Contact: Audrey Fischer (202) 707-0022

September 7, 2011

Library of Congress Awarded Guggenheim Grant for Criminal Justice Research

The Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation has awarded a $150,000 grant to the Library of Congress to support a program on demography, technology and criminal justice.

Advances in technology and major shifts in global demography are beginning to have a significant impact on many aspects of criminology and criminal justice. New areas of criminal activity are emerging as a result of these developments. At the same time, there are new ways to predict, prevent, solve and prosecute crime, rehabilitate those who commit crimes and eliminate the social causes that lead to crime. There are also unique legal challenges that arise relating to privacy, security, conflicts of law, legal standing and jurisdiction, as well as implications for civil rights and basic human rights.

To address these issues, the grant will be used to launch and support the "Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation Program on Demography, Technology and Criminal Justice at the Library of Congress." The Law Library will have primary oversight of the grant, which will also extend to the Manuscript Division.

"We are grateful to the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation for enabling us to undertake this project that will allow the Library of Congress to create a program focusing on developing new research in criminal justice," said Roberta I. Shaffer, Law Librarian of Congress.

Library of Congress staff, in consultation with other experts, will identify research topics and collections within the scope of the program as well as scholars and Library specialists with a focus in relevant areas of study. The multidisciplinary, multinational research will generate benchmarks, metrics, best practices and practical solutions for legal questions that arise in areas where demography, technology and criminal justice intersect.

To capture the broadest audience, project information will be disseminated entirely online. Scholarly presentations will be made through interactive webinars and participants may respond via a blog. All interactions will be accessible on the Library’s website.

The Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation has had a long-term commitment to support innovation in criminal justice. A number of Guggenheim projects have led to significant legislative and judicial reforms in this area. Throughout its history, the Library of Congress has maintained comprehensive, and often unique, collections that have directly supported ground-breaking research in myriad disciplines, including many of those that comprise the field of criminal justice. This collaboration brings together the shared interests of these two major national institutions.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs, and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a personalized website at myLOC.gov.

Founded in 1832, the Law Library’s mission is to make its resources available to members of Congress, the Supreme Court, other branches of the U.S. government and the global legal community, and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of law for future generations. With more than 2.6 million volumes, the Law Library contains the world’s largest collection of law books and other resources from all countries and provides online databases and guides to legal information worldwide through its website at www.loc.gov/law/.

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PR 11-162
/September 7/11
ISSN 0731-3527

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