Microsoft Access in the Questioned Document Laboratory

Microsoft Access is a readily available database program suited to assist questioned document examiners with extended writing cases, especially those involving voluminous exhibits. Questioned and known samples are scanned into a Microsoft Access database table. Access sorts the handwriting characters into charts and organizes the groups into the questioned and known samples. Once the database table is populated, an infinite variety of comparison charts are easily prepared. Charts may be used for the examination process and as demonstrative evidence. As an example, Microsoft Access is capable of easily preparing a comparison chart of all the words which end with “ing,” all the words which begin with a “B,” and all the words containing “th.” Any characters or combinations of characters are easily sorted and printed in a comparison chart. In addition to organizing voluminous exhibits, the program’s flexibility allows the examiner to remake charts on the eve of trial in cases in which some of the exhibits cannot be used in trial.