ZooPro, Indeed. With the introduction of the new system ZIMS that should all become a thing of the past. Collections are urged for a "data-clean up" prior to accession to ZIMS. Anyhow, I am not criticising any zoo .. in my book the job of registrar is very complex and I am not sure if every zoo employs someone specifically to do just that .. register (and vet + import/export paperwork I guess).
Except that from my understanding ZIMS is only accessible by ISIS members. The site says "Any ISIS member (and others with permission) will be able to search the database and retrieve information they need (with appropriate security restrictions) for myriad purposes" [my emphasis]. To me this implies that everyday zoo enthusiasts like you and me won't just be able to go and have a look - we would need permission, and we don't really need the information - we just want it!
The current ISIS software is only available to ISIS members - ZIMS will be no different. The application will only be available to ISIS members, but summary data will be available on the ISIS web site, just like it is now. A report in ZIMS will be available for ISIS admin staff to generate species holdings, as is the case from the current system.
What, then, will be the main differences in ZIMS - I thought that it was going to provide institutions with information on health, genetic viability, etc. If ISIS already does that, how will ZIMS be better, for the institutions and for interested people like us?
Are you referring to me saying "ZIMS will be no different"? I actually meant that access to the ISIS applications will be no different - ZIMS will still only be available for use by ISIS members. ZIMS will be one global, accurate, web-based, real-time animal information management system. It will be accessible anywhere in the world, on any computer with internet access. As records are entered and updated by one institution, these shared records will be available for other ISIS members to share, making real-time global searching of zoological animal information a reality for the first time. ZIMS will not only replace most of the existing ISIS software, it will also add many additional new features. The zoo and aquarium community is aware of the failings of the current software, and most of these failings have been addressed in ZIMS. In addition, ISIS members have had increasingly long “wish-lists†of functions that have been missing from the current suite of software tools, and again, many of these will be included in the first release of ZIMS. Additional specialized ZIMS modules, such as nutrition and behavioural conditioning are planned for the future. Several hundred zoo and aquarium professionals have been working collectively over the past five years or so to design ZIMS, and it revolutionise the way zoos and aquariums manage their animals collections, including animal health, inter-institutional transfers, population management and breeding recommendations, collection planning, water and environmental monitoring etc. etc. Sadly though, for "interested people like us" you'll see very little difference - species-level summary data only. ZIMS is a powerful tool for zoos and aquariums, and there are no plans to make this available to the general public.
excuse my stupidity, what will zims do? an animal numbers system like isis, but what is making it supirior?
As up to date as the institutions update their data. But in ZIMS, the step of institutions having to send their data to ISIS (or not) when they choose to has been removed. Since it's a web-based application, the data are saved directly to the ISIS system. However, someone at ISIS will still need to generate the summary data eport for the web - probably monthly, I would imagine. It's unlikely that the general public will need more regular updates than that.
ZIMS is sort of the next version of ISIS. For institutions, it will include information on animal health and well-being. There's a rundown on the ISIS website - just click on "learn more about ZIMS" on the main page. Welcome to International Species Information System - HOME PAGE
Separate studbooks will be a thing of the past - all the data will reside in ZIMS, and species coordinators will use the population management functionality in ZIMS to manage their populations and develop breeding recommendations.
Mogo would be nice, but I also really like birds and Mogo doesn't have many of them (my favourite birds are pheasants - I even have one!). Taronga would also be great, but I would have to move to the city (shudder). Sydney is nice for a visit, but I don't know if I could live there.
