As announced last week by the U.S. Department of Justice, SOURCEBOOK Online, the Internet version of the Bureau of Justice Statistics� popular Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics, is being continually updated as new data become available. Previously, users had to wait for the annual Fall publication to get the most current criminal justice information in Sourcebook form.

The Web site, located at the University at Albany (https://www.albany.edu/sourcebook), was established in November 1996 and has been presenting the complete 1995 Sourcebook.

Visitors can now consult the What�s new page on the site to see what tables have been added or updated, new tables to expect in the near future, and links to new data sources available on the Web.

The site presents over 600 data tables organized into six topical sections:

• characteristics of the criminal justice systems
• public attitudes toward crime and criminal justice-related topics
• the nature and distribution of known offenses
• characteristics and distribution of persons arrested
• judicial processing of defendants
• persons under correctional supervision.

Tables are provided in Adobe Acrobat format, readable with the free Acrobat Reader. In addition, the contents, table and figure list, and index are fully searchable. Annotations of sources and addresses of source publishers are provided and linked to their web sites where available. Technical appendices on the site describe data collection methods.

The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics has been compiled since 1973 by the Utilization of Criminal Justice Statistics Project, located at the University at Albany, Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center, School of Criminal Justice, in Albany, New York. Ann L. Pastore and Kathleen Maguire are Project Co-Directors of the Utilization Project and Co-Editors of the Sourcebook

As expressed by Jan Chaiken, Ph.D., Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics in the preface to the 1995 edition,

�For more than 20 years the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics has represented a commitment to four critical standards: comprehensiveness, accurarcy, completeness, and usefulness. The Bureau of Justice Statistics. . . and the Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center. . .have undertaken every year to improve the content and usefulness of this resource that from its inception has served as an essential reference work.�

Online access to the Sourcebook and the most current data available is the latest reflection of the these commitments. The 1994 and 1995 editions will be available on one CD-ROM in May.

People interested in contacting Sourcebook may do so at the following:

Telephone: (518) 442-5608

Telefax: (518) 442-5603

Write:
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
Hindelang Criminal Justice Research Center
University at Albany
135 Western Avenue
Draper 241
Albany, New York 12222

E-mail: [email protected]