The NBII coordinated the research output of the biological community into information systems that were easily accessed, by providing organization and a structure that was based on standards. The structure was essentially invisible to the end user of the information, but was vitally important to those wishing to participate by making data available through the system, or those who wished to become partners in the development of new tools, models, and applications. The end-user aspect of the NBII was its Web portal which provided access to information, publications, and data from the various data sources "in a seamless, unified portal."