Training & Resources

Articles

• OSAC Registry Implementation: A How-to Guide. This document, created by OSAC’s FSSB Quality Task Group, describes various pathways, along with specific examples, on how to implement standards on the OSAC Registry.
• Overcoming Implementation Misconceptions. This article shares some common misconceptions about implementation and provides solutions in the context of actual OSAC Registry Implementers. 
• Have questions about the difference between “full” and “partial” standards implementation? Hear from six FSSPs as they share their definitions of full versus partial implementation. 
• Hear What Implementers Are Telling Us About the Benefits of Implementing Standards on the OSAC Registry. This series of communications from the OSAC Program Office features observations from the perspective of our colleagues about they benefits they've experienced from implementing standards on the OSAC Registry. Hear from Jeremy Triplett (Kentucky State Police) and Eva M. L. King (Wisconsin State Crime Laboratories) about the virtues of implementing standards. 

Webinars

• As part of a collaborative agreement with NIST, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) is developing resources and training to enhance implementation efforts. Various implementation webinars are available for free in the "Standards Videos" section of AAFS Connect. 
• We Did It! You Can Too! An Inside Perspective to Implementing Standards on the OSAC Registry (January 30, 2024). OSAC, the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD), and the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCoE) hosted this webinar where presenters and panelists shared their perspectives on standards implementation, focusing on topics such as planning, staff education, how to conduct a gap analysis, and more.

Workflows

• Ideagen (formerly Qualtrax): OSAC Registry Standards Review Workflow.

Resources

• As part of NIST’s cooperative agreement with AAFS, standards factsheets and checklists are available to support standards implementation.
  • Standards factsheets provide a concise summary of a standard and facilitate a broader understanding of its purpose, why it is needed, and the benefits of adoption. These factsheets summarize the contents of standards on the OSAC Registry. They are not intended to provide an interpretation for any portion of a standard. 
  • Standards checklists provide a tool for a forensic science service provider to evaluate the level of implementation and/or audit conformance to a standard. A checklist is a supplementary tool and should not be used independently - it must be used in conjunction with the standard. Copies of standards are available through the SDO. Each checklist is specific to a version of a standard and not all sections of a standard may be included in a checklist. Checklists are not intended to provide an interpretation for any portion of a standard.