issues discussed:
Studbook Reconciliation: The board raised concerns that some regions are investing money and time in the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS), but are not adequately preparing their data. The ISIS Data Quality Campaign was launched three years ago, yet there has been no progress on studbook reconciliation in some regions. (See “ISIS Data Quality Campaign” below for more details.)
Data Access Policy Development: The ISIS Board has established a Data Access Policy Development working group to develop policy proposals regarding external scientific access to information such as pedigrees, average lifespan, etc.
Meetings with JAZA: Recent discussions with the Japanese zoo association (JAZA) in Tokyo were positive. JAZA has now stopped further investment in their independent animal information system and are considering joining ISIS and using ZIMS.
2005 Budget: The board approved the organization’s proposed 2005 budget, including a substantial deficit, which will be covered by a loan against campaign pledges. The 2005 budget is consistent with the seven-year ISIS Business Plan approved by the board.
A loan of this type is unprecedented for ISIS, but anticipated. The ZIMS development project has been planned for two years and most capital campaign pledges are scheduled for five years. The board noted we are taking risks, but they are necessary.
Trustee Election and Appointments: The ISIS Board Nominating Committee considered new nominees, giving preference to those who could help with fund-raising and those who represent aquariums and underserved geographic regions.
The board recommended the following Institutional Trustee candidates for 2005: Jeff Bonner, St. Louis Zoological Park, USA; Yolanda Matamoros, San Jose, Costa Rica; Pete Hoskins, Philadelphia Zoological Garden, USA and Philippe Jouk, Antwerp Zoo, Belgium.
In addition, the board re-nominated Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA) for one of the Association Trustee positions. The American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA), the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) are automatically renewed because more than 16 percent of ISIS members belong to each of these regional associations.
The nominating committee also proposed appointment of: IADISC Chair Sue DuBois, Disney’s Animal Kingdom/The Living Seas, USA (one year) and Maria Clara Dominguez, Cali Zoo, Columbia (and president of the Latin American Association of Zoos & Aquariums – ALPZA) (three years). In addition, the board has asked JAZA to suggest a name for appointment to
the ISIS Board.
As the number of candidates approved by the board equals the number of vacancies, this year’s election will be non-competitive. The ISIS Board approved these recommendations. ISIS institutional members should watch for your ballots in the mail.
Membership Increase: The board approved new ISIS membership applications and several terminations. ISIS gained 50 institutional members in 2004.
This increase represents 30 years of sustained annual membership growth. This is impressive, especially given the necessary 2004 ISIS membership fee increase.
The next ISIS Board Meeting will be held in Melbourne, Australia, 1 May 2005.
DATA QUALITY CAMPAIGN
Since the ISIS Data Quality Campaign was launched, members have made substantial progress on one data quality target – linked records – which has increased from 48% to 74% across the entire ISIS database. This represents a great deal of work by institutional records staff.
Unfortunately, little progress has been made on the other data quality targets. The reconciliation rate between studbook and institutional data in the ISIS system averages only 74 percent. This has been verified in the last 14 months as ISIS has been running weekly comparisons of ISIS institutional data with the same specimens as recorded in international and regional studbooks. Almost one-quarter of the comparable records – representing 100, 000 animals – differ in facts important for management (e.g. parents, birth date, sex, move history, death date).
This important issue has prompted WAZA to adopt a resolution calling on all studbook keepers and institutions to work together to reconcile their data using the ISIS Studbook/Institutional Data Reconciliation Tool. WAZA President Ed McAlister will send a letter to all studbook keepers requesting their action.
ARAZPA and EAZA are already training their studbook keepers on the ISIS Studbook/Institutional Data Reconciliation Tool. ARAZPA is the first region to show significant improvement in their data quality scores.
As a member, you are shown your current data score when you log into the ISIS Web site (www.isis.org - If you do not have an ISIS Web site password, contact your animal collection records keeper.) If your data scores are low, click on the Studbook/Institutional Data Reconciliation Tool, which is designed to help with this process.
Time is running short! ZIMS will be available mid-2006 – just over a year away. By working together we can all achieve better animal care through accurate information.
ZIMS UPDATE: DATA STANDARDS WORKSHOPS
Data standards define the rules for recording information in a system so that the data is valuable to all users. Data standards workshops are designed to help our software developer determine the necessary defaults for each type of data. (For example, when ISIS software users input the sex of an animal, data standards determine the choices you have to describe that animal’s sex.)
The first data standards session was recently held in Perth, Australia. Zoo and aquarium experts from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States enthusiastically participated in this four-day session. Criteria for 17 data standards was drafted. These standards will now be reviewed by a larger community for additional input.
In 2005, ISIS will hold more ZIMS data standards workshops: 14-18 February in Osaka, Japan; 14-20 March in the Netherlands; and late May in North America.
BUILDING ZIMS: THE CAMPAIGN FOR ISIS
The US Congress has appropriated US $500,000 to ISIS for fiscal year 2005. ISIS would like to thank Capital Campaign Chair Jerry Borin, Board Chair Jeff Bonner and the many US zoo and aquarium directors who contacted their members of Congress on behalf of the project. Thirty-two members of the US Congress signed a letter supporting the ZIMS Project.
We will go back to Congress for more for funding in 2006.
This additional funding, including US $4 million in written and verbal pledges from the zoo and aquarium community, brings our funding to US $5.3 million – over half way to our US $10 million goal.
ZIMS: Be part of it!
Thank you to our ZIMS volunteers. We could not do it without you!
To build ZIMS, ISIS and the International Animal Data Information Systems Committee (IADISC – a free-standing committee of regional associations created to help engage software users in the ZIMS Project) have recruited almost 500 volunteers representing almost 200 institutions. IADISC members have spent more than 1,000 collective hours reviewing more than 600 pages of technical documentation. In addition, IADISC educates and trains new volunteers and manages list serves.
The work of these committees has been invaluable to the project. Thank you to all our volunteers!
There is much more work to be done. We need you too!
• Participate in the standards development process.
Meetings begin soon. (See “ZIMS Update: Data Standards Workshop” above.)
• Help raise funds for the project.
Our capital campaign has already raised US $5.3 million of our US $10 million goal. To donate to the ZIMS Project, e-mail kim@isis.org.
• Tell others in your institution and community about the ZIMS Project.
To volunteer, go to www.isis.org “Explore ZIMS.”
To find out more about reviewing documentation, see www.iadisc.org. Members may also contribute ideas about what ZIMS should be through
the ZIMS Wish List.
TECH UPDATES: EDU PROCESSING BACK ON TRACK
When the ISIS central office moved, our staff and equipment went through a period of transition and our EDU processing got behind. But,
we are back on track! Institutional data received from our members is now current to 10 days. Studbook data continues to be processed every week.
We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and will make our best efforts not to let this happen again. Thank you for your patience!
The October Specimen Reference DVD has been mailed to all ISIS members. Please be sure to install your new DVD.
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