The Crime Library is a collection of more than 1000 nonfiction feature stories and photo galleries relating to crimes, criminals, trials, forensics and criminal profiling by prominent writers. The stories focus mostly on recent crimes, but also includes historically notorious characters dating back to the 1400s and spanning the globe.
The Crime Library is a source of entertainment and education for millions of readers throughout the world and serves as an important resource for students researching current and historical subjects and for producers of television documentaries and book authors.
The site was founded by Marilyn J. Bardsley in January 1998. Court TV, now called truTV, purchased the Crime Library in September 2000. In May 2008, The Crime Library moved to truTV.com, where it remains as the Crime Library. TruTV.com is part of Turner Entertainment Networks and owned by Time Warner, Inc.
Q: How can I tell if you have a story on a particular subject?
A: A search function at the top of the Crime Library homepage enables readers to search for stories by keyword. Also, for those who just want to browse, the Crime Library is organized into categories and subcategories of stories, such as Notorious Murders, Serial Killers, Gangsters, Forensics, etc.
Q: Does the Crime Library lend books to readers?
A: The Crime Library is a virtual library of stories, not books or court records or police reports. At this time, there are no printed editions available of Crime Library stories. Most stories have a bibliography listing the books and other sources used to create Crime Library stories so that researchers can locate additional information on a subject.
Q: How can I find out about a case if the Crime Library does not have a story on it?
A: There are many sources of information available about cases. We recommend as a first step that you try these sources:
2) Contact the local newspapers for the area in which the case occurred. Most newspapers have online archives that can be searched for a nominal fee. If a case is too old to be included in the online archives, it may be possible to get information about it by writing to the newspaper and requesting photocopies of articles that appeared in the newspaper.
3) Contact public and university libraries, which may have microfilm of major newspapers. Local public libraries are also an excellent source because they may have clipping files on people and events, including criminal cases.
4) Contact local courts and the police department in the precinct where thecrime occurred.
Q: What are Crime Library guidelines for writers?
A: At this time, the Crime Library is not accepting any new stories.
Q: Does the Crime Library allow individuals to use its stories or photographs from its stories?
A: Stories and photos appearing on the Crime Library are
either owned and copyrighted by truTV and truTV.com or offered under agreement
with the owner of the story's copyright. Stories or portions of stories may not
be used for any purpose without the written permission of truTV.com or
truTV.
Many Crime Library stories are based on third party sources: books, magazine and newspaper articles and interviews. From time to time, inaccuracies in source materials may inadvertently be incorporated into a Crime Library story. To report a problem or a correction please contact:
Crime Library Online Editor
truTV
600 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10016
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