Highlights for April 13, 2001

I. Key Department News:

• IABIN figures prominently in Ministerial Communiqué to upcoming Summit of the Americas: The Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN) had the attention of the environment ministers and heads of delegations from the 34 democratically elected governments of the Americas at their meeting in Montreal on March 29-30, 2001. The ministers discussed environmental challenges in the Western Hemisphere and prepared a ministerial communiqué to their leaders who will attend the Third Summit of the Americas to be held in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, April 20-22, 2001. IABIN is mentioned prominently in this communiqué, demonstrating the support for IABIN at this level. Of only eight paragraphs under “Conservation of Biodiversity and Ecosystems,” one (paragraph 22) was devoted to IABIN. Countries will increase their activities in support of information systems and networks to support IABIN, which is considered an important element for biodiversity information management in the Hemisphere as well as a complement to the Clearing House Mechanism of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. BIO serves as the U.S. Focal Point for IABIN. (Barbara T. Bauldock, Reston, 703-638-4295)

II. Agency Works on Presidential Initiatives:

• CBI to Participate with CENDI’s Nine Federal Agencies to Evaluate Web Challenges, Metrics & Results: Lisa Zolly, Center for Biological Informatics, will present "The Role of Usability Testing in Web Site Design: The NBII's Experience," at the CENDI-sponsored workshop Evaluating Our Web Presence: Challenges, Metrics, Results, April 17th in Bethesda, MD. CENDI is an interagency working group of senior Scientific and Technical Information Managers from ten major programs in nine U.S. Federal Agencies. The presentation will focus on the NBII's recent usability study, which followed the redesign of the Program site in 2000, and the implementation of results as part of ongoing efforts to improve user access to natural resources data and information in the distributed NBII network. (Lisa Zolly, 703-648-4277).

III. Notable Congressional Activity: No report.

IV. Press/Media Inquiries: No report.

V. FOIA Requests: No report.