IN THIS ISSUE New ZIMS logo ZIMS Project update Now is the time to prepare your data for ZIMS Do you have questions about the ZIMS Project or application? ISIS to host IT conference Conservation in our community New ISIS team members Past issues of ISIS News

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New ZIMS logo
The new Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) logo was created through a community effort. This logo is the product of a design idea submitted by Rob Ainbinder, North Carolina Zoo, voted on by ISIS members and finalized through ISIS staff input.

ZIMS Project update
We are more than halfway through the ZIMS Project. Our community is continuing to work with ZIMS software developer CGI on data standards, reports and finalizing the look of the screens that will be used in the software.

ISIS and the International Animal Data Information Systems Committee (IADISC) have invited 30 representatives from our community to a special meeting during the week of 22 August. Here subject matter experts (SMEs), including population management experts Jon Ballou and Bob Lacy will “walk through” some of the more specialized and technical functions that will be supported in ZIMS.

The goal of this meeting is to help CGI understand how all of the various pieces (on which numerous members of our community have worked) will fit together. This should help speed the design and construction process for many aspects of the system.

In addition, ISIS staff and other members of our community will be giving presentations and putting up displays on ZIMS at various zoolgical conferences, and we are beginning work with our ZIMS early adopter institutions.

Finally, we are working to acknowledge all of the volunteers who have contributed to the ZIMS Project. These members of our community will be publicly thanked when the project is complete.

If you have participated in the project, please go to (https://www.isis.org/cmsHome/Content/volunteers.htm) and assure that your name and institution are on the list and are correct. If the last column marked “source” does not contain anything, please email Michele Peters (mpeters@isis.org) and let her know on which aspects of the project you have worked (i.e. JAD sessions, listserves, etc.).

If your name is missing from the list, please email Michele Peters (mpeters@isis.org) your complete name, institution and note on which aspects of the project you have worked (i.e. JAD sessions, listserves, etc.).

Now is the time to prepare your data for ZIMS
We expect the first version of ZIMS software to be complete in late 2006. To prepare to use ZIMS, ISIS members need to assure that your data is current and complete.

The data in the current ISIS system and studbooks will be migrated to ZIMS, so it is important to improve the accuracy of animal and population data in these records now. Because member records are inter-dependent, inaccurate data in your records will hurt the data quality in ZIMS for all members.

When ISIS members log onto the ISIS Web site, you can see your data quality scores in three areas: transaction links, validated parents and studbook/institution records reconciliation. These indicators help assess whether you need to work further on cleaning up your data.

If your scores are not as high as they should be, use the tools on the ISIS Web site (https://www.isis.org/CmsHome/content/Data_Quality) to help you bring your data up-to-date. Also, remember that you should submit data to ISIS every month to assure that your most current data is available.

If you have questions about cleaning up your data, contact ISIS support at support@isis.org; +1.651.209.9250.

ISIS members in good standing will also receive a ZIMS Readiness Assessment Tool in the next few months. This software application will help members assess whether your institution is ready for ZIMS and will help ISIS prepare to install ZIMS.

Do you have questions about the ZIMS Project or application?
ZIMS Project Manager Syed Hassan will be available to answer
members' questions about the upcoming ZIMS application in a series of one-hour conference calls.

21 September, 3:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
19 October, 9:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
16 November, 4:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
14 December, 10:00 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
To schedule these meetings in your time zone, see www.worldtimeserver.com
To participate in these question-and-answer sessions, call the conference line at +1-651-209-9277. Use the pass code 675982.

ISIS to host IT conference
ISIS and Disney’s Animal Kingdom/The Living Seas will host the Fifth Annual Zoo and Aquarium IT Conference 16-19 October  at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort.

This year’s conference will focus on how to deploy ZIMS within your institution and will also offer other presentations regarding utilization of technology within zoos and aquariums.

The full agenda and details of the conference can be found at http://www.aqua.org/itconference.

Conservation in our community Reintroduction project for stone-curlew Warsaw Zoological Garden and Poznań Zoo, in cooperation with two Polish societies for birds protection (Bocian and STOP) and Ukrainian ornithologists, have started a new reintroduction project for stone-curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus). There were no reports on breeding this species in the wild in the last two years in Poland. However, in that time, both Warsaw Zoological Garden and Poznań Zoo have had successful experiences in breeding stone-curlew in captivity. The goal of this project is to breed stone-curlew in a natural way and to release offspring (or whole families) into habitats where this species lived in the past. The aim of cooperating with Ukrainian ornithologists and Polish societies for birds protection is to observe the released specimens during the first weeks after reintroduction. Any institutions with experience in keeping, breeding or re-introducing stone-curlew are kindly asked to contact: Andrzej Kruszewicz, DVM, PhD Rehabilitation Centre for Wild Birds at the Warsaw Zoo ul. Ratuszowa 1/3, 03-461 Warsaw, Poland; akruszew@zoo.waw.pl. Is your organization undertaking an exciting conservation program? If so, send a quick update on your project to news@isis.org. We will publish conservation news from as many organizations as we are able.

New ISIS team members
Sonja Dahl has joined the ISIS team as a .NET Developer. For the past seven years, Sonja worked at Corel Corporation (formerly Jasc Software) where she was a Web Interface Developer. Sonja grew up in the Twin Cities and has a BA in political science from Hamline University.

As a volunteer, Sonja plays violin in the University of Minnesota Health Sciences Orchestra. 

Galiena Erickson has joined the ISIS team as European support staff. While Galiena is located in the Minnesota USA office, she is fluent in German and is currently finishing her degree in international business and German.

Galiena grew up in Minnesota, and says she seldomly came inside until it was dark (when the weather was reasonable). Galiena loves flowers, words and language. She describes herself as, “just like the mineral: hard on the outside, but sparkly nonetheless.”

Galiena will be helping translate ISIS News into German.

Welcome, Sonja and Galiena!

ISIS News volunteers/staff