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‘Analytical Communities’: Definition and Role AOAC is developing general guidelines to define the community concept, outline functions of the community, and clarify the types of AOAC resources available to help meet the needs of communities. The guidelines provide general information to communities, methods volunteers, and membership in an effort to strengthen the relationships between AOAC and its analytical communities. AOAC uses the term ‘analytical community’ to define a group of individuals interested in a specific scientific area. Current AOAC communities include Chemical Contaminants in Food, Dietary Supplements, Marine and Freshwater Toxins, and Agricultural Materials, among others. Analytical communities may be longstanding, or they may develop quickly because of breaking news about a particular contaminant or terrorism, for example. The role of a community is to engage all of the relevant stakeholders, prioritize methods needs, and identify methods. In doing so, stakeholders will have a voice in building a voluntary consensus-based standard, against which any potential methods will be validated. AOAC’s role is to listen to the emerging needs of the community and, if necessary, use its networks to engage key stakeholders to help secure funding. AOAC also facilitates the volunteer consensus process and provides a path to method validation. More information and general guidelines about analytical communities appears in the May/June issue of Inside Laboratory Management.
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