903048B 7yrbuspln - U.P. Forest Department

Expanding membership globally
Through 30 years of building global relationships, ISIS has developed a worldwide network of
cooperation, created animal data standards and accumulated a unique archive of specimen
information on nearly 2 million animals of 10,000 species.
Membership in ISIS has grown every year for more than 30 years. Each new ISIS member institution
adds data that (1) completes many individual animal histories and pedigrees that connect with data
on animals at other ISIS member institutions, and (2) brings us closer to providing comprehensive
information on the global zoo and aquarium wildlife population.
Today, 630 zoos, aquariums and related organizations share information about their animals through
the existing ISIS system. (See Appendix F for a list of ISIS members.) However, there are at least 1,200
zoological institutions involved in national and regional zoological associations, and numerous other
organizations involved in hands-on animal care and conservation across the globe. Through upgraded
services and targeted marketing and communications efforts, ISIS plans to attract many new members
over the next seven years.
One of the major opportunities for expanding ISIS membership is aquariums. While over half of
the world’s recognized zoos are members of ISIS, only a small percent of the world’s aquariums are
members as of 2004. More than 400 aquariums could potentially become members of ISIS. Because
aquariums are breeding seahorses and other threatened taxa, expanding their conservation programs,
they need access to a global pool of data on best practices for husbandry, veterinary care, water
management, etc. Some aquariums have very substantial financial resources, and many recognize
the need for standard and sophisticated animal and environment information systems.
ISIS has had very limited market share among aquariums because ISIS has not had products and
services developed for their specialized needs, nor the resources to develop them. The new Zoological
Information Management System (ZIMS) will change that by including significant functionality
identified as important by aquariums. We are finding aquarium partners for our capital campaign
Building ZIMS: The Campaign for ISIS and will broaden recruiting efforts among aquariums as the new
products and services become tangible.
ISIS has already accomplished many of the more challenging marketing objectives for such an effort.
We have achieved global name recognition, which has helped bring a good part of our community on
board. ISIS will become the central data source for animal management data by adding staff and
resources; committing to inclusive processes and comprehensive coverage, and soliciting help from
ISIS partners around the world.
Together, we can build trust, exchange ideas, find solutions for differing problems in different regions
and bring the other half of those involved in hands-on animal care of wildlife species into the ISIS
global network.
As the ISIS network continues to expand, more information is available to each member, and the fixed
costs of ISIS operation can be shared across a larger number of members. Both of these advantages
will be increasingly important as we develop and support ZIMS.
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