National Biological Information Infrastructure
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NBII Brochure Homepage
An NBII Overview
From Fairbanks to Ft. Lauderdale and Maui to Montauk, the Biological Resources Division (BRD) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is helping people around the Nation to share more information on biological resources than ever before. The success of these efforts rests in large part on advances made possible by the National Biological Information Infrastructure or NBII.
The NBII, a BRD-led initiative, is dedicated to the development of an electronic "federation" of biological data and information sources. Its success rests on a growing network of partners who share biological information. At the same time, BRD is spearheading efforts to make new types of software with new types of capabilities available through the NBII over the World Wide Web that will help users work with unparalleled ease and efficiency.
The goal of the NBII is to provide swift user access to biological databases, information products, directories, and guides maintained by Federal, State, and local government agencies, non-government institutions, and private sector organizations in the United States and around the world. And who are these users? Simply, anyone who manages, studies, or uses biological resources. Typically, users come from both the public and private sectors--scientists, planners, decision makers within the Department of the Interior (DOI) and other Federal agencies, State and local governments, industry, international entities, teachers and students, and private citizens.
Here's a sampling of user needs. Public agencies need easy access to the best biological data for managing public lands, such as the National Parks. The private sector needs better information to understand the impacts of metropolitan growth on ecological resources. Scientists need access to the highest quality data to help design and direct their research. Educators at all levels need the most relevant and stimulating materials available to motivate and enlighten their students. Private citizens need unbiased information on regional and local trends and the role of humans in the environment.
BRD, NBS, and the NBII
BRD was inaugurated on October 1, 1996, when the former National Biological Service (NBS) was merged into the USGS. NBS was formed in 1993 from the research and related activities of seven DOI bureaus. BRD maintains the NBS mission--to work with others to provide the scientific understanding and technologies needed to support the sound management and conservation of our Nation's biological resources. A fundamental part of this mission is to make data and information on these resources more accessible to more people.
The NBII is the biological component of the Administration's effort to develop a National Information Infrastructure (NII). Initiation of the NBII was one of the primary recommendations made by the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council in their 1993 report, A Biological Survey for the Nation. Today, the NBII is helping people make better decisions about managing the Nation's biological resources--while avoiding duplicative data collection--so we can focus on filling important biological data gaps.
