Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, ASB Communications Liaison The Organization of Scientific Area Communities (OSAC), housed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), recently invited OSAC professional association representatives to share information on OSAC events with their members. The invitation highlighted the opportunity to comment on inclusion of two forensic related standards, published […]
Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, ASB Communications Liaison The AAFS Academy Standards Board (ASB) facilitates the development of forensic-related consensus standards according to procedures based on the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) Essential Requirements: Due Process Requirements for American National Standards. Among other things, due process requires that the ASB, as an ANSI-accredited standards developer, […]
Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, ASB Communications Liaison The Academy Standards Board (ASB) announced the opening of the public comment period for three new standards. American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) members and the public at large are encouraged to review and comment on the following documents: ASB Standard 019, Wildlife Forensics General Standards, First […]
Source: Lucy A. Davis, BHS, AAFS OSAC Representative The Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) Committees are tasked to provide information to forensic communities on current issues related to the various forensic disciplines. Below is notification of a recent OSAC publication regarding Digital/Multimedia Evidence. Academy members and anyone interested in the relationship […]
Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, Communications Liaison Over 60 individuals from a wide range of forensic backgrounds participated in a one-hour, online presentation about the Academy Standards Board given by ASB Secretariat, Teresa Ambrosius, along with the ASB Communications Liaison, Mary McKiel. The presentation covered the basics about the formation and purpose of the ASB, […]
Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, Communications Liaison ASB is pleased to announce that Teresa Ambrosius has been selected as the organization’s new Secretariat, following the retirement of Brad Wing. Teresa started with the AAFS Standards Board in January 2016 as its first Technical Coordinator. Teresa’s knowledge of data management and understanding of the documentation needs […]
Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, Communications Liaison After two years as ASB’s first Secretariat, Brad Wing retired this month. Mr. Wing saw ASB through its initial development and the successful completion and publication of its first two forensic documents. Mr. Wing joined ASB directly following his retirement from the National Institute of Standards and Technology […]
Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, Communications Liaison The public comment period has opened for AAFS Standards Board (ASB) Best Practice Recommendation 009, Examination of Human Remains by Forensic Pathologists in the Disaster Victim Identification Context, First Edition. Please visit the Notification of Standard Development and Coordination area of the ASB website to view the draft […]
Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, Communications Liaison Less than two weeks after posting its first Technical Report, ASB Technical Report 033, First Edition, 2017, Terms and Definitions in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Standards Board (ASB) has just released a second Technical Report — ASB Technical Report 025: First Edition, 2017, […]
Source: Lucy A. Davis, BHS, Chair, ASB Board of Directors Over the past year, I have had the honor of representing the AAFS on the OSAC Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB). My position on this Board is to represent the AAFS membership concerning the OSAC process and selection of standards to be placed on the […]
Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, Communications Liaison The AAFS Standards Board (ASB) published its first technical report: ASB Technical Report 022, First Edition, 2017, Terms and Definitions in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis. The Report is a list of recommended terms and definitions for bloodstain pattern analysis. These terms and definitions address basic bloodstain pattern types and […]
Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, Communications Liaison The AAFS Standards Board (ASB) welcomed more than 30 new voting members this month as a result of the ASB annual review of membership. In accord with their accreditation by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), the ASB reviews membership at least annually to ensure that each of […]
Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, Communications Liaison Officer Not all standards are developed in a process that requires consensus, balance, openness, and due process. For example, industry standards, consortia standards, and regulatory standards are developed through their own unique documented procedures and are incredibly useful for their intended purposes. However, in the larger United States and […]
Announcement: The public comment period has opened for ASB Best Practice Recommendation 021, Best Practices for the Preparation of Test Impressions from Footwear and Tires, First Edition (Comment period closes Monday, October 23, 2017). A reminder that the public comment period is also open for ASB Technical Report 025, Crime Scene/Death Investigation – Dogs and […]
Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, Communications Liaison Officer The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a Request for Information (RFI) via the United States Federal Register to gather feedback about the structure, function, and mission of OSAC 2.0. As you may recall, NIST has been clear since the beginning of OSAC three […]
Source: Teresa Ambrosius, ASB Technical Coordinator The public comment period has opened for ASB Technical Report 025, Crime Scene/Death Investigation – Dogs and Sensors – Terms and Definitions, First Edition. (The comment period closes Friday, October 6, 2017). Please visit the Notification of Standard Development and Coordination area of the ASB website to view the […]
The following is a request for public comment on revisions to the FBI National QAS for Forensic DNA testing laboratories. The Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) has posted the proposed revisions on their website at https://www.swgdam.org/public-comments. The SWGDAM is a group of scientists representing federal, state, and local forensic DNA laboratories in […]
Source: Mary C. McKiel, PhD, ASB Communication Liaison This is the first in a series of articles that will delve into the inner workings of standards development that are underway through the American Academy of Forensic Sciences’ subsidiary, the Academy Standards Board (ASB). The purpose is to share information with the broader AAFS community on […]
Source: Teresa Ambrosius, ASB Technical Coordinator Each year, the AAFS Standards Board (ASB) reviews the membership rosters for the active consensus bodies. We must ensure that there are between 7 and 25 members and that the membership reflects a good distribution across our interest categories (defined on the application form). We had hundreds more applicants […]
Source: Teresa Ambrosius, ASB Technical Coordinator Announcement: The public comment period has opened for the following four AAFS Standards Board (ASB) documents. The two documents shown below were posted in the May 19, 2017, issue of the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI’s) Standards Action (the comment deadline is July 3, 2017): ASB Standard 011, Scope […]