Highlights for May 21, 1998
USGS Center for Biological Informatics

I. Key Department News:

• CBI Hosts Union Catalog: On May 20, Peter Strong (CBI) participated in a teleconference with the BRD Library Automation Committee regarding the installation and configuration of the Cuadra Star database server. This server, located at CBI, will host BRD's union catalog, a combined electronic catalog containing all BRD library materials. Installation and testing of the system is expected to begin in July. The union catalog will first be made available through the USGS Intranet and will eventually be served over the World Wide Web. The project will provide more comprehensive library service to BRD field stations and will eventually give the libraries a complete Web presence on the National Biological Information Infrastructure. (Peter Strong, Denver, 303/202-4246)
  

• USGS-NASA Seminar Series: On May 20, BRD (OBIO) co-sponsored, with NMD, the first in a series of USGS-NASA seminars at the USGS National Center. Dan Kimes, research scientist at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center's Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics presented "Neural Network Attributes For Extracting Vegetation Variables From Optical and Radar Data." BRD and NMD are preparing reciprocal presentations to be given at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center. (James Getter, Greenbelt, MD, 301/286-8635)

II. Agency Works on Presidential Initiatives:

• USGS Presents Biological Profile to FGDC: On May 20, Susan Stitt and Maury Nyquist (both CBI) updated the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Standards Working Group on the status of the Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata. This document and supporting information will be submitted to the FGDC Standards Working Group. The biological data profile was created with support from the FGDC Biological Data Working Group and is based on the Content Standard for National Biological Information Infrastructure Metadata. Following public review and the subsequent adjudication process, the resulting draft biological data profile will be forwarded for final approval as an FGDC Standard. (Susan Stitt, Denver, 303/202-4234)
  

• NBII Featured At Florida Natural Resources Forum: CBI provided Stephanie Haas of the Marston Science Library, University of Florida, with National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) brochures and other information for use in a "Metadata for Ecologists" seminar she is conducting at a June Natural Resources Forum in Gainesville, FL. Haas leads the Florida Biotic Information Consortium, an NBII partner. The NBII, a BRD-led initiative, is dedicated to the development of an electronic federation of biological data and information sources, as well as providing access to software tools that will help users work with unparalleled ease and efficiency. (Terry D'Erchia, Denver, 303/202-4264)

III. Notable Congressional Activity: No report

IV. Press/Media Inquiries: No report

V. FOIA Requests: No report