The IACI, formed in 1988, is an organization comprised mainly of medical and scientific professionals throughout the world who specialize in Forensic Odontology, Forensic Anthropology, 2- and 3-dimensional Skull Reconstruction Techniques, Computer-Based Skull Reconstruction, Facial Aging for Law Enforcement, and Facial Mapping, as well as Composite Sketching. The
Craniofacial Identification Links are particularly useful. Craniofacial Identification Links are arranged into two columns with no annotations. Links range from traditional to computerized methods of craniofacial reconstruction.
The site covers the various facets of forensic art, giving a brief description of each. This site is maintained by Wesley Neville, a forensic artist and polygraphist with the Florence County Sheriff's Office in Florence, South Carolina, and a member of the International Association for Identification (IAI) forensic art sub-committee. The abundance of graphics makes the site slow to load but a lot of images are to be expected on an "art" site. The red print on black background and tiny font size might make the site somewhat hard to read for some folks, but persevere as there are some excellent resources here.
A great introduction to human osteology, forensic anthropology, paleopathology, and histology by experts in their fields. Topics include age, sex, stature, race, pathology, trauma, taphonomy, identifying characteristics, and graduate education in forensic anthropology.
One of the few comprehensive sites on the subject, the Forensic Botany site is a project in the Web Literacy for the Natural Sciences class at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. It offers excellent information through literature citations with information and definitions of the subdisciplines within the field, clearly explains botanical uses within forensics, and provides case examples illustrating the described procedures and botanical evidence used. The Cited Literature and Links section is particularly useful.
A comprehensive overview of the field of palynology, the study of palynomorphs (pollen) trapped in materials associated with criminal or civil investigation, is written by Vaughn M. Bryant, Jr., Palynology Laboratory, Texas A&M University, and Dallas C. Mildenhall, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, New Zealand.
Created by Alan Barbour, a consulting forensic toxicologist, this site provides links to forensic toxicology sites, government laboratories, and directories of forensic expert witnesses. Barbour also maintains the World Wide Web Virtual Library: Forensic Toxicology.
Founded in 1963, this association groups over 1,400 members from all regions of the world. The aims of this association are to promote cooperation and coordination of efforts among members and to encourage research in forensic toxicology. The members come from the police force, medical examiners and coroners' laboratories, horseracing and sports doping laboratories, hospitals, departments of legal medicine, pharmacology, pharmacy, and toxicology. Enter the Open Area for resources for non-members. The Observatory provides a list of Web sites arranged by categories (on the left menu bar). Also useful is the MS Library, collections of home-made reference electron impact mass spectra of derivatives produced by TIAFT members and made available freely on the Internet. The intent of the MS Library is to supplement commercial databases with new or uncommon substances or less frequent derivatives of drugs.
SOFT, officially incorporated in 1983, is an organization composed of practicing forensic toxicologists and those interested in the discipline for the purpose of promoting and developing forensic toxicology. The
Toxilinks section is particularly useful.
This site is maintained by Alan Barbour, a forensic toxicology consultant with more than twenty-five years' experience in forensic toxicology and clinical laboratory science. Links are arranged within broad categories: forensic toxicology sites, directories of forensic expert witnesses, general forensic science links, and education and career guidance in forensic sciences.
Microscopy is a very important field in the forensic sciences as microscopes are used extensively in crime labs. For forensic science students, this site - created by Michael W. Davidson, Mortimer Abramowitz, Olympus America Inc., and the Florida State University - provides an excellent introduction to Optical Microscopy, Digital Imaging, and Photomicrography . Topics covered include the physics of light and color, an anatomy of the microscope, specialized microscopy techniques, digital imaging in optical microscopy, photomicrography, concepts and formulas in microscopy, fundamentals of stereomicroscopy, and interactive tutorials.
Individual access to ChemFinder is complimentary on a limited basis. This free database includes chemical structures, physical properties, CAS Registry Numbers, and links to other Web sites with information about compounds.
Created by the Mass Spectrometry Database Committee of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Toxicology Section, this site provides Zip files of a comprehensive drug mass spectral library and the latest version of the mini-library of full mass spectra of newer drugs, metabolites and some breakdown products. This library is a subset of one that has been compiled over a period of many years by Dr. Graham Jones and colleagues in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Pure drug spectra, plus a few breakdown products and pure metabolite standards have been edited into a single library. The libraries use the Hewlett Packard DOS ChemStation and UNIX ChemSystem MSD operating systems.
One-stop shopping for crime scene investigation links, articles, crime scene response and evidence collection guidelines, information on crime scene and evidence photography, training and employment and a bookstore. Links are arranged at the top level by broad categories and by subcategories within the pages. The site is maintained by the Crime Scene Investigator Network, based in Temecula, CA.
To provide an interpretation of the physical events that gave rise to the origin of a bloodstain, forensic scientists analyze the patterns (shapes, locations, and distribution) of the stain. This tutorial by Joseph Slemko, a forensic consultant in Alberta, Canada, provides an introduction to bloodstain pattern analysis.
Presented by C.A.S.T. (Chesapeake Area Shoeprint and Tire track), this site includes an interactive footwear examination tutorial for investigating shoe prints recovered from a crime scene. As well, there are extensive links on outsole evaluation, shoe and tire manufacturer contact information, tire Web sites, and instructions for evidence gathering. C.A.S.T. is a consortium of Footwear & Tire Track examiners, organized as a Multi-Agency Forensic Cooperation (MAFC) group.
An extensive Web site devoted to links on latent fingerprints, including articles and a comprehensive list of legal challenges to fingerprints. Ed German of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory, maintains this site.
The Marks Working Group is one of the technical working groups of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI) and represents examiners working with shoeprint, toolmark, and other types of visual mark comparisons in forensic laboratories. The Group publishes the Information Bulletin for Shoeprint/Toolmark Examiners (IBSTE). The Marks Working Group collects a library of articles (bibliographies) covering various subdisciplines of comparative visual examinations of interest to the mark examiners.
A scientific working group of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to create consensus standards for fingerprint analysis and technology. Guidelines are provided in PDF format.
“This web site is the culmination of many hours spent researching topics related to forensic science and [the author's] particular areas of interest: embryogenesis of friction skin…, enhancement of latent prints using digital technology and latent print identification” (Beeton 2001). Categories include history, friction skin anatomy, friction skin growth, the integumentary system, latent print development, scientific research, fingerprint patterns, and identification. Mary Beeton, an A.F.I.S. fingerprint technician with the Durham Regional Police Service in Ontario, Canada, created this site.
An illustrated tutorial on optical mineralogy created for an introductory petrology lab at the University of British Columbia.
A brief introduction to optical mineralogy created by Charlotte Gladstone at the University of Bristol Department of Earth Sciences.
Guidelines created by the Scientific Working Group on Materials Analysis (SWGMAT) at the FBI outlining fiber analysis methods for use by forensic fiber examiners. References and a bibliography are included in this article.
A detailed introduction and overview of hair and fiber evidence analysis written by Douglas W. Deedrick, Unit Chief of the FBI Trace Evidence Unit. It appeared in the July 2000 issue of
Forensic Science Communications.
This article was published in the January 2004 issue of
Forensic Science Communications. It was written by Douglas D. Deedrick, Supervisory Special Agent of the FBI Scientific Analysis Section, and Sandra L. Koch, Physical Scientist/Forensic Examiner of the FBI Trace Evidence Unit. This illustrated article provides an excellent look at human hair analysis.
This second article on the microscopy of hair focusing on animal hairs appeared in the July 2004 issue of
Forensic Science Communications. It was written by Douglas D. Deedrick, Supervisory Special Agent of the FBI Scientific Analysis Section, and Sandra L. Koch, Physical Scientist/Forensic Examiner of the FBI Trace Evidence Unit.
References
Flanagan, Robert J. 1998. Guidelines for the interpretation of analytical toxicology results and unit of measurement conversion factors. Annals of Clinial Biochemistry, 35: 261-7.