OSAC website: http://www.nist.gov/forensics/osac/

Newsletter

Organization of Scientific Area Committees 

for Forensic Science

October 2015 | Vol. 1, Issue 3

Inside this issue

Feature Article: 

OSAC Prepares for Public 

Presentations at the AAFS 68th

 Annual Scientific Meeting 

Page 1

Standards/Guidelines Currently 

Under Consideration for OSAC Registry

What is Digital Rights Management?

Page 2

About OSAC 

Page 3

Upcoming OSAC Meetings 

Standards Development 

Organization (SDO) Corner

Page 4

February 22, 2016 (Monday)

Digital/Multimedia SAC (8:00 AM – 10:00 AM)

• Digital Evidence Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

• Facial Identification Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

• Video/Imaging Technology and Analysis

Subcommittee Presentation/Discussion

• Speaker Recognition Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

Biology/DNA SAC (10:15 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Biological Data Interpretation and Reporting

Subcommittee Presentation/Discussion

• Biological Methods Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

• Wildlife Forensics Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

Crime Scene/Death Investigation SAC (1:00 PM – 5:00 PM)

• Anthropology Subcommittee Presentation

Discussion

• Disaster Victim Identification Subcommittee

Presentation/Discussion

• Dogs and Sensors Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

• Fire and Explosion Investigation Subcommittee

Presentation/Discussion

• Medicolegal Death Investigation Subcommittee

Presentation/Discussion

• Odontology Subcommittee Presentation/Discussion

February 23, 2016 (Tuesday)

Physics/Pattern Interpretation SAC (8:30 AM – 12:00 PM)

• Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Subcommittee

Presentation/Discussion

• Firearms and Toolmarks Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

• Footwear and Tire Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

• Forensic Document Examination Subcommittee

Presentation/Discussion

• Friction Ridge Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

Chemistry/Instrumental Analysis SAC (1:00 PM – 5:00 PM)

• Fire Debris and Explosives Subcommittee

Presentation/Discussion

• Geological Materials Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

• Gunshot Residue Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

• Materials (Trace) Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

• Seized Drugs Subcommittee 

Presentation/Discussion

• Toxicology Subcommittee Presentation/Discussion

Feature Article: 

OSAC Prepares for Public Presentations at the 

AAFS 68th Annual Scientific Meeting 

Attendees of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) 

sessions at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) meeting will be the first to 

hear about the OSAC’s recent activities and updated priorities. On February 22-23, 2016, the 

OSAC Subcommittee and Scientific Area Committee (SAC) chairs, covering 24 forensic science 

disciplines, will describe each unit’s latest projects, task groups, and planned outcomes—as well 

as provide status updates on specific standards or guidelines. All 29 presentations and questions 

from the audience will be webcast live, and archived for future on-demand viewing. The OSAC 

invites all to attend and participate. The schedule of events, which includes a SAC introduction 

for each session, is as follows: 
2

Standards/Guidelines Currently Under Consideration for OSAC Registry

What is Digital Rights Management? And Why was it so Hard to Access 

the ASTM Documents up for Registry Approval?

The Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) Materials (Trace) Subcommittee, the 

Seized Drugs Subcommittee, and the Fire Debris and Explosives Subcommittee are in the process of reviewing and 

adjudicating public comments regarding potential inclusion of the following five standards to the OSAC Registry of 

Approved Standards:

The Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) and ASTM International recently worked 

together to provide read-only access to the ASTM documents proposed for addition to the OSAC Registry of Approved 

Standards. This agreement enabled stakeholders to access and view the standards for a limited period of time, 

and provide public comment on whether they should be included on the registry (public comment period ended in 

September 2015). 

ASTM: E2329-14 Standard Practice for 

Identification of Seized Drugs

ASTM: E2330-12 Standard Test 

Method for Determination of 

Concentrations of Elements in Glass 

Samples Using Inductively Coupled 

Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) for 

Forensic Comparisons

ASTM: E2548-11e1 Standard Guide for 

Sampling Seized Drugs for Qualitative 

and Quantitative Analysis

ASTM: E2881 - 13e1 Standard 

Test Method for Extraction and 

Derivatization of Vegetable Oils and Fats 

from Fire Debris and Liquid Samples 

with Analysis by Gas ChromatographyMass Spectrometry

ASTM: E2926-13 Standard Test 

Method for Forensic Comparison of 

Glass Using Micro X-ray Fluorescence 

(μ-XRF) Spectrometry

Following subcommittee comment 

adjudication and deliberation, the 

Chemistry/Instrumental Analysis 

Scientific Area Committee (the SAC, 

which is the unit that oversees those 

subcommittees) and the Forensic 

Science Standards Board (FSSB) will 

further deliberate on whether to post the 

standards to the registry. 

 Please contact forensics@nist.gov with 

any questions or feedback. 

All standards and related documents 

developed by ASTM committees are 

copyrighted, including the items that are 

under consideration for the registry. In 

order to protect the copyright of these 

publications, ASTM utilized Digital Rights 

Management (DRM) to ensure these 

documents could not be redistributed. 

DRM is a term referring to various access 

control technologies—technology such 

as embedding digital watermarks, and/

or software that prevents files from being 

altered, shared or copied. ASTM required 

that documents be accessed from the 

ASTM Compass Portal (separate from 

the OSAC Public Workspace on Kavi) 

so that copyright would remain intact. 

Stakeholders were first directed to the 

Kavi Workspace to access instructions, 

then to the ASTM Compass Portal to 

access the standard, and then back to 

Kavi Workspace to provide comments 

using the comment feature. 

Unfortunately, this combination of DRM 

(which was not “one-click” access) and 

the requirement that users toggle back 

and forth between websites to view the 

standard and provide their feedback 

caused some frustration. However, 

OSAC will have to continue to use this 

mechanism to allow stakeholders to view 

proposed standards in order to maintain 

copyright permissions. 

To help alleviate frustration during 

the next public comment period, OSAC 

requests that users first view the 

instructions provided on the Kavi public 

workspace before leaving Kavi to 

access the standards, and to contact 

forensics@nist.gov for assistance if issues 

are still experienced. 
About OSAC 

The OSAC newsletter is produced monthly 

by OSAC Affairs at NIST with input from the 

FSSB and other OSAC members. 

Any mention of commercial products is 

for information only; it does not imply 

recommendation or endorsement by NIST.

Contact forensics@nist.gov with comments 

or general inquiries.

3

The Organization of Scientific Area 

Committees (OSAC) is part of an 

initiative by the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology (NIST) and 

the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) 

to strengthen forensic science in the 

United States. The organization is a 

collaborative body of more than 500 

forensic science practitioners and 

other experts who represent local, 

state, and federal agencies; academia; 

and industry. OSAC is organized 

into 33 operating units based on 

discipline and purpose. The OSAC 

fosters the coordination, development 

and promotion of technically sound, 

consensus-based documentary 

standards and guidelines that can 

be used to strengthen the practice of 

forensic science.

The purpose of OSAC is to strengthen 

the nation’s use of forensic science by:

• providing technical leadership 

necessary to facilitate the 

development and promulgation of 

consensus-based documentary 

standards and guidelines for 

forensic science

• promoting standards and 

guidelines that are fit-for-purpose 

and based on sound scientific 

principles

• promoting the use of OSAC 

standards and guidelines by 

accreditation and certification 

bodies

• establishing and maintaining 

working relationships with other 

similar organizations.

The aims of the OSAC are to:

• populate the OSAC Registry of 

Approved Standards and the OSAC 

Registry of Approved Guidelines

• compile and update the forensic 

science catalog of external 

standards and related documents

• maintain Priority Action Plan 

documents on intended actions 

aligned with OSAC strategic goals 

and objectives

• promote and improve the 

communication, dissemination and 

use of forensic science standards, 

accreditation, and personnel 

competencies

• encourage forensic science service 

providers in the United States 

to implement guidelines and 

standards (e.g., ISO/IEC 17025, 

etc.) for quality and competency

• provide insight on each forensic 

science discipline’s research and 

measurement standard needs

• enlist stakeholder involvement 

from a broad community to provide 

public comment on OSAC outputs.

To learn more about OSAC, visit: 

http://www.nist.gov/forensics/osac/

index.cfm 

To access OSAC’s public workspace 

and view work products, visit: https://

workspace.forensicosac.org/kws/public
4

Upcoming OSAC Meetings

• Biology/DNA Scientific Area Committee (SAC) in Grapevine, TX during International Symposium on Human Identification (ISHI) 

on October 13th & 15th, 2015

• Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB) at DEA Special Testing Laboratory on December 3-4, 2015 

• Full OSAC Meeting at the National Conference Center in Leesburg, VA on January 25-29, 2016 

• January 25th – FSSB Meeting 

(8:30 AM – 5:00PM)

• January 26th – 5 SAC and 3 Resource Committee 

(RC) Meetings (8:30 AM – 5:00PM)

• January 27th – 24 Subcommittee and 

3 RC Meetings (8:30 AM – 5:00PM)

• January 28th – 24 Subcommittee and 

3 RC Meetings (8:30 AM – 5:00PM)

• January 29th – 1⁄2 day 24 Subcommittee Meetings 

(8:30 AM – approximately 1:00PM)

• OSAC Public Reporting Occurs at American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) in Las Vegas, NV on February 22-23, 2016. 

(5 SAC Chairs & 24 Subcommittee Chairs or their designee will present)

Standards Development Organization (SDO) Corner

The Quality Infrastructure Committee (QIC) and NIST OSAC Affairs are continuing to finalize the OSAC Working with a 

Standards Development Organization (SDO) Process and are gaining input from the Forensic Science Standards Board 

(FSSB). This process will be published by the FSSB in November 2015 for use by the subcommittees—at which time the 

OSAC will begin development of the Canvass Method. 

In the meantime, subcommittees have various projects and work items already queued up to submit to designated SDOs, including 

the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), ASTM International, and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), who will 

begin accepting probative standards in February 2016. 

OSAC is currently performing outreach to develop the widest range of potential SDOs for the subcommittees to engage with, and will 

invite relevant and interested SDOs to attend OSAC meetings in January 2016 to answer questions.

For more information, please contact forensics@nist.gov.