Version	1.1	/	Date	of	Issue:	2.09.16 /	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

OSAC	RESEARCH	NEEDS	ASSESSMENT	FORM

Title	of	research	need: National	Database	of	Handwriting

Keyword(s): Handwriting,	handwriting	database,	frequency	of	occurrence,	

Submitting	subcommittee(s): Forensic	Document	Examination Date	Approved:

(If	SAC	review	identifies	additional	subcommittees,	add	them	to	the	box	above.)

Background	Information:

1. Description	of	research	need:

A	compilation	of	data	regarding	the	various	databases of	handwritings.		Separate	projects	would	be	to	

further	the	databases	currently	being	developed, to	include	the	frequency	of	occurrence	of	handwriting	

characteristics.	Current	research	efforts	could	be	furthered	by	a	resurgence	of	funding	opportunities.

2. Key	bibliographic	references	relating	to	this	research	need:

1. Hecker,	M.,	Eisermann,	H.W.,	Forensic	Identification	System	of	Handwriting	(FISH),	paper	presented	

at	the	44th meeting	of	the	ASQDE,	Savannah	GA,	1986.

2. Johnson,	Mark	E.,	Vastrick,	Thomas	W.,	Boulanger,	Michele,	Schuetzner,	Ellen,	Measuring	The	

Frequency	Occurrence	of	Handwriting	and	Hand-Printing	Characteristics,	Final	Report	- NIJ	Award	

2010-DN-BX-K273

3. Maquire,	K.,	Moran,	T.L.,	Identification	of	Written	Text	Writings	by	the	Forensic	Information	System	

of	Handwriting,	paper	presented	at	the	54th meeting	of	the	ASQDE,	Washington,	DC,	1996.

4. Srihari,	Sargur,	Cha,	Sung-Hyuk,	Arora,	Hina,	Lee,	Sangjik,	Individuality	of	Handwriting,	Journal	of	

Forensic	Sciences	Vol.	47,	No.	4,	2002.

5. Srihari,	Sargur,	Huang,	Chen,	Srinivasan,	Harish,	On	the	Discriminability	of	the	Handwriting	of	Twins,	

Journal	of	Forensic	Sciences,	Vol.	53,	No.	2,	2008.

6. Sargur	N.	Srihari,	Kirsten	Singer,	Role	of	automation	in	the	examination	of	handwritten	items,	Pattern	

Recognition,	2014,	47,	3,	1083

7. Wooton,	Elaine	X.,	A	Preliminary	Discussion	of	Research	and	Reference	Materials	Using	the	U.S.	INS	

Collection	of	Handwriting	from	Other	Countries,	paper	presented	at	the	annual	meeting	of	the	

ASQDE,	Long	Beach,	CA	1994.

8. http://www.nist.gov/oles/forensics/forensic-database-questioned-documents-table.cfm
Version	1.1	/	Date	of	Issue:	2.09.16 /	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

3a. In	what	ways	would	the	research	results	improve	current	laboratory	capabilities?

Current	laboratory	capabilities	would	be	affected	by	having	further	research	regarding	the	statistical	

approach	to	handwriting	comparisons.		There	would	not	be	an	immediate	effect	on	work	within	the	

laboratory.	There	would	be	an	application	at	the	level	of testimony	in	courts	through	the	providing	of	

support	for	the	individuality	of	handwriting.	

3b. In	what	ways	would	the	research	results	improve	understanding	of	the	scientific	basis	for	the	

subcommittee(s)?

-It	would	allow	examiners	to	utilize	data	that	correlate	with	their	examination	opinions.

- Databases	in	general	provide	a	pool	of	potential	writings	for	researchers.		Development	of	a	national	

database	is	a	daunting	task,	and	would	require	both	the	digital	hardware	and	software	to	process	the	data,	

and	the	workers	to	gather	and	input	the	data.

3c.		In	what	ways	would	the	research	results	improve	services	to	the	criminal	justice	system?

Please	see	3a	and		3b.

4.		Status	assessment	(I,	II,	III,	or	IV): II Major gap	in	

current	

knowledge

Minor	gap	in	

current	

knowledge

No	or	limited

current	research	

is	being	conducted

I III

Existing current	

research	is	being	

conducted

II IV

This	research	need	has	been	identified	by	one	or	more	subcommittees	of	OSAC	and	is	being	provided	as	an	

informational	resource	to	the	community.

Approvals:

Subcommittee Approval	date:

(Approval	is	by	majority	vote	of	subcommittee.	Once	approved,	forward	to	SAC.)

SAC

1.		Does	the	SAC	agree	with	the	research	need? Yes x No

2.		Does	the	SAC agree	with	the	status	assessment? Yes x No
Version	1.1	/	Date	of	Issue:	2.09.16 /	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

If	no,	what	is	the	status	assessment	of	the	SAC:

Approval	date: 17-Mar-2016

(Approval	is	by	majority	vote	of	SAC.		Once	approved,	forward	to	NIST	for	posting.)