As MaNIS faces the future, it is only through expansion of the network, both nationally and internationally, that the real impact of this collaborative effort will be maximized. Participation by other institutions is now welcome and those wishing to join have at their disposal the data standards, software and documentation that were developed for this project. All that is asked of future participants is that they make the same institutional commitment as the original collaborators — to maintain their repositories of high-quality specimen collections and make the accompanying data available for the benefit of all.

At the time of its inception, development of MaNIS addressed the urgent call for natural history museums to come together to build and support a biodiversity informatics infrastructure to facilitate and enhance research, education, conservation, and public health. That call has now been answered. It is hoped that continued expansion of the network will allow the preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in all its complexity as we attempt to address the magnitude of human impacts on the Earth's ecological systems during the 21st century.