Creating a Criminal Justice Library, Essay Example

Introduction

The goals of this project are to create a criminal justice library that will be useful and valid to its intended users. To accomplish this goal, it will be necessary to identify the users who are target users of this collection and determine how they are most likely to access the information included in it. That process will require multiple forms of data collection on the library’s users. The analysis of that data will help identify how the collection can be improved and extended.

Intended User Group

This collection is intended to be used by federal, local, and state law enforcement professionals and trainees in the U.S.  These users are typically aged in the range of 22 to 60 years; i.e., all of them are adults. While highly competent in their jobs, many of these users may not be highly experienced in information technologies. A recent initiative, COPLINK, implemented in 2001, found that ease of use was critical for users to be able and willing to use such a library collection. (Chen, et al., COPLINK: Managing Law Enforcement Data and Knowledge, 2003). Thus, user information technology background is not assumed in this user base.

Usefulness of Collection for Users

A key aspect of the usefulness of this collection is the use of information communication technology (ICT) to share information among law enforcement professionals. This sharing will take the form of databases, online periodicals, and other online collections.  As noted in an editorial article in Digital Communities, “In today’s environment, successful law enforcement requires…the ability to effectively share data, information and intelligence across multiple jurisdictional boundaries in a secure and efficient manner” (“Law Enforcement Needs a Standards-Based Communication Infrastructure,  May 28, 2010, hereafter titled, “Standards-Based Infrastructure”)

Law enforcement agencies at all levels need to have access to key statistical information to operate efficiently. This information includes reports on “national and local threat assessment reports [and] global, national and local trend reports” pertaining to organizations and structure of active terrorist, criminal, drug, and hate groups in the U.S. (Carter 2004, p. 155). Lack of this information has hampered law enforcement efforts in the past, and this law enforcement collection will help avoid such obstacles.

This new collection will address the information-seeking characteristics of the intended users by providing them with easy-to-use access to information vital to their investigations and law enforcement activities.

Using ICT tools “criminal justice agencies have formed multijurisdictional and regional relationships designed to combine, cross-match and share data from a wide variety of sources.” (
“Standards-Based Infrastructure,” May 28, 2010).  The difficulty, as this article points out, is that while such information-sharing has proven effective and helpful in a number of pilot studies, such studies have established multiple “standards,” making interaction among the various databases difficult to implement. This collection will take heed of current and ongoing standards to ensure maximum possible usefulness to the law enforcement professionals who need to use it.

Still, some progress in standardization has been achieved, particularly with the development of the National Informational Exchange Model (NIEM), which was jointly developed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. The same article cited above notes that, “Many in the justice information-sharing community see NIEM as the key standard and foundation for exchanging information across multiple domains and disciplines.” (Ibid.)

The new collection will not be limited to statistical and text reports. With increasing frequency, other forms of information are becoming more important to law enforcement efforts. Some efforts can include maintaining  a library of visual images including both still photos and videos, which both provide reference access for law enforcement professionals but also offer a way of improving relations with the public and media. Though this use is clearly a secondary consideration, Boetig and Parrish describe one effective use that can be made of carefully selected contents of such a video collection to improve relations with both media and the public. (Boetig and Parrish, “Proactive Media Relations, November 2008).

Data Analysis Methods to Determine Collection Usefulness

The new collection will be monitored to determine how useful its design really is for its intended users. In particular, three separate forms of data collection will be implemented, each one to be performed annually.

The first method to be used to assess the usefulness of this new collection is one of consensus of the users of the collection. This involves asking different groups, such as users from all levels (i.e., federal, state, local, and trainees) to rate the collection.

The second assessment method to be used to assess the usefulness of this collection is one of soliciting expert opinion. In this method, experts in law enforcement will be asked to evaluate the collection for clarity, ease of use, completeness, and other criteria.

The third method of assessment of the new collection is from circulation studies. In this method, a study will be made of the usage patterns of the collection, which elements are consulted most often, and which are rarely used. This method is particularly useful in determining if any parts of the collection should be deselected and removed.  This can happen when a particular source becomes dated or simply is of little use to the collection’s law enforcement users.

As stated earlier, each of these assessments will be conducted annually, thus ensuring tha the information in the collection remains current and useful to its intended law enforcement users. These assessments will include determination of which new technologies (sound, video, biometrical, or other types of new data) should be included and how useful they may be.

The results of these assessments will be analyzed solely for internal purposes, such as to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the collection, and to determine how effectively it meets the needs of its law enforcement users. These annual analyses will also help determine the future directions and development the collection will need to improve the collection’s overall utility on an ongoing basis.

Conclusions

Law enforcement professionals need access to information to effectively do their jobs. Technology provides an effective way of sharing information among law enforcement agencies at every level, from federal down to the local level. Through careful consideration of the needs of the desired users, and ongoing assessments of the collection’s overall usefulness, it is expected that this new library collection will enhance law enforcement efforts at all levels, from the local cop to federal justice officials.

References

Boetig, Brian Parsi and Parrish, Penny A. November 2008.  Proactive Media Relations: The Visual Library Initiative. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,pp.7-9.

Carter, David L. 2004. Law Enforcement Intelligence: A Guide For State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies. Retrieved February 1, 2011. http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/e09042536.pdf

Chen, Hsinchun, Zeng, Daniel, Atabakhsh, Homa, Wyzga, Wojciech, and Schroeder, Jenny. January 2003. COPLINK: Managing Law Enforcement Data and Knowledge. Communications of the ACM, 46, 1, pp. 28­-34.

“Law Enforcement Needs a Standards-Based Communication Infrastructure.” Web. Digital Communities. May 28, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2011.  http://www.digitalcommunities.com/articles/Law-Enforcement-Needs-a-Standards-Based-Communications.html